Portland police supervisors haven't held officers accountable for failing to use stun guns in five-second cycles and waiting between each cycle to evaluate if more are needed, federal investigators say.

Officers have used Tasers in bursts of up to 13 seconds and fired second cycles without pausing to allow a suspect to follow police commands, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's latest compliance report on mandated police reforms.

The federal review said the officers routinely are violating Police Bureau policy and a 2014 settlement agreement between the city and the Justice Department, and supervisors aren't identifying the policy breaches.

The court-adopted settlement followed a 2012 federal investigation that found excessive and unjustified use of Tasers by police against people with mental illness, including unnecessary multiple cycles without pause.

It spurred police to adopt a more restrictive policy in December 2014.

But the Justice Department review looked at the bureau's use-of-force and after-action reports over the past year to determine that officers aren't familiar with the new limits and that supervisors need better training to deliver informed critiques.

Tasers fire sharp electrodes that are designed to subdue a person. They can cause pain, disorientation and loss of balance. They also can cause serious injuries and even death if someone falls when they lose muscle control.

Bureau policy requires officers to stop each stun gun cycle after five seconds, see if subsequent cycles are necessary, wait a reasonable time to allow the person to comply between each cycle, and give a warning of a stun gun use, unless the wait would endanger officers or others.

The Justice Department identified "many instances" when officers violated all those provisions, including in one case using a Taser on someone who was already restrained, its report said.

"Too often, supervisors found these impermissible uses of force to be within policy," the department's report said.

Justice officials observed bureau Taser training last spring and fall and said instructors must more clearly explain the limits, including what constitutes one stun cycle, what should happen after each cycle and that officers shouldn't fire more than three stun cycles unless circumstances warrant and then only to avoid a higher level of force. The training also must be geared to supervisors to ensure officers are following the policy.

In one instance, an officer fired a stun gun during a struggle. Another officer involved in the fight told the sergeant reviewing the use of force that he "thought the Taser had cycled for 11 seconds." The Taser download report confirmed this: one cycle for six seconds and an immediate second cycle of five seconds.

The sergeant's after-action report found the Taser use "consistent with PPB Policy, the DOJ agreement and best practices." More senior supervisors reached substantially the same conclusions, all contrary to police policy and the settlement, according to Justice officials.

"Based on our interviews with supervisors, some still improperly endorse cycling beyond five seconds, counter to the bureau's new policy," the federal report said.

The Police Bureau has issued officers a new Taser Model X2 battery configuration that allows only a five-second cycle. The new batteries ensure the stun guns will not cycle for a period of more than five seconds continuously, said Sgt. Chris Burley, police spokesman.

But the Justice Department noted that officers still can fire cycles in rapid succession with the new battery system. Even with the new equipment, "it is important to continue to emphasize the five-second rule," its report said.

The Taser restrictions, as of Aug. 19, were moved from a separate directive into the bureau's new umbrella use-of-force policy, which should help signify their importance, police and Justice officials said. Since then, officers don't appear to have used their Tasers beyond the allowed three cycles, Burley said.

City-hired compliance consultants, in a separate report submitted to the court in late December, noted that the bureau had changed its Taser policy, but said the bureau "still has an obligation to train to the policy and ensure that officers and supervisors adhere to the policy."

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian