Hermiston Herald
A[ro; 29, 2003

In event of depot accident, police will be armed with Tasers

By Joyce Hensley
Staff writer

HERMISTON - As part of the federal government's Chemical Stockpile Emergency
Preparedness Program (CSEPP), 53 Tasers, at a cost of $37,000, have been
distributed to five law enforcement agencies, and could possibly be turned
over to a sixth department.

"We're extremely excited about the technology," said Bryan Hopkins, CSEPP
emergency manager for Oregon Health Services. "These things work so
affectively that in the long run, departments using them will see less
injuries. It moves law enforcement capabilities to the next step."

Three weeks ago CSEPP, aided by Hermiston Police Chief Dan Coulombe, began
distributing the Tasers, plus support equipment including holsters,
rechargeable batteries, cartridges, and battery chargers.

"We've started distributing them to Morrow County Sheriff's Office, and
Boardman, Umatilla, Stanfield and Hermiston Police Departments," Hopkins
said.

Those law enforcement departments are located in areas near the Umatilla
Chemical Depot.

"They're in the immediate response zone, the protective action zone,"
Hopkins said. "Those areas receive 100 percent protection for full-time
officers. My whole purpose as emergency manager for CSEPP health and
services is to get law enforcement, fire fighters, and hospitals, physically
prepared for incident protection. I've supplied them with protective
equipment such as respirators, personal protection suits, and chemical agent
monitors, anything that would protect first responders."

Except for the police departments.

"Law enforcement at this point has not been 100 percent involved," Hopkins
said. "It's hard for them to use the equipment such as respirators and to
continue with their jobs."

The role of law enforcement during a chemical release at the depot would
include protecting hospitals and schools and setting up road blocks to help
with evacuations.

"We've come to the conclusion that they need to be able to protect
themselves as safely as possible in the event of an altercation," Hopkins
said. "The Tasers are a less-than-lethal option. It's an old technology, but
it's improved over the last few years,"

Hermiston Police Department received 17 Tasers, Stanfield four, Umatilla
police seven, Boardman received eight units, and Morrow County Sheriff's
deputies were assigned eight units.

Nine Taser units have been set aside for the Oregon State Police (OSP)
troopers, pending approval by supervisors in the Salem headquarters.

"We will be distributing them to the State Police if they are allowed the
use of them," Hopkins said. "It would be on a trial basis. This would be the
only spot in the State where OSP would be using Tasers."

If OSP supervisors turn down the offer of the free crime-fighting equipment
by CSEPP, the weapons would be placed in overstock for use by reserve
officers.

The Taser releases two darts with sharp small barbs, connected to the unit
with two small wires.

The wires deliver an electrical charge into the major muscle groups that
severely inhibits the movement of the perpetrator.

"It's way below the threshold that would cause cardiac arrest," Hopkins
said. "Thousands of tests in hundreds of departments across the United
States going with this new technology have proven it to be successful. They
have been able to use it with no harm to the perpetrator."

He said that the unit, that can be utilized at a distance up to 21-feet from
the perpetrator, proves safer to an officer.

"It's better than using batons or fist-to-fist combat," Hopkins said.

The Taser delivers an electrical charge of 50,000 volts, 26 watts, and 126
milliamps for five seconds.

"You are completely incapacitated for five seconds," Hopkins said. "You are
down then up again in a few seconds."
Hopkins said that after the charge, no harm has been done to your body.

"You are perfectly normal," he said.

Trained law enforcement officers will carry the Taser on their person at all
time.

"We don't want them to mix up the Taser with their issued weapon," Hopkins
said. "One produces deadly force, the Taser less than a lethal charge. Right
handed officers will put Tasers on their left hip. If they have to use it,
it's a completely different motion. There is no mistake. They are not going
to grab the wrong weapon."

Coulombe, the only Master Trainer in the State of Oregon, has been in the
process of training officers to teach other cops how to use the Taser.

"We are lucky to have Dan Coulombe," Hopkins said. "He should be given a lot
of credit. He has made sure that we have the right equipment. He has taken a
lot of the leadership. We appreciate all that he has done for this program.