When a man wielding a metal bat charged at police officers outside a southeast Las Vegas Valley apartment complex in September, Metropolitan Police Department officers deployed an electronic control device — some of these are more popularly known as Tasers — in an effort to stop him.
It didn’t work, police said. When the man wasn’t incapacitated by the device officers tried deploying the device again. But at the same time, another officer made the decision to use lethal force, firing two rounds at 42-year-old Kyle Norris.
This fatal shooting was the ninth of 17 total shootings by a Metro officer in 2024, a number that jumped 70 percent from 10 shootings in 2023. Of the 17 shootings, nine of them were fatal. In 2023, five were fatal. Metro did not comment on the rise in shootings.
But why did a device designed to incapacitate someone while reducing the odds that the incident turns fatal fail to stop Norris from advancing towards officers? Experts said it’s not uncommon. According to data released by Metro, the devices are effective around 70 percent of the time.
In a reality where no less-lethal option is 100 percent effective, David Sweeney, who works as an expert witness on police use of force after retiring from the Seattle Police Department, said it’s up to each individual officer to choose the best option. “It’s them with their finger on the trigger of that Taser or the trigger of that handgun,” Sweeney said.
What is an electronic control device?
Electronic control devices are one of several less-lethal options police officers can turn to when faced with a threat, experts explained. Metro officers are required to carry them and use Taser brand devices, according to officer Robert Wicks, a Metro spokesperson.
It’s also one of the few less-lethal tools that can actually incapacitate somebody, said Spencer Fomby, an expert witness on police practices and a retired police captain who worked for police departments in Boise and Berkeley.
The device shoots out two darts. “One goes straight, so it goes right where you’re aiming, and the other one goes down at an angle,” Sweeney explained.
When the darts connect with the body, an electrical current is created that incapacitates the muscles in between.
“It’s very painful,” Sweeney said. “If you do it right, you can generally make someone unable to stand.”
But some people, like Norris, don’t fall to the ground. This can happen for a number of reasons, one being if the suspect is wearing thick clothing that prevents the darts from embedding properly.
Sweeney explained that the wires the darts are attached to are thin and breakable. If someone has the foresight to swipe the wire away, they can prevent the incapacitating effect.
And if officers fire from a shorter distance or the darts land close together on someone’s body, fewer muscles will be incapacitated.
These possibilities mean that electronic control devices tend to fail in the field on some occasions, and Fomby said that Metro’s average of a 70 percent “success” rate is quite high compared to some police departments.
Used 177 times by Metro officers in 2023
Sweeney said he spent years training officers on the appropriate tools to use based on the level of threat they’re facing. “There’s pros and cons to every force option that an officer is going to carry,” he said. “There’s no perfect tool.”
Alongside an electronic control device, an officer might carry pepper spray or a nightstick, a short but heavy stick sometimes carried as a weapon, in addition to a firearm. Officers also have the option to try and deescalate a dangerous situation without a tool, using their hands or their words.
“Any reasonably ‘tool’ that can accomplish the task should be considered,” wrote Robert Louden, professor emeritus of criminal justice at New Jersey’s Georgian Court University, in a statement. “A general guideline is to only use that amount of force necessary to overcome resistance.”
According to Metro’s most recent annual use of force report for 2023, less-lethal options were used 13 times during events that ultimately turned into an officer-involved shooting. Electronic control devices were the most common choice, being used 6 times.Other less-lethal options include projectile weapons and dog bites.
In 2023, electronic control devices were used 177 times in total, and were effective 69 percent of the time. The most common use of non-deadly force was “empty hand tactics,” the report said, which is when officers use bodily force to control a situation. “Empty hand tactics” were used 627 times in 2023.
When Tasers first came to Seattle, Sweeney said that he saw police officers relying on them heavily. “They forgot about one of their greatest tools, which is their brain and their mouth and the ability to talk someone into getting them to do what you want,” Sweeney said.
Discussion, concerns around use of force
Often, there exists a feeling of inevitability surrounding the use of force, said Christopher Peterson, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada. When less-lethal options don’t work, officers use their firearms, he said. This is a tactic that Sweeney said is commonly used. While one or more officers attempt to use less-lethal force, other officers will provide a lethal cover, standing ready to use their firearm.
“It’s an escalation until someone is incapacitated,” Peterson said. “Once you start on that road, it just ramps up.”
Peterson said he finds the idea that a failed use of less-lethal force means that police need to automatically shift to the next step — lethal force — concerning. “There’s still a jump that needs to be made before you can shoot somebody,” he said.
But in what Louden described as quickly unfolding encounters that often occur in front of watchful eyes, a “series of thoughts race through the cop’s brain.” An officer needs to decide who may be in immediate danger — including themselves — and quickly, Louden explained.
Experts agreed that there are many factors that must be analyzed when determining whether or not a use of force is appropriate. One of these factors, according to Sweeney, is experience.
“It’s unfortunate that when you mess up at a restaurant and you’re a new server, somebody didn’t get their meal properly. When you mess up and and you’re a police officer — you’re brand new — someone can lose their life.”
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estelleatkinson.bsky.social on Bluesky and @estellelilym on X.
