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From:Nancy Goodban <br />To:publiccomment <br />Subject:Public Comment against Item 6B, May 12 agenda (Tasers) <br />Date:Monday, May 12, 2025 9:37:19 AM <br />You don't often get email from nancy.goodban@gmail.com. Learn why this is important <br />Dear Mayor Martínez Saballos, Vice Mayor Eakin, and Council members: <br />Please remove Item 6B from the agenda. <br />Before spending $1.58M to upgrade to Tasers that can point a laser at someone from <br />45 feet away and Tase them, take a step back and look at whether our Police <br />Department should use Tasers at all. These are dangerous weapons and not needed <br />on our street. <br />Officers are trained to use their firearms, not Tasers, when confronting suspects <br />armed with guns, knives, or other deadly weapons. <br />As a result,Tasers are almost always used on unarmed individuals ( 90% plus of <br />the time) whose physical and psychological vulnerabilities are typically unknown <br />to the police deploying the devices. <br />Tasers don’t even work - they fail to incapacitate their target 40-50 percent of <br />the time. However, the number of deaths attributed to Tasers has surpassed <br />1,000 and continues to rise. These fatalities disproportionately affect African <br />Americans, other people of color, and individuals from low-income backgrounds. <br />The Santa Clara County sheriff doesn’t use Tasers on the streets; neither does East <br />Palo Alto. It is time for Redwood City to slow down and look at the pros and cons of <br />Tasers. Bring in outside experts, not just the manufacturer who will tell you how safe it <br />is. <br />This isn't an emergency; the city already faces a budget shortfall and is talking about <br />cutting services. Please take Item 6B off the agenda and take time to look at it more <br />closely in a study session. <br /> <br />Nancy Goodban <br />Iris St <br />Redwood City, CA 94062 <br />650-787-9859