My name is Gabriel Nehl and I am a proud alumnus of the University. Upon reading an article in the Bend Bulletin today I learned about the possibility of adding Tasers to the list of weapons available to the Department of Public Safety.
Please don’t do it. A fellow student from my high school was Tasered in Southern Oregon and I strongly believe that the Taser was one of the main causes of his death. I’m sure you are well aware of that case, but even more recently something happened that has directly affected my life. My second cousin was Tasered in Portland during the month of March and died just after. Although toxicology reports came back with high levels of cocaine, I am aware of several eye witnesses who reported that the officer Tasered him four times instead of the recommended two. Whatever the circumstances were of that fateful day I care not to think about anymore.
There is no doubt in my mind that those Tasers will only have a
negative effect on the overall safety of the campus. The use of Tasers and stimulants seems to be even more apparent. It makes sense that if someone is under the influence of a stimulant and then gets more stimulation, a heart attack may follow. I’ve looked at hundreds of the cases that Amnesty International has mentioned. I know the scenario, and I know the environment at
the University. I return there quite often and talk to friends who work in and around campus. Drugs, as you well know, are around any university. Nothing would hurt me more than to see some young,
bright student who made a bad decision one night end up like my cousin did.
The use of batons and pepper spray is plenty sufficient enough. I care deeply about the University and my fellow ducks. The campus is not dangerous enough to allow Tasers to be used; if you put Tasers in the hands of the officers they will use them. I can hear the reasoning now: “Well, they gave us these weapons for a reason, so it only makes sense.”
It doesn’t make sense. A heavy dose of pepper spray does the trick.
I grew up in and around the law enforcement system. My dad was a parole and probation officer and my best friend’s dad was a police officer. My best friend is now an officer here in Bend, and one day at the gym we got talking about the Tasers. He said that they were effective tools, but the problem is in the training officers are taught that Tasers are not fatal. We discussed the situation with my cousin. We both came to the same conclusion. The use of Tasers is effective and should not be fatal, but the reality is that they are a contributing cause of death when the victim may be under the influence of a stimulant, as my cousin was, or a depressant, as was the case at SOU. Either way the sudden shock to the heart causes an irregularity that often results in death.
Please don’t arm the DPS officers with Tasers. It is inevitable that
something will go wrong. There are too many students on prescribed stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin, and there are many other students who may be experimenting with other substances in and around the University.
I can only hope that you will take this letter to heart. From someone who has had to live through the pain that goes along with losing a loved one before his or her time.
Maybe my cousin would have died from an overdose, but the fact that he was Tasered at least twice surely helped to disrupt his already fragile heart. People have problems with drugs and alcohol, and a lot of students who are in college don’t have the guidance that is always needed. They are looking for answers and acceptance, and that may cause them to use drugs or have violent outbreaks. My cousin was not armed or dangerous except to himself. The police could have beat him or pepper-sprayed him and used billyclubs to incapacitate him; I believe the fact that they used Tasers helped to kill him.
You and your colleagues have a very important decision to make; please consider the dangers. If you arm DPS with Tasers, they will use them. It’s human nature. Just look at history. Take your time to make a decision on this, and please make the right decision. Please don’t arm DPS with Tasers.
Gabriel Cassady Nehl lives in Bend