Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown and Common Council President Darius G. Pridgen announced Friday a $3.9 million police reform package for the Council to consider, including the purchase of Tasers.
Included are the creation of a data center to track and evaluate police training and practices in the field; the permanent phased-in use of Tasers; and a BolaWrap pilot program for members of the Police Department’s new Behavioral Health Team that was announced last month.
“I hope that these purchases and pilot programs will continue the radical shift for policing and that officers and citizens get home safely,” Pridgen said in the written statement.
The items are included on the Council's agenda for its regular business meeting Tuesday.
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The three-year contract with SAS Institute to create a data analytics center for the Buffalo Police Department will enable police management and city policymakers to examine, almost in real-time, the effectiveness of community policing training, new equipment and new policies, Brown said in the written statement.
The first year of the contract costs $1.3 million. Years two and three will cost $800,000 annually, according to official documents.
The Buffalo Police Department is considering a lasso-type restraining device called the BolaWrap as a nonlethal means of capturing suspects.
A cancellation policy has been built into the contract to ensure the city will be “held harmless” if federal aid the city is expecting does not materialize and the city is unable to meet this financial obligation, the documents said.
The city's 2020-2021 budget of $519 million relies on $65 million in federal pandemic assistance that has yet to be approved by Congress.
If anticipated grant funding and the federal disaster relief are not received, the city can also end the phase-in Taser program without financial liability, Brown’s statement said.
More than 15,000 other law enforcement and military agencies have Tasers in widespread use.
Under Buffalo's Taser program, patrol officers in all five police districts will be among the first members of the department to begin using the devices. This year, 85 Tasers, along with device maintenance and officer training, will be purchased from Axon Enterprises. A total of 515 devices will be purchased over the course of the six-year contract, and all police officers will be trained in the proper use of the Tasers.
The contract is for almost $1 million, including $100,000 in year-one, $197,000 annually for years two through five. Year-six would cost around $60,000, according to documents.
While Mayor Byron W. Brown's team, after years of delay, has decided to equip officers with Tasers, the program is now on hold, said Capt. Jeffrey D. Rinaldo.
The BolaWrap pilot program involves testing of the technology by members of the department’s Behavioral Health Team. BolaWrap, which was demonstrated in Police Headquarters last month, is a lasso-type restraining device used as a nonlethal means of capturing suspects. Officers assigned the device will help determine over a period of six-months how effective the technology is in keeping residents and officers safe, how easy it is to carry and whether it can be effectively deployed.
Wrap Technologies is partnering with Buffalo police to allow the Behavioral Health Team to run the pilot program for free.
“These three items represent significant progress for our Police Department,” Brown’s written statement said. “Technology has the potential to make policing safer, more accountable and more responsive to the needs of the community.”
