Proposal by Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff to acquire and use tasers
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
Taser is a type of military equipment as defined in California state law (AB 481). AB 481 requires that the governing body, i.e. the Board of Supervisors in the case of county offices, departments, and agencies, to approve each type of military equipment by means of an ordinance before that type of military equipment can be acquired and/or used. AB 481 also stipulates annual reporting requirements.
The Office of the Sheriff currently does not possess tasers. The Sheriff presented his proposal to acquire and use tasers to the Santa Clara County Community Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring Committee (CCLEM) meeting on August 22, 2023. In the same meeting, the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, Asian Law Alliance, San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, and Silicon Valley De-Bug presented their arguments against the use of tasers. Tasers kill! The Committee voted unanimously on the motion to oppose the acquisition and use of tasers.
This subject matter is expected to be heard in the Board of Supervisors meeting in October. The speculative date is October 17, 2023 but we do not know for sure until after October 11. Please check this Web page again after October 11. We encourage you to deliver public comments in the Board of Supervisors meeting to oppose the acquisition and use of tasers. The talking points in the sample script below explain the harms of tasers and why they should not be used.
NOTE TO PUBLIC SPEAKERS
If there are 15 or more speakers, i.e. in-person and Zoom altogether, the Board allows only 1 minute per speaker. If there are fewer than 15 speakers, the Board allows 2 minutes per speaker. Please plan accordingly.
In-person speakers should fill out a Request to Speak Form (yellow card).
Zoom speakers should click on the “Raise Hand” button when the agenda item of interest is discussed.
TO LEARN MORE
- Recording of Asian Law Alliance’s forum on taser
2. Axon’s product warning on tasers