Court ruling limits police use of Taser guns

Dec 30, 2009, 18:42 GMT

San Francisco - A ruling by a federal appeals court in California is expected to dramatically reduce the use of Taser stun guns by police officers, limiting the use of the controversial weapons to situations where officers face an immediate threat to their safety, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

'The objective facts must indicate that the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public,' Judge Kim Wardlaw said in the 3-0 ruling by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling came in the case of a man who was stopped by a police officer in San Diego in 2005 for not wearing a seat belt. Evidence showed that the man was five or six metres from the officer, and facing in the other direction when he was shot with the Taser causing him to fall and break four front teeth.

The court's decision clears the way for the man to file a civil suit against the officer and the police department after the judges found that the policeman had used excessive force.

Tasers have been in use for about three decades and use darts to send a strong electric charge through a victim's body. Police praise the weapons as a useful alternative to deadly weapons, but their growing use in recent years has sparked increasing controversy.

Amnesty International says more than 351 Americans have died since June 2001 after being Tasered.