Supervisors at North Carolina's maximum-security prisons are getting Tasers to help break up fights. But critics worry that the stun guns could endanger the lives of some inmates.
The devices have been given to hundreds of supervisors at seven maximum security prisons and will be issued to those in five more. The stun guns are designed to immobilize attackers with high-voltage shocks.
But some prison advocates say the Tasers could prove deadly to inmates with heart problems. They point to a 2012 study that found stun guns can cause cardiac arrest. And a 2017 Reuters investigation uncovered 104 deaths involving Tasers in prisons and jails.
North Carolina Department of Public Safety spokesman John Bell told The Charlotte Observer that the stun guns “provide safety and security in the close custody prisons.” He says Tasers have been used to break up 12 assaults since a pilot program began last year.
But the inmate advocacy group North Carolina CURE questioned whether officers would know which inmates had heart conditions that could make them vulnerable to death or injury.
The North Carolina ACLU has also expressed concern about the devices, adding that harsh conditions during the coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated an already tense living environment.