Should guards have Tasers?

In light of Tyree’s beating death two years ago, debate continues as 40 get them

Social justice advocates Thursday marked the second anniversary of an inmate’s beating death at the hands of Santa Clara County correctional officers by holding a rally outside the facility where he was slain to protest a pending proposal to equip jail guards with Tasers.

Michael Tyree was fatally beaten in August, 2015 by three jail guards who were convicted in late May of second-degree murder. The killing of the 31-year-old mentally ill inmate sparked public outrage, fueled a lawsuit over jail conditions and led to reforms, including a jail-diversion program for mentally ill low-level offenders like Tyree.

Arming correctional officers with Tasers, which shoot probes that emit an electrical current, would be a step back from the progress the county has made, about 25 protesters gathered outside the Main Jail complex on Hedding Street contended. The group, including the NAACP and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, carried signs calling for “Tampons not Tasers” and saying, “Jail should not be a death sentence; Remember Michael Tyree.”

Citing serious concerns about the safety of correctional officers, Sheriff Laurie Smith dropped her longstanding opposition earlier this year and proposed arming about 40 of nearly 800 correctional officers with Tasers , and closely tracking their use. County supervisors set aside $45,000 for the pilot project, but led by Supervisor Joe Simitian prohibited the sheriff from tapping the funds until she comes up with a use policy that meets with their approval.

But to the protesters, there is no such thing as a good Taser policy. They pointed out that Tyree’s killers — Jereh Lubrin, Matthew Farris and Rafael Rodriguez — didn’t abide by the sheriff’s use of force policy when they beat Tyree after he mouthed off irrationally earlier that evening, calling a jail nurse a “rapist.”

“We just don’t believe that arming the staff with a deadly weapon makes sense,” said Richard Konda of the Asian Law Alliance. “If they need more staff to feel safe, we would support that.”

Public Defender Molly O’Neal, agreed, saying the timing was wrong for allowing the devices and adding, “I don’t think they are worth the risk.” Mentally ill inmates who take medication are particularly vulnerable to suffering side effects or dying from being shot with a stun gun, though deaths are relatively rare and sources said the sheriff is considering excluding their use in the jail’s mental health ward.

Taser International, which changed its name earlier this year to Axon Enterprise, is the principal manufacturer of the “electronic control devices” and told Reuters recently that its weapons are almost never to blame when someone dies after being stunned.

But advocates, including unions that represent sheriff’s deputies and correctional officers, say “less than lethal” electronic control devices are an essential tool to save lives because they can break up vicious fights between inmates, and attacks on them in situations where pepper spray is ineffective.

For instance, in late March, two men ambushed another inmate and stabbed him dozens of times with homemade shivs, despite being doused with pepper spray by more than one officer. The fight broke up only when multiple officers arrived.

Jail dorms are also frequently staffed by just one guard — at a time when more than 40 inmates at a time can be mingling in the pod, as the result of legal agreements between inmate rights groups and the county that call for more out-of-cell time.

The jail also houses more higher-risk inmates than it used to, including members of the Nuestra Familia and other Northern California gangs. And advocates also point out that as a result of a federal lawsuit, the county and the Prison Law Office have overhauled the use of force policy for the jail, greatly increasing inmates’ rights. For instance, intentional cruel punishment, such as once-common public humiliation, is prohibited under any circumstances.

Amy Le, president of the Santa Clara County Correctional Peace Officers Association, said her members aren’t seeking the right to use the devices indiscriminately.

“I wouldn’t condone or accept just using it blindly,’’ Le said, pointing out that at least 36 counties, including Alameda, San Francisco, Orange and Los Angeles, allow sheriff’s deputies and correctional officers to use stun guns.

But opponents said not enough time has passed for the community to trust correctional officers again. Some at the rally pointed to the fact that at least a dozen guards — including the previous president of the correctional officers union, who was fired as a result — repeatedly exchanged racist text messages, mixing vile slurs with casual brutality, and even sharing images of a Nazi swastika and a lynching.

“A culture doesn’t change overnight,” said Shannon Tyree, one of Michael Tyree’s sisters wrote in a letter read at the protest, “and I believe too much opportunity for the misuse of these Tasers exists.”

And protesters read aloud a letter from a group of Santa Clara County inmates who call themselves Prisoners United and denounced stun guns as “tortuous, dangerous” weapons.

In the end, the risk of being sued may dissuade or stall the county from equipping correctional officers with Tasers. Last year, the county paid $3.6 million to settle an excessive force claim filed by the family of Michael Tyree, most of which was given to his young daughter. Simitian cited liability concerns as a factor for proceeding cautiously in May. And four years ago, a federal jury in San Jose awarded $1 million to the family of Steve Salinas, an overweight man who was high on PCP and died after being repeatedly zapped by San Jose police.

Contact Tracey Kaplan at 408-278-3482.