By Jon Wiener
Human relations commissioners sided with the police department last week in support of its use of Tasers, but raised questions about a plan to outfit all 96 officers on the force with the handheld stun gun.
At the end of its second straight public hearing on the issue, commissioners praised the department’s guidelines governing the use of Tasers. Despite acknowledging uncertainties about the weapons’ risks, the commission rejected calls from members of the public for a ban, saying community reaction to the issue has been “irrational” and “knee-jerk.”
Officers have used Tasers on suspects 11 times since first purchasing 10 of them in October 2004. In each case, the suspects have been unarmed. More often than not, suspects refused to obey verbal commands or tried to flee officers, who in some cases then used Tasers in place of batons or pepper spray rather than as a substitute for lethal force.
Anti-Taser activist Aram James cited these examples in saying the city was using the weapons “in the most irresponsible way possible.”
Commissioner Bill Bien called the weapons “inherently deadly” and said he wanted more limits on their use — though not an outright ban, since police already use deadly weapons.
“If you say no to Tasers do you turn around and say no to firearms?” he asked.
Bien sparred with police Chief Scott Vermeer — who has requested 100 new Tasers, at a cost of $1,000 each — over the department’s policy about using the 50,000-volt weapon multiple times on the same suspect. Vermeer said the policy discouraged multiple uses, but Bien called for a ban on that practice.
“When there are incidents of death, the risks rise quickly with multiple uses,” said Bien. He also said it was important that the department prohibit their use against suspects for civil disobedience.
Members of the public who spoke at last week’s hearing said they were worried that arming the department with 100 new stun guns would lead to greater risks and more confrontations.
Rosiland Bivings said an officer in another city threatened her with a Taser when she pulled over to wait for a friend during a traffic stop. She said that Tasers would just give police another weapon to use disproportionately against young black men.
Commissioner Alicia Crank said nothing she had seen convinced her that the city should ban the use of Tasers. Like many other commissioners, she referred to the testimony of 115-pound officer Jan-Leah Post, who used a Taser to subdue an angry 365-pound man outside Shoreline Amphitheatre.
The commission listed other priorities for the police department ahead of Tasers, including cameras in police cruisers and money for gang prevention.
The commission will put its recommendations in a memo to the city council by the end of the next week.
According to some City Hall observers, by the time the issue reaches the council during the spring budget hearings, senior city officials are likely to have whittled down the department’s preliminary request for 100 more Tasers.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener
