Three-fourths of those Tasered by Chicago cops were black

Chicago Police used stun guns on blacks more than whites, according to a review by the Chicago Tribune of 4,700 uses of the weapon over the last decade.

The newspaper on Friday reported:

While the city’s population is about one-third African-American, nearly three-fourths of those Tasered were black. The paper said the disproportionate use seems to be true against blacks even in largely white neightborhoods.

Since 2005, Chicago has paid or agreed to pay up $23.1 million in lawsuits stemming from the use of stun guns.

Every officer who responds to police calls has a Taser, a television station reported in 2016. Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushed the use of stun guns over conventional guns after the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald in 2015.

This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Three-fourths of those Tasered by Chicago cops were black."