1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl
San Francisco, CA 94102
USA
The Police Commission will be talking about Tasers Wednesday/21. This is an ongoing debate, and took center stage when the supes Rules Committee voted to allow Petra DeJesus to stay on the commission for another term. The cops want Tasers, and say they are a good alternative to shooting people. A lot of activists who have studied the issue (and some police departments that have abandoned the devices) say there are really serious problems with giving officers what is generally considered a less-lethal, but still lethal, weapon.
The presentation from the “experts” will no doubt focus on how Tasers can keep people alive – if someone with a knife is threatening an officer or a civilian, zapping and thus immobilizing the suspect is better than shooting and killing them.
But what if the cops use the Taser not as an alternative to a firearm but as an alternative to de-escalation, to controlling the situation, to calling in for support from someone trained in handling mentally ill suspects? That’s what we’ve seen in other cities – the Taser is a crutch, a quick and easy way to avoid taking more peaceful steps to resolving a situation.
Interesting to see what the presentation to the commission addresses, and who the experts are. I am hearing that this is going to be a big push in the next few months.