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Independent police auditor urges clearer taser policy; commission backs recommendations
Summary
An independent police-auditor review of seven taser deployments found several cases where the threshold for deploying the device was unclear and recommended six policy and documentation changes; the commission voted to support all six recommendations.
Michael Shanako, the city'9s independent police auditor, presented a 22-page review of seven taser deployments and urged clearer policy language and improved documentation to ensure deployments meet constitutional standards. The commission voted to support all six recommendations the auditor proposed.
The report summarized case reviews under the Graham v. Connor reasonableness framework and a Ninth Circuit standard the auditor cited (transcript reference: "Paul O'Brien versus McFerson" as discussed in the presentation). Shanako explained that tasers are designed to create neuromuscular incapacitation and said they can be appropriate when officers face assaultive or imminently threatening behavior, but that several reviewed cases raised questions about whether that threshold was met when the device was deployed.
"A taser is designed . . . to create what is called neuromuscular incapacitation," Shanako told commissioners, describing how a successful deployment produces temporary loss of voluntary muscle control and an opportunity to take a subject into custody. The auditor said the report did not allege malicious behavior by officers but instead identified a gradient of subject activity that sometimes made it difficult to conclude the deployment met the objective standard of assaultive or imminently threatening conduct.
Shanako and police representatives discussed drive-stun mode (pain-only application), manufacturer changes (newer models such as the Taser 7 or Taser 10), and the practical trade-offs and costs of replacing recently purchased equipment. Commissioners were told that Davis'9 current devices also have a stun-drive feature and that some deployments should be studied to ensure policy and training reflect device capabilities.
The auditor also emphasized the evidentiary value of body-worn and in-car camera footage for evaluating uses of force and recommended clarified expectations for camera activation. Police staff said activation should occur before exiting a vehicle whenever practicable and outlined progressive corrective steps when devices are not turned on, from documented counseling for a first failure to a letter of reprimand for repeated violations.
Police staff provided historical taser-use counts during the discussion: six uses in 2023, five in 2024 and three in 2025 to date. The commission'9s motion to support the auditor'9s six recommendations, including specific wording changes to policy, passed by voice vote.
Next steps described in the meeting included refining policy language with the city attorney and police leadership and following the usual process for adopting departmental policy revisions.
