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Chattanooga: Video of Taser use available, not yet used in court

By: Lauren Gregory
(Contact)

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Jimmy Higdon

A month ago, Deputy Jimmy Higdon fired a Taser at a man who was about to run handcuffed onto Middle Valley Road.

Deputy Higdon and his partner, both with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, had subdued the man, who had a history of mental problems and was being combative, when he broke free and headed toward traffic.

“If ... me and my partner had to go put our hands on him, he would have tried hurting one of us or getting our weapons, because that’s what he told us,” Deputy Higdon said.

Instead, he said, the Taser allowed everyone to escape serious injury.

Deputies and school resource officers in the county have been using the Taser X26s since the end of March, the first time the department issued Tasers. The Tasers are equipped with video and audio recording capabilities, which allow clips to be downloaded and stored with Internal Affairs after a stun gun is deployed.

Deputies feel more comfortable knowing their actions are being recorded, especially because suspects who are Tased usually file lawsuits, said Deputy Higdon, also a Taser instructor, who recorded 28 minutes of footage during his encounter on Middle Valley Road.

“Any suspect could easily say, ‘I wasn’t acting up, I told I’d him do this and this. He Tased me for no reason,’” he said. “It’s just his word against my word.”

Instead, a video, which begins recording when a device is turned on, is evidence of justifiable or nonjustifiable use of the equipment.

Recordings have not yet been used in court, but deputies know lawsuits involving Tasers are inevitable and plan for defense attorneys to request footage, Deputy Higdon said.

“(Defense attorneys are) going to look at everything in the video to see if there was slight discrepancies, if you might have done something wrong, or if you weren’t justified in using less lethal force,” he said.

All deputies carrying Tasers went through training before being issued one, he said.

That training included being hit with the probes or being dry stunned, which is when the Taser comes in direct contact with a person and sends a charge through his body without the probes, department spokesman Dusty Stokes said.

“They’re not out there just Tasing (suspects) just for the fun of it, because it hurts very, very badly,” he said.

All Tasers also are checked for battery life and tested before each deputy’s shift, he said.

Since receiving them, suspect and officer injuries have decreased, officials said.

Chattanooga police officers have Tasers, but not models with video and audio capabilities, Assistant Chief Mike Williams said. When the department decides to buy new ones, it probably will buy the most current version, he said.

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