Memphis Turns Down Tasers For Its Officers

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.

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