CC Minutes - 06/14/10 Work Session

Home Browse Search

Mr. Gissiner emphasized the importance of thorough and accurate reporting from both supervisors and officers. He also felt that the issue of aftercare was very important. Mr. Gissiner concluded by saying he found the policy workable for both the Police Department and the Police Auditor’s Office. Mr. Pryor expressed appreciation for all the work done by the commission. He said it was a difficult policy to create because the commission was defining the rules of engagement for the worst case scenarios, rather than the best case scenarios. He believed the commission had created a policy that addressed a difficult situation in the best possible way. Mr. Pryor wanted a policy that was as respectful as possible to both sides involved. He did not want to place an officer at unnecessary risk. He also did not want to ever think a taser would be used in Eugene arbitrarily, casually, or without justification. For that reason, Mr. Pryor wanted a policy that was useful to officers and potential perpetrators alike. He was grateful for the work the commission had done and was prepared to support the policy. Ms. Ortiz also thanked the members of the Use of Force Subcommittee and the Police Commission. She acknowledged the considerable amount of work that had been done and thanked Ms. Miller for her work as chair. She had attended many meetings where the policy had been discussed and said the comments made by commission members and members of the public had been interesting and useful. She hoped the department could use the policy. She expressed appreciation to Mr. Gissiner for his comments. Ms. Taylor thought it was up to the council rather than the department to decide whether the policy should be adopted as it was the organization’s policy-making body. She asked City Manager Ruiz for comment. City Manager Ruiz said that the City was seeking feedback from the council. He believed it was within Police Chief Pete Kerns’ purview as to how to deploy the tool. Ms. Taylor asked if the council could decide not to have the taser as a tool. City Manager Ruiz said yes. Ms. Taylor suggested a moratorium on the City’s use of tasers until more public involvement could occur. City Manager Ruiz said he would certainly take a motion passed by the council to that effect as guidance. Ms. Taylor believed the policy should be within the council’s purview given its impact on the public. She asked how many times the taser was used last year. Ms. Nelson indicated the taser was employed 49 times between January 2007, and January 2009. Since January 1, 2010, there had been ten activations in nine incidents. Ms. Taylor asked how many times a gun would have deployed in those instances. Ms. Miller said that in the pilot project, officers would have used a gun six times. Ms. Taylor did not recall many times when guns had been used by officers against perpetrators. Chief Kerns indicated that the department did not have good figures on the times when deadly force would have been authorized, but officers were frequently involved in such situations. He said that the pilot project gave the department an opportunity to quantify that. Ms. Taylor speculated that the officers would not have used deadly force but the taser could be lethal. She asked what would have happened during the pilot without tasers. Chief Kerns said the officers would have had to use another kind of force, with the outcome being an injury to the officer (40 percent more) or subject (60 percent more). Ms. Taylor asked what de-escalation techniques were. Chief Kerns said the department used crisis intervention training (CIT) to teach officers how to calm someone into a compliant state. There were a number of products that taught officers verbal de-escalation techniques that allowed the officer to gain compliance. He clarified that those techniques were employed before a taser was deployed, not after deployment. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 14, 2010 Page 5 Work Session