Brandon Wilson groaned through his clenched jaw and collapsed on the floor after Pullman Police Officer Scott Kirk shot him in the back with a Taser on Sept. 8 in the CUB Lounge.
The WSU police intern had volunteered to take part in the first of three WSU Police Face to Face Forums. Presented by the WSU Police Advisory Board, Tuesday’s forum focused on use of force by officers and non-lethal options available, including Tasers.
“I think it is a great opportunity for students to get to see these things,” said Wilson, a junior criminal justice major. “All these (non-lethal) products are to ensure officers don’t have to take their gun out on you, and it gives them another tool besides hand-to-hand combat.”
The Taser demonstration followed a presentation by WSU Police Officer Kelly Stewart, who serves as the use of force and defensive tactics instructor for WSU Police. He explained how, when, and what use of force can be applied by officers, and he compared the continuum of resistance and continuum of enforcement.
The resistance continuum begins with non-verbal posturing.
“It creates an awareness,” Stewart said. “Any officer who’s been an officer for a while can notice that.”
The continuum escalates to passive resistance and then to active resistance. The continuum of enforcement follows a similar pattern. It begins with police presence and verbal commands and moves up to termination tactics such as deadly force.
Stewart said the two continuums as models have their limits. He asked the audience to imagine him facing a 300-pound football player.
“No. 1, I don’t lift weights every day and No.2, I don’t push other 300-pound guys around all day,” he said. “I might have to step up my use of force to deescalate the situation.”
But no matter the situation, there is a key principle all officers are supposed to follow, Stewart said.
“An officer’s actions have to be reasonable and necessary in response to use of force situations,” he said. “Necessary means no reasonably effective alternative to the use of force you used appeared to exist.”
Kirk spoke after Stewart and described various non-lethal weapons officers have at their disposal such as tear gas, pepper spray and Tasers.
“(A Taser) is considered a compliance and control device,” Kirk said, “meaning if you are not complying and I can’t control you, I can use a Taser.”
Sophomore construction management major Justin Derosier said he thought the presentations and demonstration were informative.
“I’m really interested in police work,” he said. “It was cool to get questions answered from officers and cool to see someone tasered in real life.”
The Non-Lethal: Action & Response forum was the first of three WSU Police forums presented by the WSU Police Advisory Board and scheduled throughout the semester. Future topics include victim’s rights and the impacts of drug and alcohol offenses on one’s life.
Each of the forums costs about $400 to put together, said Kim Barrett, WSU Police Advisory Board chairwoman. The sponsors for the forums are the Coalition for Women Students, YWCA of WSU, Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse and Women’s Transit. If the forums are successful and enough money can be raised, Barrett said the forums will definitely continue in the spring.
“The purpose of the forums is to get officers and students together so students can see and understand policing from officers’ points of view,” she said. “Hopefully it will foster relationships between students and police.”
More information including dates and times of future forums can be found online at pab.wsu.edu.
Sources:
WSU Police Officer Kelly Stewart
509-335-4408
kdstewart@wsu.edu
Pullman Police Officer Scott Kirk
509-334-0802
WSU Advisory Board Chairwoman Kim Barrett
509-335-4386
Student - Brandon Wilson
Bnw83@wsu.edu
Student - Justin Derosier
jderosier@wsu.edu
Speaker Questions:
1) What is the most important thing students should know about police use of force?
2) How often does WSU/Pullman police use Tasers?
3) What is the best thing for people to do to de-escalate any kind of confrontation with police to avoid or limit any use of force?
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