Although students demonstrated some concern over the use of Tasers on campus at a public meeting with Department of Public Safety Director Kevin Williams last week, the devices will likely reach campus through another source – the Eugene Police Department.
EPD officers who patrol on campus will soon participate in a Taser training program, which will qualify them to carry the weapons with them while they patrol the University.
“The Taser will be here on campus, so any of the officers can check it out and carry it while they’re working,” said EPD Sgt. Mark Montes.
Once all the officers have completed the training, they will be able to carry the weapon on their belts during their entire 10-hour campus shift unless they are not in uniform or are giving a presentation that does not require a Taser.
EPD spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said officers began taking a one-day Taser course this week in small groups. By the end of the training, most of the city’s 179 sworn officers will know how to operate Tasers and may carry one of the 40 weapons EPD has purchased.
Kletzok said EPD is only putting the Tasers through a trial run for now. After they have used the Tasers in the field enough times to gather and analyze a sufficient amount of data, they will decide whether to employ Tasers full-time.
“Every time a Taser is used, an EPD sergeant gets called to the scene,” Kletzok said. “They have to compile a report, and that will be reviewed later. They’ll look at what types of situations they were used in and whether they were effective.”
The introduction to Tasers in Eugene was a careful one. For the past two years, the city has conferred numerous times with the American Civil Liberties Union, police commission members and concerned local residents “to come up with a policy that works for the city of Eugene,” Kletzok said.
Montes said the city “wanted to table it until after there was some more research on Tasers.”
According to Kletzok, public opinion contributed “quite a bit” to the Taser policy Police Chief Robert Lehner released Jan. 28for the pilot project. For example, officers are forbidden to use Tasers on people who only verbally or passively resist arrest. They are also forbidden to use Tasers at a demonstration or protest without permission from the police chief unless the circumstances are extreme.
But some students are still unhappy they are being used at all. ASUO President Emily McLain made it clear at last week’s meeting that she and other ASUO executives were firmly opposed to the use of the weapons on campus.
Other University students expressed worry that EPD will soon carry Tasers with them.
“I think Tasers are a little bit too much,” said Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group member Sebastian Slomkowski. “They already have pepper spray, and that’s enough to hurt someone.”
Slomkowski said officers who make a mistake when they use a Taser might fatally injure their target.
Student Antonia Maurer said using Tasers is “a horrible idea. They seem so violent and medieval.”
Kevin Williams said last week that he is “committed to bringing Tasers” to campus public safety officers “at the right time,” but not in the very near future.
“I’ve got too many other things on my plate right now,” Williams said.
[email protected]