How many times on average in a given year does the Davis Police Department use the Taser?
Chief Black: The range over recent years is between four and ten Taser applications a year. The average number, going back to 2001, or so, would be about 8 a year. Vanguard: Will the ruling change how your officers do their jobs? Chief Black: I don’t think this decision will have much effect on the way we think or do things regarding Use of Force or Taser use here at Davis PD. The 9th Circuit’s Justice’s decision mirrors what our Use of Force and Taser policies already require and instruct. In fact, our policies are even a bit more constraining than what is explicit in the language of the court’s ruling. When I read this ruling, I was pleased and encouraged to see that the language used by the Justices in the published opinion supports and bolsters Davis PD policy and training guidance. I see the opinion as essentially an endorsement of Davis PD’s existing policy. There are several pertinent statements the Justices made in their ruling that are the basis for my belief: • “[A]ll force…m
