FORT LAUDERDALE-- Officers in this city will be armed with Tasers after getting permission Tuesday from city commissioners who hope the move will save lives.
The police department has been under scrutiny by the FBI and the public after officers shot and killed four people last year. No rulings have been made on whether those shootings were justified, but they led some in the community to call for a non-lethal alternative.
The commission gave Police Chief Bruce Roberts permission to spend $109,989 to buy 94 of the X26 advanced Tasers, air cartridges and holsters. The Tasers, which fire electric darts that temporarily incapacitate a person, are not an alternative to a gun, but they offer one more tool for officers to try before drawing a lethal weapon, officials said.
Ultimately, the department plans to buy 200 more and arm all uniformed officers with them. Roberts said officers must be shocked themselves with the Taser during training. Many of them say it's the most painful experience they've had, he said.
The Taser shoots two darts that can travel 25 feet and penetrate clothing. The electrical shock they deliver overrides the nervous system, incapacitating the person for five seconds.
But Tasers have been controversial because some people have died after being shot. Autopsies typically attribute the deaths to other causes.
Roberts and his staff reported that more than 9,500 law enforcement agencies use them, including local agencies like the Broward Sheriff's Office.
Marsha Ellison, president of the Fort Lauderdale branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she was concerned about the city's proposed Taser policy, which allows officers to shoot elderly people or children as a last resort. Commissioners said they would revisit the policy at their next meeting.
It also allows officers to shoot the Taser at someone who balls a fist, assumes an aggressive posture like a boxer's stance or circles the officer menacingly.
Any officer who uses a Taser must report it to supervisors, and the action will go through four levels of review, Roberts said.
The person who was shot must be taken to a hospital to have the darts removed and to be checked out, according to the proposed policy.
Brittany Wallman can be reached at or 954-356-4541.
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