Bill Tracker: HB 418 Taser equals Deadly Force

Over the years, police officers have been given a wide variety of non-lethal weapons to use in their regular duties. The baton, pepper spray, canine units, and good old-fashioned tackling are all examples of acceptable police practices. With all good practices come abuses. We have all heard stories about strangulation deaths due to night sticks, pepper spray incidents for seemingly no legitimate police purposes, etc.

Along comes a new technology: the taser. A taser gun sends an electrical current into people to incapacitate them. At first glance it appears a win/win technology. The police have a new better-than-arms-length non-lethal weapon and the bad guys get stopped in their tracks.

HB 418 seeks to limit the “rules of engagement” for officers to use a taser. HB 418 states a peace officer or person being directed by a peace officer is justified in using a taser, “only if the officer or person is justified in using deadly force against the other person.” A peace officer is justified in using deadly force against another when and to the degree the peace officer reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary to make an arrest, or to prevent escape after arrest, if the use of force would have been justified under Subsection (a) and: (1) the actor reasonably believes the conduct for which arrest is authorized included the use or attempted use of deadly force; or (2) the actor reasonably believes there is a substantial risk that the person to be arrested will cause death or serious bodily injury to the actor or another if the arrest is delayed.

Yet, I wonder about this bill because all non-lethal weapons can legitimately be used in a deadly manner if these conditions are met. Does this bill interrupt police discretion too much? It will be interesting to see the progress of this bill.