Are taser guns smart use of police force?
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“Basically it leaves a small burn mark,” said Matheny of the taser guns now carried by the department’s deputies. Tasers use probes from a small hand-held gun to introduce an electrical current into a suspect, temporarily stunning the person. The probes can be shot from a short distance or simply touched to the suspect like a stun gun.
“It’s better than having to fight somebody, both for the suspect and the officer, because there’s no broken bones or other injuries like that which can happen in a fight,” Matheny said. “This avoids having something like we saw recently happening in L.A. Unlike pepper spray, which may not have an affect on a person who is under the influence, a taser is consistent.”
Matheny’s comments come after a local family alleged officers abused their power when they took all four family members into custody recently. The incident started when Lance Champion, 23, pulled in behind a deputy to speak to the officer about the officer’s alleged violation of the speed law.
Champion was arrested following a conversation with officers. Both Lance Champion’s mother, Janice, and his 17-year-old brother were also arrested a short time later when they came to the scene to check on him. The exact incidents leading up to the arrests are still up for debate.
The father of the family, Hal Champion, 48, was the last to arrive after his family had been taken to jail. At some point during his confrontation with lawmen, Champion was tased and arrested. Lawmen maintain Champion became unruly at the scene.
In a recent TV interview, Champion displayed the wounds left behind by the taser. The defense for the Champion family maintains officers went beyond the scope of their duties and were unjustified in tasing Champion.
However, Matheny maintains the officers reported the force was needed to take Champion into custody. The sheriff said his department will continue using tasers as less than lethal force.
“We still carry pepper spray but the taser is safer because there have been deaths elsewhere associated with pepper spray,” Matheny said. “From what we’ve seen with the taser thus far, it’s been very effective, and by that I mean, it’s allowed us to make an arrest doing as little harm to the suspect as possible.”
Matheny said use of any force must be justified by officers. In the case of tasers, any use must be revealed in an incident report written by the officer. Matheny said in the case of Hal Champion, he is standing behind his deputies given the evidence he has seen.
While the sheriff’s department uses tasers, McMinnville Police Department still relies on pepper spray as less than lethal force. According to McMinnville Police Capt. Bryan Denton, the city has been reluctant to move to tasers since they are still relatively new in field testing.