RTM Taser decision postponed

03/06/2008

By:Meg Learson Grosso, Westport Minuteman Staff Writer

The Westport Representative Town Meeting voted Tuesday to postpone a decision on whether the police department should be allowed to buy electronic stun guns, or Tasers. The RTM voted to take up the issue on Sept. 2 instead.
The vote was 21 for the postponement, 8 against and 2 abstentions.
The motion to postpone was made by Robert Galen, District 3, after 10 members of the public had spoken against the use of the electronic stun guns and no one had spoken in favor of the request by the Police Chief Al Fiore. Fiore asked that $25,000 be moved from the asset forfeiture account to pay for 15 Tasers with cameras.
Galen said that the United States Department of Justice was doing a study that was due out at the end of the summer on why 291 people had died since 2001, after being tasered. He noted that, so far, most of the research on Tasers had been done on healthy adults, not on people under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Some of those who have died after being hit by the electronic stun guns have been "under the influence."
Furthermore, no one knows how Tasers affect those with asthma, a cardiac condition, those with an implantable cardiac device, those with a rush of adrenalin, pregnant women, or children, pointed out Wendy Batteau and Amy Ancel, both of District 8, among others.
Ann Marie Flynn, District 6, said she thought Westport's police were the "Fulbright of police departments," and urged the RTM to vote now, but Elizabeth Milwe, District 4, said it had nothing to do with the police department, it had to do with how Tasers affect children and others and that there was too much that was not yet known.
Michael Rae, District 8, said that since the police were there at the meeting to answer questions, everyone should take advantage of their being there and debate the main question. Lois Schine, Steve Rubin and Dick Lowenstein, of Districts 8, 7, and 5, agreed with him.
However, Batteau pointed out that "police can't answer those questions" about what the circumstances were when 291 people died after being hit with a Taser. She asked, "How would the police feel about Tasing someone who had a pacemaker, or was jazzed up and that person died? How would that policeman feel? Pretty horrible. We need that kind of information."
"I've been in Westport 44 years," said Velma Heller, District 9, "and when I suddenly heard about Tasers, I saw a vision of a media event and I said, 'Is this who we want to be?' Then I thought of our police department and all the great personal interaction we've had. So, suddenly, the idea of what would be the occasions when this would be the only solution ... I thought it would be good to hear from the Department of Justice and know more about what the scenarios would be when Tasers would be used." She said she wanted more description of procedures "for me to be supportive."
"I've never voted for a postponement in seven terms on the RTM," said Bill Meyer, District 3, adding that he would break his record this time.
"It's not the police force. It's the weapon. I don't think the public is sold on this," said Meyer.
"I think what I'm hearing is that people do want more information," said John McCarthy, District 9. "The 10 to nothing poll tonight matches the poll that I've been taking with people in town, so that if we do vote to postpone, there should be an effort to get the community in on this issue," he said.
McCarthy had two key concerns of his own: that police clearly identify when it was proper to use Tasers and more importantly, when it was 'not' proper to use them.
Linda Bruce, District 2, said she was a member of the RTM Finance and RTM Public Protection committees, both of which had voted for the weapons, the second committee unanimously. "However, given the compelling evidence in terms of more data, I have a different opinion," she said, adding that she was a scientist at heart.
Prior to RTM members debating the issue, members of the public had their chance and John Suggs was the first citizen to speak. He said that the use of Tasers was "a slippery slope" because it was very easy to just hold the trigger down for 19 seconds, rather than for the five seconds that was usual, thus making it a weapon of death or torture.
"It's very quick, not the same argument as a billy club or a broom handle," said Suggs, comparing it to the fact that the police chief had said that those could also be used to abuse people.
"There is no 'policies and procedures.' I urge you to please wait. Wait until all the facts are on the table," said Suggs.
Police "know that a firearm is a deadly force" and that if a police officer used it someone could die, said Mike Gilbertie. However, police think of the Taser as a non-lethal, or less-lethal weapon and so they're quicker to use it.
"Maybe a police officer who is not physically strong, a little weaker, would be quicker to pull it out than a strong one would be," said Gilbertie, pointing out that no one knows what would happen to the fetus of a pregnant woman, or to someone with a pacemaker, if they were tasered. He recommended that the stun gun's use be limited to those who had been on the police force for at least 10 years, if they were approved.
A woman from Cavalry Road said she was speaking on behalf of several families who had emailed her with their concerns and that all the families were "upstanding citizens," however, they had asked that their names not be used. One woman told her that she had been stopped by a policeman for not stopping at a crosswalk that had no one in it and that the policeman "had acted like I had run over a child."
Another said that her son had come home from college and gotten a ride to a friend's, but had ridden his bike home late at night and was patted down by a police officer who had stopped him. She asked, "Is a pat down legal without probable cause?"
"Rather than feeling safer, Tasers would cause a situation that, in over-zealous hands, could create a tragedy," said the speaker.
A man from Colony Road said that while the Police Chief Fiore said use of the weapons all came down to training, "I don't think it comes to an issue of training."
He cited the case of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who Tasered a Polish man at Vancouver airport.
"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police received training. This individual could not speak a word of English. He was in a state. He was not violent, but three (police) responded," and they Tasered the man 35 seconds after arriving on the scene. The man died immediately, said the speaker.
He said that Tasers had unintended and unpredictable consequences and, "I don't think the intention was to kill that individual."
Sandra McCloud said that the Westport police had been very helpful to her when there was a man hiding on her property and they had helped her to feel safe.
However, "I did a lot of research on Tasers and realized that there are a lot of question marks."