Family members of a man who died after being hit by a Taser struggled yesterday with Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert White's ruling that officers used appropriate force.
"My family and I are very disappointed about the findings," said Jamar Noles, whose father, 52-year-old Larry Noles, died after the incident.
Noles died Sept. 5 after Officer Michael Campbell used his Taser to try to subdue Noles while Noles was standing naked in the middle of the road at Seventh Street and Algonquin Parkway. Police say Noles was agitated and combative.
White issued his decision yesterday after an internal investigation into whether the officers followed proper department procedure.
Two other officers, Michael Metzler and Timothy Nett, who responded as backup also were investigated and cleared in the case.
Autopsy results released in November found the Taser did not play a role in Noles' death.White said in a letter to each of the officers that all force used against Noles was "reasonable" and within department policy."The officers' actions were proper," White said yesterday during a press conference.
White said the department continues to review the current Taser policy, which will undergo some changes.
"They are not significant changes," White said, but added that some will provide more specificity to the policy.
The review was scheduled because the Taser has only been in use for about two years, but this incident reinforced the importance of the review, White said.
All the officers were cleared of criminal wrongdoing in December after Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel announced he believed the officers acted appropriately.
In November, the Jefferson County coroner's office released Noles' autopsy, which included a medical examiner's ruling that Noles died because of excited delirium and not the Taser.
Excited delirium, known also as Bell's mania, typically affects people with a history of mental illness, alcoholism or drug addiction.
No drugs or alcohol were found in Noles' system.
Noles' death set off a public outcry from his family and some community activists who said Tasers, though considered to be a less-lethal option, should be banned.
Noles' two sons have said they don't believe that their father's death was not related to the Taser, despite acknowledging he had a history of mental illness.
"We can't accept that he got excited delirium … and fell out and died," Jamar Noles said yesterday.
Tasers fire two probes attached to 21-foot wires that send 50,000 volts of electricity into a person. If the probes connect properly, the shock causes the person to lose muscle control.
All metro police officers and sergeants carry the weapon, which can also be applied directly to someone to deliver a less potent shock.
White said Campbell fired his Taser at Noles after attempts to verbally calm him failed. The initial probes had no effect on Noles' behavior, White said.
After the first attempt failed, Campbell used his Taser two more times by applying it directly to Noles. The autopsy report on Noles showed that he had three wounds from the Taser on the chest and in the neck area. Campbell was found to have violated a department rule because he did not have a CPR mask with him, which is required to protect him from bodily fluids.
White said that violation would not have changed the outcome of the incident. White ordered that Campbell receive instruction about the policy and have the violation noted in his personnel file.
Beth Wilson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said White's decision does not lessen the group's concerns about the use of Tasers.
"Tasers are a fairly new device," Wilson said. "There's growing evidence that they cause greater risk for injury and harm than originally expected."
Wilson said there needs to be more independent, scientific study into the devices nationally.
But White said he remains confident that they are a valuable tool for metro officers to use.
"I feel comfortable with the use of Tasers," he said.