The Houston Police Department (HPD) just concluded its own internal investigation regarding the use of Tasers. After 1,700 separate incidents in which Tasers were used intentionally, only about 70 complaints were filed.

The department investigated each complaint and disciplined only a few officers. What is worthy of note is that not one of the events resulting in reprimanding the officers was over an incident that happened while on duty.

HPD disciplined the five officers for repeatedly discharging Tasers and threatening people with the non lethal weapons while off duty. The oddest incident of the bunch involved an officer brandishing a Taser while involved in a dispute in an elementary school carpool line.

Shirley Baker, grandmother of a boy who was shocked by his HPD officer stepfather, asked, “If that is how they deal with family problems, how are they dealing with the public?”

A valid question. However, the extremely small percentage of complaints – all of them for off duty incidents – reflects the high caliber of Houston’s finest. In the honorable tradition of Texas Rangers, personal integrity is what makes the difference on duty or off duty.

HPD first purchased hundreds of Tasers in late 2004. Public criticism was quick to surface, especially when officers often used them on people who were unarmed or were not armed. In addition, the majority of targets were black, which raised the question of racial motivation.

Tasers are the most carefully scrutinized of all the weapons in the HPD’s arsenal.