School safety officers in Tucson Unified schools will likely be carrying Tasers and body worn cameras soon, after a unanimous vote by the governing board on Tuesday to purchase the equipment for 24 safety officers.
The governing board’s agenda said the Tasers are only meant for use on adult intruders who are a direct threat. The policy proposal prohibits using Tasers on anyone under 18 unless deadly force by an officer was already justified.
While the board voted to purchase the equipment, they will still need to go through a policy development process before the Tasers are employed.
The district’s 24 safety officers travel to schools as needed, said School Safety Director Jeff Coleman. These officers respond to an average 2,500 alarms a year, which are primarily at night and on the weekend, Coleman said.
Twenty of the school safety officers are already armed with guns, but none of them currently carry Tasers. Coleman says Tasers provide an important “intermediate weapon.”
Safety officers are authorized to use deadly force if the officer or someone else’s life is in immediate danger, Coleman said. Giving them Tasers, also referred to as Conducted Energy Devices, is meant to provide a less-lethal option for subduing potentially dangerous people.
While Tasers’ high voltage temporarily incapacitates people, having a low amperage is meant to keep the weapon from causing permanent damage to healthy adults.
Coleman gave the board two real-life examples of when a Taser would have been useful. Both involved an adult intruder who was brandishing a weapon and advancing on a safety officer. In each example, the officer had a gun pulled and the intruders eventually dropped their weapons.
TUSD also has 12 school resource officers, as opposed to safety officers, who are law enforcement officers with either Tucson Police or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. These officers already carry Tasers along with their guns and have been assigned to certain schools where there was a need for the last five years, according to Coleman.
The cost of 25 Tasers, 25 body-worn cameras and the initial training is just under $195,100, which can be paid over five years, according to Coleman.
Officers are supposed to activate the body worn cameras when on a call and during any investigation and enforcement activities.
Two school safety personnel will attend a 16-hour accredited training course and will in turn train the other school safety officers who will carry Tasers. After the initial training, all safety officers will receive six to eight hours training annually, Coleman said.
“It’s like every other tool that we carry...We train. We have strict policies, and we enforce those policies,” he said about officers carrying Tasers. “We hold people accountable and give them the tools to do their job.”
