I was surprised to see this afternoon that a deal has been reached on tasers between the Portland Police Department and the City Council. We have testified before the Public Safety Committee a couple of times expressing our concerns about the use of tasers. Tasers are an appropriate alternative to use of lethal force. The problem is that Chief James Craig suggested in his testimony that tasers should be an alternative to other non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray. I really hope the new deal will include safeguards to prohibit the deployment of tasers against nonviolent members of the public. Participating in a public protest for example, even an unruly one, shouldn't result in getting "tased." Public Policy Counsel Alysia Melnick will be at City Hall tonight to review the new deal and provide public comment. The City Council Meeting is at 5 pm at City Hall.
Update: Alysia just reported back from City Hall. The new plan appears to include many of the recommendations made by the ACLU of MAINE in our testimony last month. For example, the plan prohibits use of Taser guns on members of the public who are "merely non compliant or passively resistant and pose no threat to the officer or a third party." The plan also prohibits use of Taser guns against pregnant women, small children, or individuals with known heart conditions. The plan could still be improved to classify Taser gun use as "deadly" force rather than "non-deadly." Amnesty International reports over 350 Taser-reported deaths in less than a decade here in the United States.
Read more about the deployment here:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=268282&ac=PHnws&pg=1
I remain concerned that tasers are being suggested as an alternative to pepper spray or a baton because tasers are in fact lethal.