UMass Police Department to purchase Tasers
By Dan O'Brien, Collegian Staff
January 27, 2005
The University of Massachusetts Police Department has announced it will soon be purchasing Tasers, a non-lethal weapon used to incapacitate targets.
UMass Police Chief Barbra O'Connor told the Springfield Republican in an article on Jan. 23 she wants to purchase the weapons because she believes in "giving officers as many possible options."
"I think any option that is not lethal or is considered less lethal is the better option," O'Connor said.
Governor Mitt Romney legalized Tasers and other electric weapons for police use six months ago.
Four UMPD officers began training with Arizona-based Taser International to become certified trainers of the weapon. The officers must complete four additional hours of training before UMPD can submit its training approval to the state. The police department plans to order the Tasers soon after.
Some student leaders are less than comfortable with the possibility of police using a stun-gun device on students during unruly confrontations. Student Government Association Trustee Matt Murphy said he is not sure if the public is aware of complications that can arise when a person is struck by the non-lethal weapon.
"If somebody gets 'Tasered,' the procedure to rejuvenate them means that nobody can touch them. [The victim] has to be taken to the hospital almost immediately to check for any heart conditions," Murphy said.
The Taser is used to fire two dart-like wires at a target up to 21 feet away. The wires deliver a 50,000-volt charge at 1.36 joules. By comparison, a heart defibrillator is 300 joules.
UMPD Detective Lt. Robert A. Thrasher was among the officers trained in the use of the Taser. He experienced the effects of the weapon first-hand.
"I could not fight it. It's painful. It basically overrides the muscular system. You lose all your muscular control," Thrasher said to the Republican. "It works. At the same time, there were no ill-effects."
UMPD plans to order three of the stun-guns for their arsenal. Currently, the department is armed with pistols, batons, pepper spray, handcuffs and Pepper Ball guns. The Pepper Ball is an air gun that shoots pepper pellets and is used by the department for crowd control. UMPD said their Pepper Ball guns are not as powerful as the Pepper Ball guns used by Boston Police in the October 2004 death of Victoria Snelgrove, an Emerson College student who was killed after police shot her in the eye with the weapon after a Red Sox playoff victory.
With recent disturbances in the Southwest Residential Area after Red Sox and Patriots' victories, UMPD has said they will do more to crack down on riotous behavior by students. Murphy said he questioned the timing of the UMPD's future purchase of the weapons with the Patriots heading to the Superbowl in two weeks.
"I am setting up a meeting with the UMass Police to talk about the issue," Murphy said. "The timing does bother me."
The state's Executive Office of Public Safety has not received any training proposals from other police departments interested in adding the weapons. According to spokeswoman Katie Ford, the Executive Office of Public Safety must first approve all training programs before departments can start training of the weapons.
She said police can order the weapons, but cannot arm officers with them until they have been trained by a program approved by the Office of Public Safety.
Greenfield's police department has already purchased several Tasers, but has not yet instituted their use. Other departments researching the weapon are Springfield, Holyoke, Belchertown and Monson.
Each Taser costs about $800.
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