OAKLAND, Calif.—Officers with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District have been ordered to turn in their stun guns, two weeks after a BART officer fired one of the weapons at a teenage suspect. However, a BART spokesman said the move was part of a plan for officers to undergo additional training and had "very little to do" with the April 1 incident.
KTVU-TV reported Thursday that after the order was issued, officers were turning in their stun guns at the headquarters at the Lake Merritt BART station.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson said nobody was "hit or hurt" in the April 1 incident at the Richmond BART station, which involved a BART officer firing a stun gun at a teen. He declined to release details, citing an internal investigation and privacy concerns.
Johnson added that the decision on training was made before the April 1 incident, and was related to recent court rulings involving the use of stun guns. However, he said the April 1 incident "accelerated the implementation" of the order.
In a case in December, a federal appeals court set down strict guidelines for when police officers may use stun guns.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Coronado, Calif., police officer used excessive force when he used his stun gun on an unarmed, nonviolent suspect.
The appeals court ruled police should use a stun gun only in threatening situations because it inflicts more pain than other so-called nonlethal weapons at an officer's disposal.
Interim BART police chief Daschel Butler told KTVU-TV that after BART officers undergo the additional training, their stun guns will be reissued with "weak-hand draw holsters," or holsters located on the opposite side of an officer's dominant hand.
Stun gun use by BART officers is a focal point of Johannes Mehserle's defense in the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant, 22, at an Oakland train station on New Year's Day 2009.
Mehserle's attorney has contended that Mehserle accidentally grabbed his pistol instead of his stun gun when he shot Grant.
Mehserle, 28, has pleaded not guilty to murder
KTVU-TV reported Thursday that after the order was issued, officers were turning in their stun guns at the headquarters at the Lake Merritt BART station.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson said nobody was "hit or hurt" in the April 1 incident at the Richmond BART station, which involved a BART officer firing a stun gun at a teen. He declined to release details, citing an internal investigation and privacy concerns.
Johnson added that the decision on training was made before the April 1 incident, and was related to recent court rulings involving the use of stun guns. However, he said the April 1 incident "accelerated the implementation" of the order.
In a case in December, a federal appeals court set down strict guidelines for when police officers may use stun guns.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Coronado, Calif., police officer used excessive force when he used his stun gun on an unarmed, nonviolent suspect.
The appeals court ruled police should use a stun gun only in threatening situations because it inflicts more pain than other so-called nonlethal weapons at an officer's disposal.
Interim BART police chief Daschel Butler told KTVU-TV that after BART officers undergo the additional training, their stun guns will be reissued with "weak-hand draw holsters," or holsters located on the opposite side of an officer's dominant hand.
Stun gun use by BART officers is a focal point of Johannes Mehserle's defense in the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant, 22, at an Oakland train station on New Year's Day 2009.
Mehserle's attorney has contended that Mehserle accidentally grabbed his pistol instead of his stun gun when he shot Grant.
Mehserle, 28, has pleaded not guilty to murder
