The Atlanta Police Department is buying 400 Tasers so more officers can be armed with a non-lethal weapon, one most law enforcement agencies already use.
Tasers and other electronic control devices are used to incapacitate people either by touching them with the device or shooting probes from a distance. Until now, the few Tasers APD has have been assigned to SWAT officers, according to police spokesman Carlos Campos.
The 400 Tasers cost $800,000. There will not be enough to outfit each of the 1,900 APD officers. They will go to officers in Zone 1 west of downtown and Zones 3 and 4, southeast and southwest Atlanta. These three zones are some of the highest crime areas in the city.
"Chief [George] Turner believes they will be an effective tool for us now," Campos said. "We hope to get more in the future."
Campos said the Tasers should arrive in the fall and each officer will be trained on use-of-force law, APD policies, when the devices should be used how to use them.
Tasers deliver a temporary, debilitating shock and a "less lethal means" of controlling suspects who are armed, fighting or under the influence of drugs. The other weapons officers have, in addition to their firearms, are batons and pepper spray.
Some studies have reported that the use of electronic control devices has led to few injuries of officers and civilians.
Campos said the department decided to use Tasers because they could be "safe and viable alternatives to deadly force ... We believe this is a safe and effective alternative tool."
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