City police to acquire 1,000 additional stun guns

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

The Philadelphia Police Department has agreed to buy 1,000 Tasers to expand the use of less-than-lethal weapons by officers often called upon to deal with unruly, mentally ill people.

The cost, about $850,000, will be paid from a pool of federal stimulus money the city received last year.

In total, the department is to receive $1.9 million to buy nonlethal weapons and train officers to use them.

The deployment of such weapons has been a priority of Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who has advocated a training program designed to reduce violent confrontations between police and the mentally ill.

In July, officers killed a mentally ill homeless man wielding a box cutter in a Center City concourse. Homeless advocates questioned whether lethal force was necessary.

Ramsey announced in December that all officers would be eligible for the crisis intervention team (CIT) training program, a six-day course taught by mental-health and education professionals.

Crisis intervention emphasizes de-escalation and includes Taser and other training.

"CIT teaches our officers to empathize, to understand, and to communicate more effectively with community members when they are most vulnerable," Ramsey said at the time.

More than 500 officers have received the training since 2007. Additional training and Tasers will allow the department to spread the program throughout the city, officials said.

"Only officers with this additional training will be issued these Tasers," said Lt. Francis Healy, a lawyer and special adviser to Ramsey.

"Mental-health consumers - that's what we call them, 'consumers' - are the people who are usually in crisis," Healy added. "The goal here is to keep both the consumers and the police officers safe. My own personal opinion, they'd rather be Tased than shot."

The department hopes to train 1,000 more officers, Healey said.

It now has about 260 Tasers. In the individual police districts, Tasers typically are shared among shifts, with officers signing them in and out, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a department spokesman.

The weapons are being bought from Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz. The company says the model, the Advanced Taser X26 Electronic Control Device, "can penetrate up to two cumulative inches of clothing."

Healy said many officers in the training program, including him, had been voluntarily shot with a Taser so if they are accidentally shocked in the field, "they'll know it's not the end of the world."

"We recommend it," he said. "But it's strictly voluntary."