Advisory committee seeks input on police Taser usage

The State College community was invited to provide feedback Wednesday regarding the use of Tasers by both borough and Penn State law enforcement officers.

The session was hosted by the Taser Advisory Commitee, a group appointed jointly by the borough and university to review the Taser program, its policies and provide recommendations for improvements or changes.

Seated on the committee are Pennsylvania Commission for Sentencing Executive Director Mark Bergstrom, Penn State criminology professor Doris MacKenzie, State College Borough Civil Service Commissioner James Locker, Stover & McGlaughlin attorney Susan Bardo and Penn State University Park Undergraduate Association President Emily McDonald.

The session kicked off with a presentation of the Taser program by State College police Chief Thomas King, who said the program was started in the borough and the university in February 2015 after 18 months of study by both departments into the feasibility of equipping officers with the devices.

Both departments were the last two departments in Centre County to approve the carry of Tasers, he said.

“During this initial year, both agencies continue to look at our policies and continue to evaluate the existing policy,” he said. “We have actually during the year made revisions to the policy as we find new information or studies.”

Penn State Assistant Chief William Moerschbacher explained that according to the policy, a Taser is not used for simply any type of resistance. The weapon can be used for individuals who are displaying active aggression, resisting arrest or threatening serious harm.

“So passive resisters or someone just being verbally resistant most likely wouldn’t have cause to be hit by a Taser by one of our departments,” he said.

The Taser is not intended to act as an intimidation either, he said. Officers are only to draw their Tasers if they have justification to use it. Officers are also encouraged to verbally warn an individual when a Taser will be deployed.

All people who have been exposed to a Taser are medically evaluated afterward, he said, saying personally, he himself has been Tasered and has seen no long-term ill effects.

Officers receive eight hours of classroom training, practical hands-on exercises and a written exam before being issued a Taser, he said.

In State College, he said, there have been 16 Taser-involved incidents — four probe deployments, where the Taser was fired out at an individual; two drive stuns, where the officer removed the probe cartridge and used a spark without firing; and 10 draws to gain compliance without using the device.

At Penn State, he said, there have been a total of seven draws to gain compliance.

According to Bergstrom, the committee went through a classroom session with the Tasers themselves with a demonstration, giving them a fuller sense of what is involved. They were also provided with the information used to develop the policies.

The committee has met four times to review deployments, he said, meeting with King each time to discuss the case.

“Through the process,” he said, “the factors brought to our attention have been in almost every case, there’s involvement of either drugs or alcohol or mental health issues at play.”

He suggested that the police should better document where alcohol or drug use was involved to have a better understanding of when that’s a contributing factor.

Coming into the experience, Bardo said, she had the idea that Tasers were probably a bad thing that were misused often. She said the education she received from the departments was “invaluable.”

“It really allows the officers to take someone into custody ... without having them resist arrest or use a baton,” she said.

The committee has been charged with studying Taser use for one year, Bergstrom said, and urged anyone with questions or feedback to provide it to the borough.

Anyone with ideas, questions or feedback can connect to the committee through Engage State College at statecollegepa.us/engagesc.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Advisory committee seeks input on police Taser usage."