Should Durham buy new police tasers, or stop using them?

The Durham Police Department’s request for new tasers turned into a debate on the weapons’ effectiveness at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

A majority of council members asked to delay the $626,910 request to a later meeting to continue discussing it, and to eventually decide whether the city’s police will continue to use the tools at all.

Nearly half of the department’s 450 tasers are unusable, and of the 238 tasers deployed on the street, 72 have exceeded or will soon exceed their five-year shelf life, Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said. The department wants to buy 250 new ones.

Durham police are using tasers less often.

In 2016, officers reported using a taser 27 times. That fell to 14 in 2017 and 2018, and to 10 last year, according to the department.

In the last four years, the department reported 14 incidents in which an officer injured someone with a taser.

Davis said about 80% of officers carry the conducted-energy weapon, manufactured by AXON to incapacitate people they believe to be dangerous.

Taser effectiveness questioned

Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson said if the city’s police carry tasers, then the city should replace and maintain them.

But she questioned their overall effectiveness and said the Durham Beyond Policing coalition had sent her research showing how the tools can lead to lethal use-of-force.

“I think the broader question goes, and that community response is pointing to, is whether having our officers carry tasers is a good idea at all,” Johnson said.

Durham Beyond Policing’s memo to Johnson calls for the mayor and council members to use the requested $600,000 for a “mobile mental health support system,” the group stated in a news release.

“Such a redirection of funds would improve care for Durham residents struggling with their mental health, would reduce police violence, and would result in significant cost savings for the City of Durham,” the memo states.

Should police carry tasers at all?

Three council members — Charlie Reece, Javiera Caballero, and newly appointed Pierce Freelon — agreed with Johnson on the need to discuss the tool’s efficacy further.

Caballero said the chief’s data on taser use points to a positive trend in how the police department operates in Durham.

“And I think that we’re getting to the crux of the issue, which is do they carry or not carry,” Caballero said.

Council member Mark-Anthony Middleton said he still had concerns about taking the weapons out of an officer’s tool belt.

“I’m not a law enforcement professional, but I’m nervous about what would have happened if they didn’t have (them), what those 10 incidents would have been if they didn’t have that,” Middleton said. “Will we be talking about 10 shootings? One is too many for me.”

Mayor Steve Schewel said he supported the use of tasers and trusted Davis’ judgment, but would agree to delay the vote to a later meeting.

He referred the issue back to the city administration.

This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Should Durham buy new police tasers, or stop using them?."