Should police immediately interrogate suspects who have been shocked with an electronic stun gun called a Taser? Or should they allow them time to recover? A new study says they should wait.
Police should wait at least one hour after shocking a suspect with a Taser before interrogating them. That's according to Mike White, a professor at Arizona State University who designed an experiment where more than 140 volunteers were exposed to a Taser shock and then administered a battery of cognitive tests.
"What we found was that after Taser exposure participants had much more difficulty recalling the words that were read to them," said White.
White's study, published in Criminology and Public Policy, found the brain impairment was temporary, lasting about an hour. But he thinks during that time window suspects would be more likely to give inaccurate details to police or waive their right to remain silent or have a lawyer -- Miranda rights.
"If someone is Mirandized and they waive their Miranda rights, but it's later determined that that waiver was invalid, any statements that the suspect made are inadmissible in court," said White. "So you're talking about potential criminal cases that might be threatened in terms of losing evidence."
White said Tasers are useful for police. He says the devices save lives, but he thinks the 60-minute "no interrogation" window would protect suspects, reduce the likelihood of false confessions, and better insulate law enforcement against civil liberty violation claims.
Meanwhile, Connecticut lawmakers are currently looking at how Tasers are used in the state. Data from 2015 showed officers who pulled out their stun guns fired them more frequently in confrontations involving blacks and Hispanics than they did with whites.
A full analysis of the 2015 numbers is due in the coming weeks.
