At first she was a skeptic, but Assistant Chief of Police Stephanie Redding is now a believer in the utility of tasers as an effective means to reduce the application of lethal force. So she’s decided to order 50 more for the department.
Redding gave her testimony Wednesday before the aldermanic Public Safety Committee Wednesday night.
The pilot program was created as part of a task force on the use of deadly force by cops in the wake of a rash of police-involved shootings in 2004, two of which were fatal. Many of the situations involved mentally disturbed individuals, and the task force, through the taser program, sought to establish protocols and guidelines for taser training and other tools to reduce instances of lethal force.
Tasers — “conducted energy less-lethal weapons” — re described in NHPD General Order 07 – 01 on the “use of less-lethal force.” Officers who use the tasers, have them individually issued, and must be specially trained and certified. The first pilot group involved six taser weapons.
Redding reported that in 2007 there were 23 taser incidents and that 40 percent involved what she termed psychiatric situations. Several individuals, she said, wanted to commit suicide; one called out to be shot in “suicide by the police.”
In 2008 there were three instances of taser use by the police.
Most incidents occurred, she added, often between midnight and 8 in the morning, and the tasers were applied after pepper spray and the baton proved insufficient. Psychiatric hospitalizations often ensued.
“I’m slow to change,” said Redding, “by nature, but this is a good technology and it’s definitely the wave of the future. The incidents that occurred might have been deadly force incidents, but the tasers prevented that.”
Aldermen urged Redding (pictured with Lt.Joseph Witkowski of the patrol division) to try to be sure that when the new officers are trained that the tasers, technically called the Taser X26, be distributed so that all the city’s police districts and shifts are covered, which is not currently the case.
When the taser is used, there is a record of the audio, video, and firing data produced, which by departmental regulations must be downloaded into a police computer dedicated for that purpose. Redding reported that after some initial concern with the hardware, everything was working properly.
Shirley Wayne Washington (pictured), a member of the Civilian Complaint Review Board and of the lethal force task force, urged Redding to continue scrupulous monitoring, training, and certification of the new officers with whom tasers are deployed. “While what’s happened here is good news, and I’m for them,” she said, “nationally there have been abuses in the use of tasers.” For them to continue to be effective, she added, the integrity of usage must be maintained.
The delay in purchase of the new tasers, West River Alderman Yusuf Shah pointed out, was a reflection not of lack of belief in the technology, but of money.
Redding’s appearance was part of the third hearing on the deadly force task force’s report due to the full Board of Aldermen. The public safety committee, said chairman Alex Rhodeen, has been awaiting the taser findings to make its final recommendations to the full board.