Tasers advisory committee reviews State College use

On Feb. 24 State College police officers began carrying Tasers. They used one for the first time just four days later.

Penn State student Ciarah Bishop was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest after allegedly being involved in an altercation Feb. 28 outside McDonald’s on East College Avenue. Officers said they were forced to subdue her with a Taser after she struck an officer.

Since then, there have been 14 incidents involving the stun-gun device and State College officers, the police department reported.

In six of those incidents, police were forced to use a Taser when the person did not comply with their orders, the department said. In the other eight, drawing the Taser was enough to make the person obey.

All of the incidents have been reviewed by the new State College Taser advisory committee, which is composed of citizens and was created after the first incident to make sure police are using Tasers correctly.

The committee was established by State College police Chief Tom King; Tyrone Parham, then Penn State’s police chief; borough Manager Tom Fountaine, and David Gray, Penn State’s senior vice president for business and finance.

The use of Tasers by police departments across the country has been the subject of controversy over whether they are, in fact, non-lethal.

In November, The Washington Post reported that at least 48 people died in the past year in incidents in which police used Tasers. More than half of them suffered from a mental illness or had illegal drugs in their system, according to the newspaper.

“The Taser is a very legitimate law enforcement tool as long as it is used appropriately, reasonably and within department policy,” King said in an email.

State College police policy says that officers should avoid using Tasers on people who are noticeably pregnant, elderly or handcuffed, among other circumstances. The policy is not a prohibition and says use depends on circumstances. The committee’s responsibility is to decide if an officer used the weapon with the proper discretion.

Penn State police officers also began carrying Tasers on Feb. 24.

“I was really impressed with both police departments and how thoughtful they were by sort of looking at both national and local practices and developing a policy,” said committee member Mark Bergstrom. He is executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.

Other members are Emily McDonald, a Penn State student and president of the University Park Undergraduate Association; attorney Susan Bardo; Jim Locker, a member of the State College Borough Civil Service Commission; and Doris MacKenzie, a Penn State professor of criminology.

The committee meets quarterly until May 31.

King said that more than 80 percent of local law enforcement agencies across the country use Tasers. He said he thinks their use will not only reduce the risk of injury for the suspect, but also for the responding officer.

“Less officer injuries will reduce our workers’ compensation exposure,” he said. “Since we expect the appropriate and reasonable use of Tasers to reduce injury to persons who are resisting our lawful commands, we expect it will also reduce civil liability.”

The university announced that it purchased 50 X26P Advanced Taser devices at a cost of $70,000. State College police bought 20 Tasers for $30,000, King said at the time.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Tasers advisory committee reviews State College use."