How to resolve AdBlock issue? CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council has approved a purchase agreement for new state-of-the-art Tasers and training that the city’s police chief said will put his agency at the leading edge in the region for such technology.
Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White took the request to the council at its July 11 meeting.
The discussion begins at the 19:05 mark in the video above. The staff report for the item begins on page 34 of the agenda packet published below.
White asked for the council to approve a five-year purchase agreement with Axon for the Taser 7 Certification Plan for 24 full-time, sworn officers, and to waive the competitive bidding process.
The total cost for the five-year purchase agreement is $88,522.10, or $17,704.42 per year. White said that includes a trade-in credit of $5,000.40 for old Taser units.
He said the purchase price is $7,700 above what originally had been budgeted for the Taser replacement.
The department’s Tasers are now reaching the end of their service life. White said the agreement with Axon is for a full wraparound purchase, covering the Tasers, replacement cartridges, training and a new virtual reality deescalation training program to address those with mental illness.
Quoting statistics given by Axon, White said 7 to 10 percent of all police encounters involve mentally ill subjects and 25 to 50 percent of all fatal police shootings involve subjects with untreated severe mental illness.
White showed the council a short video clip from the deescalation training. The video showed an interaction between a mentally ill man with a knife and officers, who arrived on scene after the man’s mother called them. It showed the situation both from the perspective of the man and from that of the officers.
White explained that he believes such training for law enforcement is the future, noting that he thinks it’s important to understand how people with mental health issues perceive encounters with law enforcement.
“Officers more and more are being put on the front lines as the first responders and kind of field-level clinicians dealing with individuals in crisis,” he said, explaining that anything that can be done to make these encounters less risky for both officers and the public is warranted.
He said that the Clearlake Police Department uses its Tasers about 15 times a year, which comes out to $1,100 per use under the contract cost. With the costs of litigation that can be associated with Tasers, if encounters can be resolved differently, it can save money, he added.
City Manager Alan Flora asked if other law enforcement agencies in the region are using the Axon technology.
“We would be one of the early adopters of the technology,” said White, noting that he believes the Chicago Police Department has deployed it. “We would be on the leading edge within our region.”
In response to questions from community and council members, White said the training will be available on call, and officers will be able to review it when they want. Any new training modules that are produced will be included under the purchase agreement.
Councilman Phil Harris asked if Axon is looking at situations in which police are dealing with individuals using drugs like methamphetamine. White said the company was focusing on deescalation but that the city, as an early adopter, would have options for input on training.
Harris asked about if the company will send an instructor to the police department. White said officers can go to an instructor course and then come back and deliver the training, which also has a Web-based portion.
Mayor Russ Cremer asked if the additional $7,700 can be covered in the budget.
“It’s a small additional expense,” said Flora, explaining that they had looked at other options, including purchasing the Tasers outright. However he said there wasn’t much of a cost difference and the city wouldn’t get the wraparound program, such as the training and replacement cartridges.
Cremer asked if Animal Control and Code Enforcement officers also would get the new Tasers. White said no, they’re only for sworn officers. Code Enforcement and Animal Control will continue to use the older model, which are purely for defense.
Councilman Russ Perdock said the Taser is an excellent product and a great tool, and offered the motion approving the purchase agreement, which the council unanimously approved.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
071119 Clearlake City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd
