Taser use clarified

Police Chief John Markland said his department would make the Tasers (electric stun guns) the Selectboard has recommended buying available to on-duty officers regardless of the function of their patrol. This contradicts an earlier report which incorrectly stated that the devices would not be issued to officers working special details for Meadowbrook concerts or during Bike Week.

On Monday selectmen voted to recommend a budget that includes $11,500 for Tasers, which pay for 10 of the stun guns and associated training. Chief Markland had initially requested funding for 21 guns, enough to outfit his entire department, but came back with the halved request after selectmen asked him to see if he could get by with fewer Tasers.

If approved, the 10 Tasers would be made available to all on-duty uniformed officers, Markland said. "It will be part of their uniform," he said, just like pepper spray, handcuffs, and other tools of the trade. However, he said he'll leave it up to the individual officer to decide if he or she will carry the device. "I have decided to leave it as an optional piece of equipment," he said.

The chief said Tasers are "a critical piece of equipment for officer safety." His officers already carry pepper spray, but the Tasers have several advantages.

If an unruly subject is heavily intoxicated, the pain caused by pepper spray may not be enough to subdue the person, whereas the jolt from a stun gun would be effective.

In many instances, Markland said, the use of pepper spray is undesirable because the irritating chemicals affect innocent bystanders. Recently, he said, there was such an instance at a concert at Meadowbrook, where police used pepper spray to subdue an individual in a crowd. It worked on the subject, but it also affected others in the crowd who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If the officers had used a Taser, it would only have affected the one person.

Pepper spray also has a lasting effect, and a person affected by it often continues to suffer after he or she has been subdued. A jolt from a Taser will immediately take someone down, but once the burst of electricity ends, the person quickly recovers.

In a demonstration recently posed by the department, Markland said the above two advantages were illustrated when Officer Doug Wall was shocked by a Taser. There was an officer on either side of him, hold his arms so that he wouldn't injure himself when he fell. Although Wall received a debilitating shock, the two other officers weren't, even though they were in physical contact with Wall. Immediately after the jolt subsided, Wall was doing push-ups to show how quickly he recovered.

The Taser request is part of a $10.5-million general budget recommended by selectmen. The budget will next be scrutinized by the budget committee.