LA hospital bans police stun gun use on patients [View All]

LA hospital bans police stun gun use on patients

The Associated Press
Last Updated: June 24, 2004, 05:10:14 AM PDT


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center has temporarily barred police from using Taser stun guns to subdue mental patients after federal health officials threatened to pull tens of millions of dollars in funding.

Eight patients in the past year have been shot with Tasers by Los Angeles County public safety officers. Federal officials said earlier this month that psychiatric patients were in "immediate jeopardy" of harm.

According to a federal report, one patient was shot with Taser darts four times in February after he hit and bit officers. He finally was placed in restraints. In June 2003, a patient who had grabbed a worker by the neck was shot four or five times.

Some patients shot with Taser darts suffered injuries but none died.

more... http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/8753997p-9633565c.html