Missoula Police Chief Mike Colyer made the request to the city council's Public Safety, Health and Operations Committee.
Colyer said the MPD has had a Taser program since 2001, when he was one of the initial instructors. Colyer gave two examples of how Tasers were used to avoid a potential use of firearms.
In the first example, he recounted how he and another officer were once chasing a suspect on a stolen bike.
"By the time we caught up to him, he had wiped out and he was getting a knife out of his coat," Colyer recounted. "We hollered at him to drop the knife."
The suspect refused the orders, Colyer said.
"We hit him with the Taser," Colyer said, noting that the man was immobilized by the electric jolt and subsequently detained without harm to anyone.
"Often times I've wondered how that might have ended if we didn't have the Taser," Colyer told the city council members. "Our only other option was lethal force."
In another case, Colyer said a student at a local school had charged a teacher with a pair of scissors. A school resource officer responded, and when he got there, the young man was holding a chair over his head. Colyer said the officer simply pointed the red laser dot at the student, which in police jargon is called "painting."
"The young man looked down, saw the light on his chest, and put the chair down and it was over," Colyer said. "These are not just theories. There are dozens of examples of the value of the program."
Colyer said the department has been offered to renew a contract with Axon Technologies for the Taser program. The five-year contract would cost about $103,000 per year.
As part of the contract, the department would get 120 new T10 Taser devices. Colyer said they have double the range of the older models. Also, they work with a single probe instead of two probes.
"The old models have to have two probes make connection, so if you miss one or you have a clothing disconnect, it's kind of useless," Colyer explained. "In the new one, you have two probes you can fire individually and the distance is twice as far. Time and distance are always our friend, and this new model provides that."
Colyer said Axon Technologies has a "moonshot goal" of reducing officer-involved shootings in the U.S. by 50%.
"They view the new T10 as a big part of that because of its advanced technology," he said.
The contract will also give the officers an unlimited supply of training and duty cartridges. Because about 118 officers will have to train twice a year and deploy at least two in each training session, Colyer said that's a savings of about $35,000. The department will also be able to sell its older models to a company that repurposes them and sells them to private security firms.
The department will also get access to four more virtual reality, three-dimensional training headsets.
"That will allow us to do more reps for people," he said. The headsets will also be used for the Department's Citizen Academy, where members of the public can see what it's like to engage in a "use of force scenario."
The contract from Axon also comes with software called Draft One. It's an AI (artificial intelligence) software that provides 80% of the initial report for an officer to work from.
Colyer said that the software gathers data from body cameras and car cameras to write up the first part of a police report from an incident, thus saving staff time.
"It creates basically the first draft of a report," Colyer said. "They estimate about 80% of the content is created for the officer. And then throughout the report it cues the officer to provide detail where needed."
Colyer said the department is "testing and evaluating" the software right now.
"I'm pretty cautious about AI and how that might look, but we will consider it," Colyer said.
An article from MSNBC from late November about Draft One quoted several experts as being extremely skeptical about the software. It also quoted Axon's CEO as saying the software has built-in "safeguards" to prevent mistakes.
Another tool offered by Axon is Fusus Real-Time Crime Software, which would allow the department to engage with private camera owners, such as banks, schools or private homeowners or renters.
"Frankly we don't have the infrastructure to run that right now, or personnel or equipment, so it's not something that I'm considering right now," Colyer said.
Colyer said it's cheaper for the department to take the bundle with all the add-ons from Axon rather than just buy the 120 new Tasers. The department will not have to pay the final year of its existing contract with Axon, which will save $70,000.
City council member Stacie Anderson was supportive of the contract.
"I know training is a huge component of what the police force does, and the more training you have and advantages you have the safer we all are," she said. "Both officers and the public. So definitely want to be mindful of this opportunity to provide more training."
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