US police more likely to use tasers on minorities: Report

A new report suggests police in the US state of Connecticut are more likely to use stun guns on minorities, another shocking revelation about police brutality in the country.

The report shows Hispanics shot with stun guns, or tasers, were more likely to be fired upon multiple times than other racial groups in 2015.
The report is based on an analysis of the first statewide data of police stun gun use in the United States. According to the data, Connecticut officers fired their stun guns at 419 people last year.
The majority of those targeted were Hispanics and African Americans with many of them shocked twice and more.
“With this basic information you can start asking more questions and figure out whether policies governing Tasers need to be modified,” said Michael Lawlor, Connecticut undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning.
“I’m sure over time it will have a big impact. You can expect the use of tasers will change simply because law enforcement is aware this data is being collected and reported publicly,” Lawlor said.
The report also found that one-third of people involved in police taser incidents were described as “emotionally disturbed” and 13 percent were labeled as “suicidal.”
The report comes as police across the US face mounting criticism for racial profiling, use of excessive force and discrimination against minorities.
Although stun guns have been billed as non-lethal alternatives to firearms, they have many times resulted in deaths.