In a rare departure from the trend in the expanding use of tasers by law enforcement, the city council of Memphis has refused a request by the Memphis Police Department to add tasers to its arsenal.
Memphis Police Chief Elena Danishevskaya requested the authority but the city council was unwilling to approve the use of the devices. Mayor Charles Garber insisted that :My feeling, still, is that Tasers for this department is not for us.”
It is a rare case where politicians scrutinize the real need for the devices. There is no question that tasers result in relatively few deaths, but, as we have seen on this blog (for example, here and here and here), they tend to become the first response of some officers in dealing with unresponsive or disobedient citizens.
For the story, click here.
This is good. Can the same city help with the correct decision in the middle east? Nah that starts in the East as well, but the East Coast.
In reading the article it seems that the council is afraid of taser deaths and the resulting lawsuits. That’s a reasonable foundation to oppose the units with 351 deaths by taser in the last several years.
Memphis does possess tasers that were given through a previous grant. One problem with these grants is that police chiefs are able to get their hands on these devices without need for funding. Local government should set policies on use of the devices, and not just seek to control police arsenals through the budget process.
Perhaps the next stimulus or national security package will have funding for universal deployment of tasers paid for by the federal government.
How gratifying it is to see a local City government actually behave with some probity and genuine deliberation. Puzzling, does make a good point though that direct Federal Grants to local LEO’s actually undercut a locality’s ability to make its own law enforcement decisions.
This is not shocking.
This is not shocking.
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
TASERs are more trouble than they are worth. What a pleasant surprise to see that Memphis is catching on to this easy-to-use-and-abuse weapon that not only injures and can kill, but destroys communication and trust between the community and law enforcement. I am part of a Coalition To Control TASERs in Columbia, Missouri and, even though Columbia CLAIMS to be a progressive community, the use of TASERs here has caused a lot of divisiveness and really damaged our community. The police do not treat the weapon as dangerous and, even if they don’t always deploy it, they threaten it’s use (and refuse to mandate reports on this “use”) and this causes a lot of fear and anger.
What the HELL is this crap?
“Memphis Police Chief Elena Danishevskaya requested the authority but the city council was unwilling to approve the use of the devices. Mayor Charles Garber insisted that :My feeling, still, is that Tasers for this department is not for us.”
Uh…Memphis doesn’t have a “Police Chief” but, the Police Director is NOT Elena Danishevshaya, and NO ONE in the 30 years (or LONGER) named Charles Garber has been Mayor.
This is just the Most Made Up BS story EVER! At least get your lies CLOSE to the truth!
I realize this is a little late but… @ What the HELL: (psssst) Memphis,TN isn’t the only “Memphis” there is (gasp).
And to be fair. To the person posting the atricle. This is, in fact, not Memphis, Tn. So perhaps Taking the MPD, TN badge off of the article might be in order. I believe this Memphis is in Washington State.