By Ben Irwin. San Jose Spotlight.
Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies approve tasers from controversial supplier after decades-long hiatus.
Sheriff Robert Jonsen plans to present options for arming deputies on the street and in county jails with Tasers to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Jail guards have been stripped of Tasers for decades after the 1989 death of Jeffery Leonti, who died after being restrained and Tasered while in custody, Mercury News reported.
Maelin Aquino, a community organizer with the Asian Law Alliance, and other advocates for public safety justice and accountability oppose arming officers with Tasers. He said the use of Tasers does not take into account previous health conditions or comorbidities.
“Maybe an inmate has a pacemaker in place… that could short out the pacemaker, which could lead to death or serious injury,” Aquino told San José Spotlight.
Jonsen said the sheriff's office plans to adopt the recommendation of an August report commissioned by the County's Office of Correctional Monitoring and Law Enforcement that looks at jail guards who use tear gas to get inmates out of their cells. . The report suggested banning the use of chemical agents in people with documented medical conditions involving respiratory problems. Jonsen said he would like to implement a similar policy for the use of Tasers against inmates.
“We'll make sure that's part of the equation,” Jonsen noted.
The presentation, originally scheduled for the Sept. 12 board of supervisors meeting, was tentatively postponed until Oct. 17, Jonsen said, to finalize policies for the use of Tasers on people in custody, including in county jails. .
Jonsen told San José Spotlight he did not have a cost estimate to share, but will provide county supervisors with several options, including equipping sheriff's deputies both in the field and in jails with Tasers.
Additionally, he said he previously felt the value of Tasers was “questionable” due to their limited effectiveness. But he said the new model he plans to roll out is more accurate and can be used up to 45 feet away, compared to older models limited to a range of 15 to 25 feet.
Most importantly, Jonsen said, pulling out the Taser would automatically activate the officer's body camera.
“It has built-in accountability,” Jonsen explained to San José Spotlight. “I think it is a very important piece because now we will be able to track its effectiveness through video. Even the reduction when not in use will still be captured on video.”
That's because the county's Taser supplier would be Axon, which already supplies body cameras to the sheriff's office, Jonsen said. Reuters reported that the $15 billion corporation whose goal is to “save lives” fostered a toxic culture in which employees are electrocuted and tattooed with Tasers or the company brand to show their loyalty.
“We're looking at the device, not hiring the culture,” Jonsen noted. “We have built very strong accountability into our organization.”
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