The University’s administration is exploring the possibility of arming campus public safety officers with Tasers after a request by the Department of Public Safety.
Granting the request would make the University the second higher-education institution in the state to have Tasers, or less-lethal electroshock guns.
The request comes two months after a 52-year-old man grappled in water with two DPS officers near the Eugene Millrace by campus, at times holding them underwater.
The administration asked DPS to provide evidence as well as pros and cons about the need for Tasers but has not made a decision, a timeline or a process for making the decision, according to a University press release.
“It’s my understanding that it’s not a dead issue; they’re looking at it,” DPS officer Scott Cameron said. “And rightly so. I wouldn’t want them to rush into it. I would want them to look into it from several angles.”
DPS is like a police department for the campus, and officers regularly contact non-University members on campus who are breaking the law, have warrants or pose a threat, Cameron said.
“We’re being asked to do a much more difficult job than 10 years ago,” Cameron said. “We’re not locking doors. We’re contacting bad guys.”
Tasers are a good, nonlethal alternative that would enable officers to do their job more safely by allowing them to put physical distance between them and a suspect, Cameron said.
The Emerald’s March 20 story about the man who tried to drown the two officers generated more than 30 comments online, many of them between DPS officers and anonymous community members.
DPS officer Chris Philips responded to several posts that accused DPS of trying to use the story to gather support for them carrying weapons.
“The attempted murder of two Officers should not be construed by readers as a rallying cry to obtain weapons, but should simply serve as a reminder to everyone in the campus community that there are some real BAD people that come onto this campus; people that Officers have contact with on a regular basis,” Philips wrote March 27. “I and many other Officers have had the experience of being threatened with everything from knives to screwdrivers to bolt cutters.”
Tasers are a nonlethal alternative to deadly force and can help law officers end a potentially dangerous confrontation safely, according to a May 19 article at a law enforcement resource Web site, www.policeone.com.
Critics say Tasers can cause more damage – even death – than other law enforcement tools like a baton or pepper spray, and officers shouldn’t be allowed to use them because Tasers can lead to cardiac arrest, according to a Jan. 10, 2005, article on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Web site.
Oregon Health and Science University is currently the only higher education institution in the Oregon that allows its public safety officers to carry Tasers, according to an OHSU Web site.