Taser Safety Briefing

Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas appeared yesterday before the Metro Council’s Safety Committee to answer questions about Taser use. Councilman Jamie Isabel called for the briefing after the death of 21-year-old Patrick Lee last month.

Two Metro officers shot their Tasers at Lee up to 19 times during an arrest, after he had been thrown out of a music club for being unruly. A police report says Lee, who had taken off his clothes, was resisting arrest and told officers he had taken drugs that evening. A final autopsy has not been released.

Metro Safety committee member Brenda Gilmore asked Chief Serpas if the 19 shocks seemed excessive. Serpas says it’s unclear how many of the shots actually hit Lee, or how long the shocks lasted.

Serpas says there’s some concern about shooting Tasers at people in a state of what’s called “excited delirium”, usually brought on by drug use. He says the Taser adds stress to that volatile state.

“We’re trying to make decisions that continue to let us use this tool which we think may be good for Nashville, but there are still some unanswered questions that will have to be answered before we would do a wide-scale deployment.”

Serpas calls the Tasers a “good tool”, but says, for now they will remain in the hands of shift supervisors. Serpas says as soon as studies conclude Tasers are as safe as he always thought, he’ll put them back into regular use.