LAPD Commission Votes To Purchase 6,780 Tasers
POSTED: 1:49 pm PDT August 15, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- In an attempt to avoid lethal officer-involved shootings, the Los Angeles Police Commission voted Tuesday to purchase 6,780 Tasers for nearly $7 million.
The Los Angeles Police Department currently owns 750 of the M-26 tasers, an older model that department brass hope to replace with the lighter, smaller X- 26 model Tasers, according to Cmdr. Terry Hara of the LAPD's Training Group.
It would cost an additional $90,000 annually to purchase equipment to operate the new tasers, Hara said.
"This is another significant initiative and step that the department is taking in ensuring our officers have the best available and most contemporary equipment available," Police Commission President John Mack said.
The City Council must still approve the expenditure.
LAPD officers tested 55 of the new Tasers in February, using them only in a dozen instances, Hara said. The newer Taser model proved to be defective one of those times, but is considered to be more reliable than the older model, he said.
"Our figures show that the use of these Tasers helps reduce injuries to both the officers and the suspect," Hara told the Police Commission.
Due to the high cost, the new Tasers would likely be purchased in phases, Chief William Bratton said.
Tasers temporarily disable suspects by delivering a low-amperage, 50,000-volt shock via two electricity-conducting projectiles, and are considered to be safer than firing a gun.
Although some people have died after being subdued by Tasers, the majority of them were under the influence of narcotics, Bratton said.
"The necessity to resort to lethal force will be diminished with the use of tasers," Police Commissioner Alan Skobin said. "This is something that I see as a win-win for the department." |
