Item B: Eugene Police Department Taser Policy

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said, written by a New York woman who had been experimented on with microwave and laser-pulse weapons after she did some whistle-blowing at a US government agency for whom she had worked for thirty years. She suggested that in 90% of reported Taser incidentsthe weapons had been used for inappropriate reasons. She felt the City of Eugene should not open itself further to lawsuits resulting from the use of Tasers. She asked the committee to recommend to the City that a public vote be taken on Taser use if petitions failed to curb their use. Oliver Thornton said he had worked 28 years in law enforcement and wanted to share some of his experiences. He noted that Taser weaponry had replaced the use of pepper spray. In his law enforcement work, he noted, he felt he had acted less rationally in situations on days when he was feeling emotionally overwrought or tense and had caused pain to people that he later regretted.On days when he felt more composed and thoughtful, he said, he had tended to find other alternatives and not to use force. He suggested that training of law enforcement officers needed to emphasize how to first use communication methods to understand a situation rather than immediate use of force. Leslie Relle said she was a survivor of traumatic brain injury from 1970, and would be interested in serving the community, although she had problems with reading comprehension and some cognitive problems. She felt that Tasers should be considered as lethal weapons. Majeska Seese-Green said she represented A Community Together (ACT)-Lane County, and that she had appreciated having some involvement in the committee’s process. She was concerned about this process, noting that this forum was held after the Police Commission had finalized its recommendation regarding Taser use. She generally supported the committee’s recommendations, although she did support the ACLU’s position that tighter restrictions needed to be enforced. Some key questions that had not been addressed, she noted, were 1) the question of whether or not the Eugene Police Commission should have Tasers at all, and the need for a ballot measure to determine the community’s will around this topic, 2) the issue of the use of video cameras being used with the Tasers had not been properly addressed, and 3) what the City Council’s process would be. Mat Beecher said he was a member of the Human Rights Commission, although the views he would express were his own and not those of the Commission. Through conversations with community members and his own thinking he had come to see that the Taser cam had provided little information about the evidence garnered from video camera use. He felt a camera on an officer’s helmet or shoulder would make some sense, where having the camera attached to the weapon and only becoming usable when the weapon’s safety mechanism was removed was dangerous. The public needed to know more about the findings of whether Tasers were being used appropriately, he said. Erica Benedict said she was undecided about whether to sign the petition for curbing Taser use. Her ultimate concern was about the use of force of any kind, and the lack of MINUTES—Eugene Police Commission May 4, 2010 Page 5 Use of Force Committee – Taser Public Forum