Olympia Police TASER use dropped dramatically in February, March and April of 2005

author : Drew Hendricks topic : police misconduct | TASER use

by Drew Hendricks

Olympia Police used force on 43 occasions in the first four months of 2005, but only used TASERS in four cases of the 27 times force was reported used in February through April 2005. This is a drop from the previous monthly average of 4.5 TASER uses per month seen in the previous two years.

The dramatic drop in reported use of force apparently stemmed from a meeting in February where Chief of Police Gary Michel and his Commanders and Lieutenants discussed limiting TASER use. That meeting included advocate Vince Brown, of Columbia Legal Services. No decision was reported to be finalized as a result of that meeting, although the differences seen since then seem to be significant:

January use of force:

Total Incidents: 17 Total TASER uses: 3 Total cases generated: unknown

February use of force:

Total Incidents: 10 Total TASER uses: 1 Total cases generated: more than 532 cases

March use of force:

Total Incidents: 6 Total TASER uses: none. Total cases generated: more than 632 cases

April use of force:

Total Incidents: 11 Total TASER uses: 3 Total cases generated: more than 574 cases

Total use of TASERS in 2003 and 2004: 107 incidents (4.46 per month)

Progress in changing Olympia Police practices: priceless.

Drew Hendricks is an Olympia Copwatch organizer. His phone number is 870-3127.