City OKs $5M purchase of stun guns for police officers

San Jose leaders have agreed to spend nearly $5 million to equip all of its police officers with new Taser stun guns.

The San Jose Police Depar tment has received unanimous approval from the City Council to enter a five-year contract with A xon Enterprise to buy more than 1,000 of the weapons. Deputy Police Chief David Tindall told the council Dec. 1 that the department’s current stun gun supply has reached its shelf life and that the weapons were breaking down and malfunctioning.

“We cannot hand out those old Tasers to our recruits and those police officers that are going be entering the ranks, therefore delineating that they will not be armed with Tasers when they go out into the streets,” Tindall said.

The council’s decision to approve the purchase of the weapons comes at the culmination of a year marked by local and national calls on elected officials to redirect funding for law enforcement toward social and community services.

Since George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police officers, San Jose leaders have vowed to begin having conversations with the community about “reimagining public safety.”

Sparky Harlan, CEO of the nonprofit Bill Wilson Center, brought up concerns during the council meeting that the community was not consulted about the decision prior to the vote. Instead of buying new stun guns, she said the city should focus on working with organizations like hers to find alternative ways to respond to mental health crises and nonemergency calls.

“We’re trying to stand up a relationship between the city and the community, so now is not the time to buy Tasers without including input from the community,” Harlan said.

Axon manufactures the Taser — the most popular kind of stun gun used by American law enforcement.

City Council member Sylvia Arenas called the request from the Police Department “badly timed” but came to the conclusion during the virtual meeting that the purchase was necessary.