Town's Approval, Training for Officers Part Of The Deal

By Julie Wernau, M. Matthew Clark
Published on 11/30/2007 TheDay.com

The East Lyme Police Department recently joined dozens of other resident-trooper programs around the state that allow their officers to use Tasers.

Trooper William Tate, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police, said the state police adopted a policy in March of this year from which resident-trooper programs in East Lyme, Montville and Ledyard then created their own policies.

In East Lyme's case, the policy also needed to be approved by the first selectman, the town attorney and the police union. That was done, and for the past two weeks, at least one East Lyme officer per shift has been equipped with a Taser.

In July 2006, the department, which operates through the state police Resident State Trooper program, removed the stun guns from its arsenal because the Department of Public Safety was developing a statewide use-of-force policy.

Lt. Louis Fusaro Jr., commanding officer of Troop E in Montville, said earlier this week that the decision to take the Tasers out of the field was based on the fact that there was no policy in place.

According to the East Lyme policy, the Taser — which causes electro-muscular disruption to the body at 50,000 volts — can only be used when a “subject's actions constitute active resistance.”

“The Taser may be deployed whenever a situation arises where the use of force techniques exposes the officer, the subject or the public to unnecessary danger, or when other force techniques have been or may be ineffective,” the policy states.

The policy, which is based on the state police policy, goes on to describe the training officers should undergo, usage and deployment of the weapon, as well as its limitations, maintenance and other protocols.

“It's not as easy as saying 'we want this and we want to use it now,' ” Fusaro said. “It's good policing practices. ... There has to be training that goes along with a new piece of equipment.”

Fusaro equated the lag time between having a policy in place for the Tasers to when pepper spray first became a common police tool 10 to 15 years ago.

“When that was first introduced, a policy had to be determined when it was appropriate to use that,” he said.

Joseph Dunn, an East Lyme police officer, complained in a letter to The Day recently that the nearly year and a half it had taken to have a policy approved was unacceptable for the safety of the town's officers.

“How long does it take to review this document and put it in place, especially since it is a document that will help protect officers, innocent bystanders and violent offenders from injuries?” Dunn wrote.

Two East Lyme police officers were injured Oct. 20 at Smokey O'Grady's Barbeque and Ribs on Flanders Road when Robert Cruse, a 25-year-old violent offender, refused to go quietly with police.

When Officers Rick McSwain and Paul Holmes went to Smokey O'Grady's that night to arrest Cruse on a warrant, Cruse put down his cigarette and struck Holmes in the jaw.

“The suspect was a big, big boy and he didn't go quietly or peacefully,” McSwain said.

The officers tried using pepper spray, McSwain said, but Cruse fought all the way to the cruiser, kicking and screaming and, several witnesses said, yelling about “white power.”

McSwain was kicked several times in the knee and was out of work for a couple of weeks. He said it is the only incident in that year and a half in which he wished he'd had a Taser.

“The Taser probably could have prevented the injuries, but there's always the possibility that the Taser wouldn't work or he could have knocked it out of my hands,” he said.

McSwain said he doesn't blame the town or the police department for his injuries, adding that he realizes he has an “inherently dangerous” job.

“I blame the guy who didn't want to comply,” he said.

Tate, the state police spokesman, said East Lyme received Tasers through the town before state troopers were able to carry the weapons, which are supposed to non-lethal alternatives to handguns.

While Fusaro said East Lyme was working under a “preliminary policy,” East Lyme's Tasers were taken away temporarily in anticipation of the statewide policy.

“We didn't just come out with a policy out of thin air,” Fusaro said. “It was researched.”

Fusaro and Tate said that even now, some troopers and resident-trooper programs across the state are working to acquire and implement Tasers.

mm.clark@theday.com

j.wernau@theday.com