Correction appended: The federal agency that issued a report on Tasers is called the Government Accountability Office.”
The Use of Force/Taser Policy Committee will take public input about how and when Eugene police officers should employ the use of Tasers tonight at 7 p.m. in the EWEB Training Center, 500 East 4th Ave.
The Eugene Police Department has determined it will purchase Tasers for a pilot project, and the committee has constructed a draft of policies ready for public input, said committee chairman John Brown.
“When can the officers deploy a Taser is a huge question, under what circumstances?” he said. The committee looked at existing policies in other communities and took what it felt were the best, Brown said.
Two representatives of the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union will be present to provide input and answer questions, as will be two medical professionals who have conducted independent research on Taser use, said Jeannine Parisi, the police commission coordinator.
“It’s really a cool opportunity to hear about a variety of different perspectives,” she said.
Two Eugene police officers will also be present to answer questions. Lt. Scott Fellman said he has heard support from community members.
“The biggest thing I’ve heard from folks is ‘why don’t we have them already when they are less likely to cause injury or death when nothing else works?’”
Although EPD has been discussing obtaining Tasers for several years, Fellman explained part of the reason the force doesn’t already have them because it has been watching the use of Tasers in other parts of the nation.
Brown said the renewed interest and resulting pilot project were inspired by a use of force incident that ended in a fatality where a Taser could have been an alternative.
Fellman said the use of Tasers comes with risks for officers.
“Sometimes they don’t work, sometimes you miss, sometimes the distance that’s involved is either too close or too far,” he said.
He also said Tasers have the main benefit of being an alternative to using a gun.
“It gives us one more thing that we can use to try to end violent situations without hurting people and come out with the least injury possible,” he said.
For those on the receiving end of the electric shock, there are other kinds of risks. The committee tried to address concerns about use, whether an officer could use the weapon on someone who is in a wheelchair or already handcuffed, and also abuse by creating a way to report their use and track the outcome.
“Obviously, law enforcement using force is not a pretty thing and other options that officers have probably have a better chance of hurting people,” Parisi said.
Fellman said he hopes to see a policy that “gives officers the flexibility to make quick decisions about use of force so they are able to use all the tools they have to keep themselves safe and the people they are serving safe.”
Although public input thus far has been sparse, Brown said, “the little bit of public input we’ve had has stressed a concern about whether or not they’re appropriate for our community.”
After a policy has been created, Brown expects four to six months later EPD and the commission will determine whether Tasers are appropriate for the Eugene community.
“It wasn’t our decision to employ Tasers,” Brown said. “The benefit is the community gets to weigh in before they are employed.”
Parisi agreed.
“We need a sound policy of when’s it appropriate to use these weapons,” she said. “Community input is a very vital part of the process.”
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Taser use by law enforcement
The Government Accountability Office released a report on Taser use by law enforcement in May 2005. Using information from seven law enforcement agencies, the report says all agencies added Taser use to their current use-of-force policies and all officers were trained to use the weapons.
All seven had established policies that Tasers could not be used on children, pregnant subjects or near bystanders or flammable liquids. Individuals who were hit in specific body areas, such as the neck or face, were required to be examined by an emergency room physician.
Law enforcement studied for the report place Taser use differently in their scale of use-of-force that determines when use is appropriate. Most were placed alongside the use of chemical or pepper spray or impact weapons such as a baton.
The report states the difference between a stun gun and a Taser is that Tasers may be used from a distance and do not require contact with the skin to work.
Tasers use two metal barbs to fire up to a distance of 25 feet. The Taser delivers a 50,000 volt shock through the barbs, which causes muscles to involuntarily contract. This incapacitates the individual for the duration of the shock. Individuals take about 10 seconds to recover once the shock has subsided.
Taser guns record the date, time and duration of use that can be downloaded to a computer.