File Photo
The Greer Police Department has requested a simulation featuring non-use of Tasers/stun guns for officers to train on the Firearms Training System (FATS) interactive simulator (above) acquired by the department last year.
“We had to take down the suspect without using a Taser,” Reynolds told GreerToday.com. “I’m afraid we will have to put more hands on than we had in the past, which could result in injury.”
Reynolds, in his 2015 report, documented only three times a Taser was deployed in Greer. Police used their hands and feet to subdue others.
Police in South Carolina have virtually been ordered to “stand down” using Tasers/stun guns unless situations pose “an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public,” according to a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Federal Appeals Court in December.
“We have revised and submitted our policy and sent it to our attorney. There hasn’t been much change,” Reynolds said. “We are sending out another memo to go out to the officers stating our policy. Actually it’s a little stricter than what is described by the ruling.”
The appeals court ruling binds law enforcement in South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.
Reynolds said he doesn’t expect an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Reynolds has requested a simulation featuring non-use of Tasers/stun guns for officers to train on the Firearms Training System (FATS) interactive simulator acquired by the department last year. The simulator allows officers to train in real world scenarios by voice commands.
The frequency of control techniques by type of control has virtually remained steady at about 50 incidents annually.
The 2015 type of techniques, provided by the GPD:
• 1, discharge a firearm (at a deer)
• 3, deploy Taser
• 6, point Taser
• 20, hands / feet
• 20, pointing firearm