Chief recommends firing officers who used stun gun

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City's police chief has recommended firing two officers for allegedly misusing a Taser stun gun on a handcuffed man last year.

The officers, David Easley and Matthew Howell, and Chief Jim Corwin met before the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners Wednesday.

The board questioned them about the Aug. 10, 2004, arrest of a suspected car thief.

The board expects to make a decision on the case after attorneys give closing arguments, possibly next week.

A camera in a patrol car recorded the officers arresting a 24-year-old Kansas City man last year. When the suspect tried to run from police, Howell fired the stun gun and hit the man in the back. The suspect was then handcuffed.

More shots from the gun followed when the suspect tried to pull an electrode from his back, a procedure police officials say meets department policy. Another jolt was given when the suspect rolled from Howell when he searched him and found a knife.

Before the fifth use of the gun, Easley allegedly told Howell to ''hit him again.''

Corwin said that crossed the line and told the board he recommended the officers be fired. Easley, however, was not facing discipline Wednesday.

Corwin said it looked as if the officers were abusing the suspect and punishing him because he refused to stop talking.

''I was very concerned ... after viewing the totality of it,'' Corwin said.

He said their misuse of the weapon that shoots an electrical shock could threaten the department's ability to continue using Tasers.

Easley, 34, told the board he was only bluffing and hoped to scare the suspect into cooperating when he said ''hit him again.'' Howell, 39, testified that he thought the suspect was resisting arrest when he said he wasn't going to jail and he fired the stun gun a final time.

The officers said the suspect never complained of any injuries.

Larry Rebman, an attorney for the officers, questioned if the department gave adequate training on the stun guns.

Rebman said police policies on the devices' use were changed two months before the incident. Previously, officers were allowed to use them on someone passively resisting arrest, he said.

He also gave examples of other officers who faced lesser punishments for similar incidents.