CPD to adopt new Taser regulations

The Police Executive Research Forum has 52 standards for Taser usage.

By Amanda Wysocki

Published April 9, 2009

Columbia Police Department Chief Kenneth Burton announced CPD would be adopting all 52 of the Police Executive Research Forum's standards for Taser usage.

The announcement came as a shock to the Coalition to Control Tasers, which has been fighting for nearly a year to get safer Taser policies, coalition member Mary Hussmann said.

Hussmann said a couple members of the coalition had talked to Burton about scheduling a private meeting to discuss the Taser issue and the PERF standards, but he announced the adoption of the PERF policies before the meeting was finalized.

"We are very surprised and certainly pleased to see the chief has taken a giant step to resolve this, and we are much more confident now we will be living in a city that is safer," Hussmann said.

The new guidelines state no more than one police officer should activate a Taser against one person at a time and that a fleeing suspect should not be the sole justification for a police officer using a Taser against a suspect, a CPD news release stated.

Dan Viets, a local attorney and member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, said the coalition feels elation and satisfaction at the announcement.

"We didn't have any reason to believe Chief Burton was ready to take this step at this point and announce this Monday night," Viets said. "We certainly had hoped he would."

Hussmann said the coalition has been pushing to get better Taser standards adopted for nearly a year.

"PERF had suggestions that told about the standards a community could adopt that seemed very much like common sense and would definitely make the situation safer here in Columbia," Hussmann said.

The coalition also would like to see CPD adopt a "53rd standard" that would require a certified mental health official to be on call for the department 24 hours a day, Hussmann said.

"It would definitely help to have a professional that really does deal with mental health issues day after day," Hussmann said.

Hussmann said when the coalition did its March 2009 analysis of how many of the standards CPD was meeting, they found the department only adopted 18 of the 52 standards.

Lt. John White, head of CPD's Professional Standards Unit, said he thought the department was meeting about 95 percent of all the standards with the existing policy.

"To me, there's almost no change except that we are going to adopt a couple extra steps," White said. "We really haven't had too many problems with it, anyway."

White said no policy is going to work unless it is clear enough that all officers understand it.

"If it's not concise and understandable, it's worthless," White said. "If officers don't understand it, the chances of them violating it are great."

Viets said the coalition will continue to watch the department to make sure the PERF standards are being implemented, but the coalition does not doubt CPD.

"I have no reason to believe they won't be implemented," Viets said.

The coalition is also advocating for the passage of two statewide laws that call for a study of Taser usage, Viets said.

Hussmann said there were 30 coalition members in Jefferson City Monday going door to door advocating for the passage of a Senate bill and a House bill. The bill calls for the creation of a task force to study the effects of Taser usage.

Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, is sponsoring a bill in the Missouri House that would establish a task force to study usage and effects of Tasers, but that bill is not scheduled for any further action.