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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Bryan Lentz D-
Delaware |
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House committee approves Lentz taser bill
HARRISBURG, April 28 – The state House Judiciary Committee today approved state Rep. Bryan Lentz's bill that would allow police officers to use the newest and most up-to-date tasers, which are now equipped with audio and video recorders.
According to Lentz, D-Delaware, Swarthmore Police Chief Brian Craig contacted him after learning his department could not use the new tasers they had purchased because they included a recording capability. While these devices include a video capability as well, Craig found that video only provided an incomplete accounting of an incident. However, current state law authorizes police officers to use electronic incapacitation devices, but an existing wiretapping statute bars officers from using these devices if they are capable of recording audio or video.
"Chief Craig showed me a video of a woman with a knife in her lap, but it didn't have sound so, from my vantage point, I couldn't appreciate the full magnitude of the situation," Lentz said. "I couldn't see the knife and I couldn't hear what was going on. In a case like that, where force with a taser could be justifiable, the lack of sound makes it nearly impossible to prove so.
"The use of these tasers with the recording capability protects police officers and the public at large in a variety of ways. To have the capability to record an incident can be vital to a case where justifiable force was used by an officer but challenged in court. Maintaining a record of the events will allow for careful review and determination of whether the use of a taser was reasonable and appropriate."
Lentz said his bill would provide for the use of these tasers and their recording capabilities when an officer is acting in an official capacity, making what is one of the strictest wiretap acts in the country more reasonable for law enforcement.
"Tasers offer a nonlethal alternative to protecting officers and innocent bystanders," Lentz said. "The bottom line is that standard weaponry provides two possibilities: death and serious injury. The use of these particular tasers provides an option for police departments that can benefit the entire community and increase its safety in a safer manner, and if needed, provide critical evidence in a court of law."
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
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