City lawmakers consider buying Tasers, to dismay of some community groups

But some community groups say that money and time would be better invested in adding services such as diversion programs, civilian oversight and community-based health programs. They want the Council to refuse funding for any additional weapons for police and to provide more information on how a proposed data tracking system will work to provide transparency for the public.

"The real issue at hand is that community members do not feel safe with current police culture. This is especially true for community members who are Black and brown or are part of vulnerable groups," said social worker Emma Fabian, a member of Showing Up For Racial Justice Buffalo. The group is a partner organization with the Partnership for the Public Good, which issued a mostly thumbs-down response to the city's reform package announced a little more than a week ago.

But while the groups don't want money spent on Tasers, some Council members remain bothered by the fact that $417,000 they approved in the 2019-20 budget for the less-lethal option was reallocated by the Brown administration, with the bulk of the money going for Covid-19 related expenses. 

The police reform package includes a $1 million, six-year phased-in program to equip all Buffalo police officers with Tasers and a $2.9 million contract to create a data center to track and evaluate police training and practices in the field. A third proposal – a free, six-month BolaWrap pilot program to test the nonlethal, lasso-type restraining device by the Police Department’s Behavioral Health Team – does not have to be approved by the Council, but will be discussed during its Police Oversight Committee meeting Nov. 10.

The package is the latest in Mayor Byron W. Brown’s Buffalo Reform Agenda that includes the creation of an advisory panel to examine the city’s police policies and make recommendations; limits on no-knock search warrants; a stop receipt policy that requires officers to issue written statement for all traffic stops; and the repeal of 15 vehicle fines that were instituted in 2018.

The discussion of giving police Tasers took center stage again after Willie Henley, who was having a mental health episode Sept. 12, was shot in the abdomen by police after he hit one of the officers with a bat. A couple of rounds of pepper spray did not subdue him, police said.

Henley was charged with assault, and the incident touched off multiple protests and raised questions about why officers don't have Tasers or other less-lethal weapons to use in such situations.

Asked about the Partnership letter, Council President Darius G. Pridgen noted the conflicting pressures lawmakers face.

“The Council’s being approached by many different people and organizations who have their own ideas of how policing should change in the City of Buffalo. The challenging part is that not every group agrees with each other on the direction that the department should be going,” Pridgen said. “After the shooting of Mr. Henley, there were many people who questioned why haven’t the Tasers been purchased.”

The Council included $417,000 in the 2019-20 budget for Tasers, but the money was reallocated primarily for Covid-19-related expenses that did not have to be approved by the Council. Pridgen said the $417,000 wasn’t a Police Department budget line marked solely for Tasers. If it had been, the administration would have had to seek Council approval for a transfer of funds.

Police Capt. Jeff Rinaldo said no agencies were prepared for the amount of PPE that was required, and that Covid-19 restrictions prohibited in-person training on Tasers and it was unclear when the restrictions would be removed.

Rinaldo told The Buffalo News how the $417,000 was reallocated: $375,000 purchased PPE masks for city employees; $33,000 covered the rental of 15 unmarked vehicles until new vehicles that were ordered are delivered; with the remainder set aside for other purposes or unspent. 

During a recent Council meeting, University Member Rasheed N.C. Wyatt said it "still burns me" that the money was reallocated without the Council having a chance to weigh in. 

Niagara Council Member David A. Rodriguez, chairman of the Police Oversight Committee, said purchasing Tasers is a priority that has become even more important because of recent events involving the use of deadly force by police officers. 

"Certainly the Common Council felt it was a priority when we approved it," he said. "And the money was used for other things."