Tasers Aren't Always Non-Lethal

After reading an article about a 56-year old man being tasered 5 times by the Los Angeles police, who subsequently died, I wondered how often people do die from police tasers each year.

According to the website, the Counted, 49 people died from a taser in 2015.  And, as of this writing,  a lesser trend of 16 people have died so far this year.  Another website claims 634 deaths occurred from the period 2001 to 2014.  Altogether, a total of 699 people have been documented to have died from being tasered since 2001.

The truth is that tasers can cause death by creating a cardiac arrhythmia; followed by cardiac arrest, and sometimes death.

Possibly, the lower number of fatalities this year may be due to less aggressive policing.  But, the truth is that tasers aren't necessarily non-lethal.

References:

Dead in an hour: Video shows LA cops tasering grandfather who died in jail: https://www.rt.com/usa/356589-police-taser-dead-jail/

634 Taser-Related Deaths in the United States Since 2001: http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-related-deaths-in-united-states.html

The Counted: People Killed by Police in U.S.: Classification: Tasers: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4551919160687115242#editor/target=post;postID=3399841268420051068

Taser Safety Issues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser_safety_issues