Police consider carrying Tasers
Jack Willems
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: News
The Public Safety Council of the UA Police Department is researching the possibility of allowing UAPD officers to carry Tasers.
A group of officers recently submitted a proposal that would allow officers to carry Tasers, believing this less-than-lethal tool could save lives, UAPD Director Steve Gahagans said.
The Public Safety Council, which is made up of staff, faculty and students who monitor the actions of the UAPD, were informed of the proposal, he said. The council was given a month to research the subject and gather opinions from the public, and it will likely reconvene in the first week of April to discuss the feedback it receives, Gahagans said.
"We are not even close to purchasing Tasers," he said.
Charles Alexander Lanis, a student who is a member of the council, has received some outside opinion on the issue, he said in an e-mail interview. Most people he has talked to agreed that Tasers could be very helpful to officers, but a few were fearful that they could be abused in the hands of police officers, Lanis said.
Among police officers, there is a great deal of support for carrying Tasers because officers think it would allow them to diffuse a dangerous situation that could lead to someone being injured, Lanis said.
"Right now, I think the issue is pretty non-existent, however, as few students outside of a few campus committees really know about it," he said.
Lanis thinks that Tasers are another tool officers can use to subdue someone without using a firearm, he said.
"There are situations I've heard where an officer came very close to shooting a student because of an apparent threat," Lanis said. "Those situations would disappear if officers were equipped with Tasers."
On the other hand, the fact that a Taser is not a lethal weapon could make police "trigger-happy," as seen in isolated incidents across the country, Lanis said.
The public often views Taser use as excessive, particularly in situations where there was no serious threat to the officers or the public, but most uses of Tasers are still considered legitimate, he said.
"You hear about the one or two cases where it was used and you think it should not have been used, but you never hear about the thousands of cases of Tasers being used correctly," Gahagans said.
Though they understand the negative publicity coming from incidents such as when a student was stunned by a Taser at the University of Florida in 2007, police officers think this should not take attention away from the success stories of Tasers, Gahagans said.
The UAPD is perhaps the only police agency in Northwest Arkansas not using Tasers, and all the other agencies report that the positives outweigh the negatives, Gahagans said. Tasers de-escalate dangerous situations without causing the subject harm, he said. There are numerous situations where officers could have used lethal force, but loss of life was avoided because of the presence of a Taser, he said. Recovery from a Taser is instantaneous, whereas recovery from other intermediate weapons, such as pepper spray or batons, takes longer, Gahagans said.
"Officers are required to be 'tased' during training, and there have been no documented serious injuries to those officers," Gahagans said.
Students who want to send input to the UAPD on this issue may use an e-mail link on the UAPD Web site or e-mail the UAPD at uapdinfo@cavern.uark.edu, said Gary Crain, UAPD public information officer. They may also e-mail their comments to Crain at garyc@uark.edu. All submissions will remain anonymous and confidential.
Rachel Jackson, a freshman social work major, does not think Tasers are necessary because the crimes that occur on a college campus are not particularly serious, she said.
However, Stephanie Roy, a freshman accounting major, said she thinks Tasers can be used to control individuals who cannot control themselves.
A group of officers recently submitted a proposal that would allow officers to carry Tasers, believing this less-than-lethal tool could save lives, UAPD Director Steve Gahagans said.
The Public Safety Council, which is made up of staff, faculty and students who monitor the actions of the UAPD, were informed of the proposal, he said. The council was given a month to research the subject and gather opinions from the public, and it will likely reconvene in the first week of April to discuss the feedback it receives, Gahagans said.
"We are not even close to purchasing Tasers," he said.
Charles Alexander Lanis, a student who is a member of the council, has received some outside opinion on the issue, he said in an e-mail interview. Most people he has talked to agreed that Tasers could be very helpful to officers, but a few were fearful that they could be abused in the hands of police officers, Lanis said.
Among police officers, there is a great deal of support for carrying Tasers because officers think it would allow them to diffuse a dangerous situation that could lead to someone being injured, Lanis said.
"Right now, I think the issue is pretty non-existent, however, as few students outside of a few campus committees really know about it," he said.
Lanis thinks that Tasers are another tool officers can use to subdue someone without using a firearm, he said.
"There are situations I've heard where an officer came very close to shooting a student because of an apparent threat," Lanis said. "Those situations would disappear if officers were equipped with Tasers."
On the other hand, the fact that a Taser is not a lethal weapon could make police "trigger-happy," as seen in isolated incidents across the country, Lanis said.
The public often views Taser use as excessive, particularly in situations where there was no serious threat to the officers or the public, but most uses of Tasers are still considered legitimate, he said.
"You hear about the one or two cases where it was used and you think it should not have been used, but you never hear about the thousands of cases of Tasers being used correctly," Gahagans said.
Though they understand the negative publicity coming from incidents such as when a student was stunned by a Taser at the University of Florida in 2007, police officers think this should not take attention away from the success stories of Tasers, Gahagans said.
The UAPD is perhaps the only police agency in Northwest Arkansas not using Tasers, and all the other agencies report that the positives outweigh the negatives, Gahagans said. Tasers de-escalate dangerous situations without causing the subject harm, he said. There are numerous situations where officers could have used lethal force, but loss of life was avoided because of the presence of a Taser, he said. Recovery from a Taser is instantaneous, whereas recovery from other intermediate weapons, such as pepper spray or batons, takes longer, Gahagans said.
"Officers are required to be 'tased' during training, and there have been no documented serious injuries to those officers," Gahagans said.
Students who want to send input to the UAPD on this issue may use an e-mail link on the UAPD Web site or e-mail the UAPD at uapdinfo@cavern.uark.edu, said Gary Crain, UAPD public information officer. They may also e-mail their comments to Crain at garyc@uark.edu. All submissions will remain anonymous and confidential.
Rachel Jackson, a freshman social work major, does not think Tasers are necessary because the crimes that occur on a college campus are not particularly serious, she said.
However, Stephanie Roy, a freshman accounting major, said she thinks Tasers can be used to control individuals who cannot control themselves.
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