Acquisition of Less Lethal Law Enforcement Technology

With this grant project, the Hiawatha Police Department seeks to improve and build public trust within our community of Hiawatha, Brown County, Kansas. Each day our mission is community policing, and the officers employed are equal community members. We have been selected by our community to proactively partake in making a positive impact on our community. The officers are currently equipped with the X26P Taser which is an older taser model. The X26P is a single shot per cartridge which can cause a rise in risk to officer safety. In incidents of poor connections or the prongs did not hit or stick as needed, then officers must remove the spent cartridge and then grab another cartridge and attach it prior to attempting to discharge a second shot. This delay of not having a second shot already loaded increases the danger to any civilians and officers. Such less-lethal devices and tactics reduce the necessity for other less-lethal tactics. Other tactics are often done with pressure points or pain stimuli such as batons. Physical compliance tactics through pain compliance are often viewed negatively by the public and through the lens of smartphone cameras. Such situations erode the public’s trust in the police and give rise to an increased potential for physical injuries to civilians and the police.

With this proposal, we will upgrade our single shot Taser X26P, which is a less-lethal conducted energy device to the Taser 7. The Taser 7 devices have a lower risk of cardiac incidents. Taser 7 devices will better equip officers with these newest conducted energy weapons (CEW’s). A Taser can de-escalate intense situations and reduce the rate of injuries to civilians and officers — and as a result, agencies often save taxpayer money and see a drop in worker’s compensation claims by upgrading our devices. Key features to upgrading from the Taser X26P to the Taser 7 are an optimization for close-range incidents and improved darts that fly straighter and faster with nearly twice the kinetic energy for better connections. All of this will be safer for officers, safer for the community, save the department money, and reduce civil liabilities. It will also help us keep and improve our public’s trust and, most of all, it will protect lives.