The NYPD wants to expand its arsenal of Tasers to give cops more nonlethal alternatives to their service weapons when dealing with criminals and mentally disturbed individuals, The Post has learned.
The city is contracting to spend up to $4.5 million on the weapons — and the department has already begun training officers on how to use the devices, an NYPD spokesman confirmed.
Currently only patrol sergeants and members of the elite Emergency Service Unit are qualified to use the stun guns, which use a pulse of electricity to subdue individuals.
“The patrol sergeant supervisors have been trained on them. We’re going to expand that. We’re going to try to get all supervisors on patrol to get Tasers,” the spokesman said.
Field training officers will also be taught how to use them.“They’re more seasoned, more experienced,” he said. “If you have a situation where a sergeant may not be able to go there, we want additional qualified people with Tasers.”
Training has been under way in the last month. As many as 1,000 officers will receive new training in future months, sources say.
There are currently 700 Tasers in use and about 1,000 in inventory. Officials did not say how many would be added, but the number was expected to top 1,000. Tasers cost about $500 to $1,000 each.
There may come a time where beat cops will be outfitted with the Tasers, but no decisions have been made yet, the spokesman said.
The department may also equip some of the specialty units with Tasers, such as anti-crime and gang units, a police source said.
“The bottom line is it’s another tool to have,” said the spokesman.
The $4.5 million price tag would include the cost of the Tasers and Taser equipment like chargers, power sources and darts.
The only patrol officers trained to use Tasers are the ones who ride the Staten Island Ferry due to a 1986 incident involving a man with a sword who killed two people on board.
The use of Tasers has not been without controversy in the city.
In June, a Bronx ex-con died shortly after police used a Taser on him while he was armed with scissors.
In 2008, a Taser was used to subdue Iman Morales, an emotionally disturbed Brooklyn man. An NYPD lieutenant fired a Taser at Morales, causing him to plunge to his death from a second-floor ledge.
The lieutenant later committed suicide.