Ames, IA
TRIBUNE
D10,077

1"IIIIY

NOV

20, 2001

GeO~9itr;uversity says .tasers intimidate

1

Officers at the State University oEWest Georgia have carried the weapon Ear two years
By KAT! JIVIDEN

But Bennett said, "We've
StaffWrittr
never deployed the taser. We
have drawn' the taser on some
Dual laser beams from a students and the response was
taser is all you need to intimi- alanning." .
date a student, an officer from
West Georgia, located about
the State University of West an hour from Atlanta, is one of
Georgia said Monday.
several universities around the
"They were scared for their county carrying the advanced
life," said Sgt. Laura Bennett, a taser, a less-lethal weapon that
police officer with West stuns by electric shock. Officers
, Georgia's Department of Public there have carried tasers for two
Safety.
years. They also carry firearms,

pepper spray and an expandable
Officials from Iowa State
baton,
University's Department of
West Georgia's officers have Public Safety are trying to cona second less-lethal weapon vince the community to allow
called pepperballs they them to be armed with tasers _
deploy pepper spray and bruise, the same brand and make issued
sting and inhibit breathing - in to the West Georgia officers,
their squad cars. Those are on
The Board of Regents has
hand for potential riots.
refused to allow the state-certi"I am surprised" we've never fied officers to carry guns, That
used the tasers, Bennett said. "I decision was made in the 1960s.
know what it feels like. I don't
want to do that to someone."
TlISEBll pleases"page 83
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•

Tasers: ISU only school
in Big 12 without arms
ContinueJftumpage B1
ISU, the University of Iowa
and the UniversilY of Delaware
are the only universities with a
student population of 20,000plus that do not arm their officers with handguns, In the Big
12 and the Land Grant II, ISU
is the only school not to be
armed.
"It's insane not to carry a
gun," Bennett said when told
ISU's public safety officers do
not carry weapons. "There is no
way I would allow my pfficers
to respond to city calls without
weapons, That is ~xtremely
dangerous,"
Bennett said officers use
their tasers when students are
combative or a harm to themselves or others. Tasers also
would be used if a student had a
knife,
"It's very effective," she said,
noting the city police department has deployed its tasers. It
has been used "when we've had
some mentally off people, who
we've had to evict from campus, or someone who is off their
medicine ... You don't want to
kill someone if you don't have
'to...
Every time an officer draws
his or·her taser, it is documented, Bennett said,
When one is used, the taser
releases microdots and time
stamps and dates the incident.

STATE UNIVERSITY
OF WEST GEORGIA

Location: Carrolfton,<:;ci, ,
about an hourfromAtianca"
Student population:About
10,000
Departmi':mt name: State
UriiversityofWest Georgia
Department of Public Safety
Staff: Security guards, parking enforc:ementand 17 stat~
certified, SWOrn officers

Crime: Biggest crime is
aleohol, followed by burgiaries.
Web ~Ite: WWw.westgu!du
The information would also be
downloaded by a public safety
officiaJ and be made available
to the public.
"If you're not resisting or
you're not causing a problem,
there is no chance of being hit,"
Bennett said, adding the
chances of getting hit in the eye
are slim because officers aim
for the center mass of a person's
body.
"It's an occupational hazard," she added. "Ifyau want to
be a thief, you have to deal with
what's coming ... You get what
you ask for."

Staff writer Kati Jividen can be
reached at 232~ 2161, Ext. 344, or by ,
e-mail atkjividen@amestrib.com. I