Are there alternatives to firearms and deadly force?
Officers currently have a continuum of strategies available, ranging from verbal persuasion techniques to hand control, physical restraint (handcuffs, for example) and baton. Non-lethal weapons like the taser “stun gun” will be evaluated for possible use and could give officers a wider range of options in responding to possible criminal situations, but they cannot eliminate the need for firearms in the urban police setting. Brown’s use-of-force policy requires that “An officer should exhaust every available means … before escalating to a more severe application of force.” Deadly force is the option of last resort. Can the University do more to protect its police officers? Do they wear protective vests, for example? The DPS requires all campus police officers and security officers to wear body armor (e.g., bullet-proof vests) and has had that mandatory policy in effect for several years. The Brown community has more than 7,000 persons between the ages of 17 and 24. Shouldn’t that requ
