Lawrence Police Department

Lawrence police officers have used Tasers six times since Jan. 1, 2016, while attempting to subdue suspects, and two of those incidents violated departmental policies, according to a report shared Monday with the Citizens’ Advisory Board for Fair and Impartial Policing.

The information on the use of Tasers was contained in one of two written reports by the police department shared with the board. The other report reviewed use of force incidents not involving Tasers in 2016.

Tasers

The department’s Taser report states that the devices were used in attempts to subdue suspects five times in 2016 and once thus far in 2017. Departmental policy limits Taser use to when there is a threat that a suspect will attack others; tasers are not to be used to stop a suspect from fleeing.

Two 2016 Taser incidents were found to have violated departmental policies. One use was found to have potentially put the suspect in “great bodily harm” from a fall, and the other violation involved a suspect who was resisting arrest but who was not a threat to others. Both cases were referred to the department’s Office of Professional Accountability for further investigation. The Journal-World has requested further details on the incidents.

The report’s lone Taser incident in 2017 involved the use of a Taser to gain control of an individual with a knife. The department found it to be justified.

“I feel the report was positive,” advisory board chairman Baha Safadi said. “We had only one Taser deployment this year. It’s a positive thing when we have the police department monitoring its actions.”

Currently, 125 of the department’s officers are certified to carry Tasers, the report states.

Other use of force

A separate use-of-force report shared with the board provides details of 13 incidents in which officers detained suspects through physical force or chemical spray. All were found to have been justified. Use of force is justified, according to the report, when suspects are engaged in actions that threaten themselves or others. Ten of the incidents in the report involved the use of chemical spray, and the other three involved various types of physical contact or restraint.

Racial profiling

In a brief verbal report, Lawrence Police Department Sgt. Amy Rhoads also told board members that the department had a clean slate regarding racial-profiling complaints during the current tracking period, which started July 1, 2016, and is to end June 30.

Safadi said the absence of a racial-profiling complaint was encouraging.

“That’s the goal,” he said. “We want people to feel safe when they are stopped and know police are exercising restraint.”