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Racial Disparities in Connecticut Stun Gun Use

Tony Webster
/
Creative Commons

Preliminary data obtained by The Associated Press show that officers in Connecticut fired stun guns at blacks and Hispanics at a higher rate than at white suspects, and warned but didn't fire at white suspects at a higher rate than they did blacks or Hispanics.

A 2014 law made Connecticut the first state in the country to require police to document each use of a stun gun and report it to state officials.

The figures show state and municipal officers fired their stun guns 437 times and threatened to use them another 204 times.

Officers fired their stun guns 60 percent of the time in cases involving whites, 80 percent of the time in cases involving blacks and 69 percent of the time in cases involving Hispanics.

A report is due possibly by the end of February.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.

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