The Naples Daily News reports that police are being put on the defensive as they come under fire for their increasing use of TASER guns. They report that "of 269 occasions on which deputies discharged their Taser guns last year shows the weapon also has been fired to stop prisoners from kicking at windows of a car, urinating on a deputy's laptop and yelling. Those shocked by Tasers ranged from teenagers to octogenarians." Some instances the perpetrators are shocked several times.

Part of the problem seems to stem from the classification of the potentially lethal device.

Law enforcement agencies break down their responses to the people they are arresting on a sliding scale of what is commonly known as a "continuum of force." In Lee County, it starts at level one, which is the officer's presence. Five is deadly force.

Use of the Taser falls under "level three," the same as pepper spray. That placement puts Lee County roughly on par with what recommendations on Taser use exist statewide and nationally.

In a position paper, the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois agreed Taser use is appropriate at level three, or even at level two when resistance is passive, so long as a warning is issued by an officer, either verbally or by activating the Taser.

While pepper spray is pretty much an ineffective irritant, the TASER has a much greater potential to kill someone. They were sold as an alternative to shooting a suspect in the chest. Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott even admits, "The whole point of using the Taser is to avoid lethal force." That is, they were meant to be a level five device.

But in practice, officers are using them whenever people are disruptive or uncooperative. Sometimes the devices are used when subjects are already restrained or in custody.

Locally, two men died shortly after being shocked last year, one in the Lee County Jail and one by Collier County sheriff's deputies, though their deaths have not been conclusively tied to the Taser...

...a deputy shocked Joachim Schaible, 48, of Naples after the 6 foot, 5 inch, 225-pound man became "agitated" and refused to stay seated, according to a Sheriff's Office report. [...]

The most common reason leading to a Taser shock listed on arrest reports was resisting or fighting. Frequently, the reason the Taser was deployed was to stop someone from injuring themselves or county property, often from kicking at squad car windows or banging his or her head against parts of the vehicle...

...several 15-year-old people were shocked. The oldest was an 83-year-old man in an assisted-living facility who threatened deputies with a pen...

The Fort Myers man [Byron Black] was shocked by Lee County Sheriff's Office employees on two occasions: while being arrested on Nov. 23 and again in his jail cell on Nov. 27. He died not long after.

Now, I have little sympathy for people who fight with the police. But there is a line somewhere between a dope addict holding a knife and an 83-year old man armed with a ball point. I think that walking that line requires reclassification of the gun to level five, so that it is only used when potentially lethal force is warranted.