Hollister police officers will soon have a new tool hanging from
their belts, thanks to a federal grant that will allow the
department to buy 15 Tasers, according to the police chief.
Hollister – Hollister police officers will soon have a new tool hanging from their belts, thanks to a federal grant that will allow the department to buy 15 Tasers, according to the police chief.
The department applied for the $20,000 Local Law Enforcement Block Grant a couple months ago and it was approved by the Hollister City Council on Monday, said Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller.
Miller has had his eye on acquiring Tasers for the department for several months because he believes the stun guns will help reduce injuries to the officers, he said.
“When we’re so limited in staffing, every time an officer is injured it has a tremendous affect on our ability to staff the streets,” Miller said. “There are some very violent people out there, and the reality is that there are injuries to suspects and officers.”
In August a Del Rey Oaks man died after being shot with a Taser by police, but the official cause of death hasn’t been attributed to the use of Tasers. Although there has been some controversy over the guns’ “less-than-lethal” status, Miller would rather outfit his officers with a variety of tools to help them do their job than resorting to fewer resources and fewer options in confrontational situations, he said.
“If the only tool you had to fix things was a hammer, you’d be beating on everything,” he said. “If the only tool we had was a gun, we’d be killing everybody.”
The department should be able to purchase the Taser X26 models within a month, and will hopefully have officers attending Taser training soon after, said Capt. Robert Brooks.
The Taser X26 is the same model the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department recently purchased for its deputies.
Brooks said both patrol officers and detectives could be equipped with the guns in a couple months.
The controversy over the guns’ status doesn’t phase Hollister Mayor Tony Bruscia, who agrees with Miller that the guns offer another option to decrease injuries and fatal incidents to officers and the public.
“There’s always controversy over new things,” Bruscia said. “You hear about how somebody died from one of these, but if they weren’t committing a crime and putting themselves in that place, they wouldn’t have gotten shot in the first place.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or emusgrave@
freelancenews.com
