News

Tasers help prevent crime beyond the Borough

In print | February 19, 2009

The Borough of Swarthmore Police Department hardly elicits images of crime fighting at its most stirring. Nor does the low-key community demand such force. Yet Borough police are among the first in law enforcement to record criminal encounters through the use of video-equipped Taser guns.

“I’m not aware of any other departments [in Pennsylvania] at this point that have the cameras,” Borough Chief of Police Brian Craig said. The Tasers, each of which holds a small video camera in the base of its handle, cost about $1,500 per unit, a considerable sum but small in comparison to the $5,000 police car cameras more commonly used by departments across the state.

The Borough department’s experience with the stun guns has contributed to support for a Pennsylvania House bill which would allow the Tasers to record audio in addition to the video function. As things stand, the audio function is prohibited under Pennsylvania’s Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. The new bill, introduced by Delaware County Representative Brian Lentz, would create an exception in the act to allow the use of the Tasers’ audio recording function in addition to the video.

Craig described an incident in Morton, Pennsylvania when Swarthmore police were assisting the local department and a Taser’s camera took footage of a woman holding a knife in her lap, refusing to raise her hands. The video alone failed to capture the context of the situation, in which officers repeatedly asked the woman to raise her hands. An audio recording function, in addition to the video, would have provided police with evidence for justification had the use of force become necessary, according to Craig.

Though the Morton woman was not Tased, the situation sheds light on the limited effectiveness of video recordings alone. According to a recent Philadelphia Daily News article, similar situations have prompted the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, which Craig met with several weeks ago, to throw its support behind the bill.

Craig remarked that he believes the bill will move forward with little difficulty. “I really haven’t heard of any resistance to it,” he said. “It just makes sense to people.”

Craig said audio recorders on the Tasers would also help to hold officers to a greater degree of responsibility for both their words and actions than the video alone does.

The audio-video function of the gun works so that as soon as the safety is removed, the camera begins shooting and will shoot for up to 20 minutes or until the gun’s safety is turned back on, compelling officers to be mindful of the need to adhere to standard police procedure. One of the primary reasons funding for the Tasers was requested and received was to “improve the accountability of officers,” Craig said.

When asked if the Borough police plan to purchase the audio capabilities for the guns in the event that the bill is passed, Craig responded that this will depend on the added cost of the function. “If it’s too expensive, I would have to ask Borough Council to approve the spending,” he said. Too expensive, he explained, amounts to anything outside the area of $100.

Craig cited the stun guns as “a much better alternative” to other, more harmful weapons. Of the aforementioned incident with the woman holding a knife, Craig said, “The officers were just trying to resolve this issue without anybody getting hurt, and I think we did that.”

And while criminal activity in the Borough itself may not often call for the use of the weapons, incidents such as the one listed above have demonstrated the usefulness of the Tasers in assisting neighboring police departments like Morton.

“You can’t just look at what’s happening in the Borough; you have to look at the bigger picture … We frequently assist other areas [in Delaware County],” Craig said. Among these areas are, most frequently, Morton, Springfield and Ridley. The Borough police have also been occasionally called in to assist the departments of Media and Chester, the latter of whose crime rates more than triple those of the Borough, as reported by the two police departments.

Here in the Borough of Swarthmore, however, what little crime does occur can be more easily prevented through a little common sense and caution on the part of community members than through the use of equipment like Taser guns or video cameras.

This is exemplified by a series of thefts in the Borough on Friday, Jan. 23. Thirty cars were entered illegally during the night, resulting in a number of small thefts, including those of a GPS and a purse. All of the cars were left unlocked by their owners.

Craig commented on the ease with which these crimes might be prevented through practicing a little caution, noting also that similar advice might be given to Swarthmore students. “The warnings I give to people in the Borough would be the same ones I’d give to the college: keep your doors locked; be aware of your surroundings; walk around with friends and not by yourself.” Craig added that though the town and campus are generally very safe, “it can happen anywhere.”

Other offenses in the area have consisted largely of vandalism. This past Friday in Rutledge all four tires of a car were slashed, and only this Tuesday, officers noted the results of a series of mailbox and street sign vandalisms throughout Swarthmore.

Though Chief Craig declined to speculate on the source of these crimes, Officer Anthony Aloi said during a ride-along tour of the Borough that he believes youth from the surrounding areas very likely play a part in some such crimes.

“It could be the juveniles because there’s not much for them to do, and there’s nothing saying they can’t be out,” Aloi said, alluding to the Borough’s lack of curfew laws which allows youth to be out as late as they please in the Ville.

Whatever the source of the crimes, data compiled by the Swarthmore department indicates an increase in reported crime in the Borough from 2007 to 2008, though both years yielded a generally small number of reported crimes.

Craig said the data does not necessarily indicate a rise in crime. “You have to remember that it’s reported crime … sometimes the more successful you are at taking reports, the more reports you get,” he said.