A town hall forum Thursday on the Eugene Police Department’s use of Tasers may not have solved the contentious debate within the community, but the moderator said he was glad to see people with divergent views talking to each other.
About 65 people with a broad range of perspectives on the electroshock weapons – those who want them banished, those who first want more training for police officers, those who think Tasers can save lives – attended the meeting hosted by the Citizens for Public Accountability and Communities for Ethical Law Enforcement.
“We would have liked more people who were sympathetic to Tasers,” said moderator Randy Prince, who is affiliated with both of the organizations that planned the forum. At one point during the meeting, Prince defended a woman in a pro-Taser T-shirt, saying “We’re not going to get anywhere talking to the usual suspects.”
Four panelists offered very different positions on the use of Tasers. Jeff Salisbury, the father of University student Ryan Salisbury, who was fatally shot by police officers in 2006, advocated the use of Tasers in situations where lethal force is not necessary. Jeff Salisbury argued that if police had another option to stop his adrenaline-filled, mentally ill son, Ryan Salisbury may not have been shot.
However, Jeff Salisbury stressed the need for police officers to be properly trained and use restraint with the weapons.
David Fidanque, American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon executive director, said if Tasers are going to be used in lieu of deadly force, police officers still need to have the option to fire guns after attempting to shock. “If Tasers could reduce firearm deaths, the ACLU supports that,” he said.
Hugh Massengill, a former member of the police commission, said he had seen persons tasered and predicted lawsuits would be filed in the future against the City of Eugene. Anti-Taser attorney Lauren Regan called the devices “the new toy for the bully in the sandbox.” Regan directly challenged Jeff Salisbury’s premise that Tasers may have saved his son.
Denise Salisbury, Ryan’s mother, later retorted, “I would give anything to hear my son talk about his five seconds of excruciating pain at this meeting tonight, but he can’t.”
Audience members expressed fear of Tasers and the device’s potential to suppress free speech. One man called them torture devices, and another speculated that the military may be testing the weapons on citizens.
City council members Andrea Ortiz and George Brown attended, as did police commission chairwoman Tamara Miller and interim police auditor Dawn Reynolds.
Local activist Zachary Vishanoff said the city should stop using Tasers until it orders ones equipped with cameras. Some of EPD’s Tasers already feature cameras that begin filming when the gun’s safety is released.
The city will not acquiesce in its use of Tasers, Vishanoff said, because it is in “Just-Do-It mode.” He challenged Miller to introduce a motion in the police commission to halt use of the weapons and order new ones equipped with cameras. Miller said she would consider bringing it up on a subcommittee.
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