The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
City OK's purchase of tasers for police
Resolution adopted with one nay vote
By Elaine Burnett, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: January 24, 2008
Ypsilanti City Council members last Thursday night continued discussion over the purchase of Tasers for the city's police force.
Advertisement
The resolution to purchase a number of Tasers for the city's police force was adopted with Councilman Brian Robb, D-3rd Ward, casting the lone dissenting vote.
During City Council's last meeting, Police Chief Matt Harshberger was asked to do some more research on the effects and cost of providing Tasers to officers.
"I had a little homework assignment from the last time that we meet concerning the Tasers. I pretty much have concluded that homework assignment," Harshberger said.
Harshberger passed out packets to the members of Council and to the audience to look over, while he made his presentation to them.
"The packet that I handed out has the letter that I received from the Michigan Municipal league of loss Control Services," he said.
Some of the city council member had questions and comments about the Taser information Harshberger presented.
Lois Richardson, D-1st Ward, asked Harshberger what actions would be taken if an officer used the Taser inappropriately.
Harshberger said that if an officer used a Taser inappropriately then they would face disciplinary action.
"The Taser policy actually spells that out for inappropriate use and they also will lose their right and privilege, I should say, to use the Taser."
Harshberger said that officers should only use Tasers in physical situations.
In contrast, Richardson asked about Taser training for officers.
"It's a six-hour block where they will be recommended. They learn basically the entire policy from page to page to page," he said. "They learn the use of the weapon and they go through scenario-based training, and then we do hands on where they actually have to discharge two to four cartridges and then it is recommended that they experience a Taser on themselves, which I will be taken," he said.
Harshberger pointed out the restrictions for using the Taser to the City Council members from the packet.
"The Taser should not be used on subjects that an officer believes to be less 15 years of age unless is the only the reasonable force option available to the officer," he said.
"The Taser should not be used on a known, or obviously, pregnant woman unless the circumstances of situation are so grave that intervention with the Taser is the only way to safely assist the woman or take her into custody."
The policy also states that the Taser should not be used on a person who appears to be elderly.
Robb made some comments saying, "I guess the comment I would make is we're in the middle of a meeting and we're finally getting this information.
I do not want to have the approval of the policy; that's not what I'm asking for, but I would at least like to have been given the chance to look at our policy contrasting against say the International Association of Chiefs of police or other colleagues that I have in industry."
Robb added that making a policy decision without the information would not be effective.
"I'm not going to ask that this be tabled again because I know how that vote is going to end up.
"The message to the city manager would be if the information is not available by the beginning of the meeting it should be pulled from the agenda," Robb said.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
