Howard police can use Tasers, but that?s not the case for the county sheriff?s office and corrections department.
“The whole idea of opening the door to Tasers made me nervous,” said Council Member Jen Terrasa, D-District 3.
The County Council approved the measure Monday, which exempts police from a law banning electronic weapons in the county.
An approved amendment removed the other two organizations from the exemption.
Limiting the scope to the police, who have been working to shore up the use of force policy and a sixmonth pilot project, helped ease her concerns, Terrasa said.
The measure also allows other law enforcement agencies from outside the county who are operating in Howard to use Tasers, also known as stun guns.
Council Member Greg Fox, R-District 5, said he voted against the amendment because outside agencies could use Tasers, but not the Howard sheriff?s office or corrections department.
The sheriff?s office plans to revisit the issue after the police department?s pilot program, said Sgt. Carroll Roles, of the sheriff?s office.
Roles said the office understood the reasoning behind the exclusion, since the police have the pilot program.
Despite the change, Terrasa was the only member to vote against the bill. She pushed for a failed amendment that would require the police to submit a report to the council at the end of the pilot program.
“In the end, I still felt I wasn?t quite comfortable enough to vote for it,” Terrasa said, adding that she continued to have concerns about Tasers? safety and medical implications of the devices.
Tasers discharge an electric current, temporarily incapacitating a person.
The devices are another tool for officers to reduce the number and intensity of physical altercations, Police Chief William McMahon said.
The law takes effect in mid-May.
