willingboro kid got killed because New jersey law prevented tasr use.
Nonlethal force must be an option in Jersey
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Contact the New Jersey Attorney General's Office at (609) 292-4925 or on the Web at www.state.nj.us/lps.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
N.J. Attorney General's Office should OK devices designed to stop suspects without killing them.
Whether it's electronic stun weapons such as Tasers or devices that emit sound shock waves that can knock a person over, police in New Jersey should have access to more nonlethal weapons.
Police in this state face dangerous and potentially tragic situations every day. Consider the recent tragedy in Willingboro.
Faced with a man charging him with a knife March 11, Willingboro Police Officer Jonathan Palmore was forced to do something no police officer wants to: fire his gun. One of Palmore's two shots struck Dunn, 19, in the torso.
Now Dunn, who recently rededicated himself to God and may have been suffering a mental breakdown that morning, is dead. Palmore, a veteran officer in the Willingboro police department, must spend the rest of his life with the terrible memory of knowing he killed someone and wondering what might have been had he not fired.
A tragedy such as this might have been averted had police officers such as Palmore had other weapons available to them, weapons that can stop a charging man in his tracks without killing him.
Dunn's father, Charles Dunn, has asked why police didn't use a Taser, which immobilizes with an electric shock, or another similar device to stop his son that morning.
Currently, police officers in the state aren't allowed to carry stun weapons such as Tasers. They can use nightsticks, pepper spray, tear gas and some forms of beanbag ammunition.
But a law signed in January by former Gov. Richard J. Codey loosens the restrictions for officers to use weapons in ways not intended to kill. The Attorney General's Office is reviewing equipment to determine what less-than-lethal weapons police departments should be able to use.
We hope police across the state soon will be able to employ weapons that allow them to knock down or knock out suspects who threaten police or others.
This won't end the need for police to sometimes use guns, but there are some deaths that could be averted if police have nonlethal weapons at their disposal. We hope the Attorney General's Office will approve a wide array of these weapons and police departments around the state will get the money to purchase them.
If even one life is saved, these weapons are worth it. |
