The recent tasing of 21 year old Jess Cooke by a Border Patrol agent in Waddington last Thursday(May 7) is disturbing. According to a statement on facebook attributed to Cooke ,the male Customs & Border Patrol(CBP) agent threw her to the ground and the female agent tased her in the back until she stopped screaming.
In the four and one half minute video Cooke begins screaming at 3:02. At 3:56 Cooke can still be heard screaming get it out of me. The audio portion of the video indicates the female officer may have tased Cooke for 54 seconds or more.
The “2011 Electronic Device Control Guidelines” established by the Police Executive Research Forum with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice, clearly indicate that “...exposure to the ECW (Taser) for longer than 15 seconds (whether due to multiple applications or continuous cycling) may increase the risk of death or serious injury.”
These guidelines also indicate that all subjects who have been tased should receive a medical evaluation by emergency medical responders in the field or at a medical facility. Subjects exposed to prolonged application (i.e., more than 15 seconds) should be transported to an emergency department for evaluation.
It appears Cooke was tased four times longer than guidelines recommended for her situation. It also appears that CBP should have ensured that Cooke had a medical evaluation, since more than 40 people are killed each year by law enforcement officers deploying tasers.
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