Council says not so fast on $4.6 million taser purchase

01:16 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 20, 2004

By Reggie Aqui / 11 News

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Houston police officers will have to wait at least another week before they learn if they'll have another weapon in their arsenal.

KHOU-TV

Arming the entire HPD force with tasers has been one of Police Chief Hurtt's top priorities.

Chief Harold Hurtt wants millions to buy tasers for his officers and today he went to council to make his case and money could be the sticking point.

Wednesday was City Council's first chance to consider the financial sting of tasers on the city budget. Police Chief Harold Hurtt went before council to ask for the $4.6 million to purchase the needed tasers to arm every officer with 50,000 volts.

"I truly believe it will reduce injury to officers and citizens," said Hurtt.

But Wednesday the council said, not so fast, and tabled the vote until more of their questions can be answered.

"I haven't seen where the administration has made it's case that this is such a high priority that we have to spend millions of dollars on this versus putting more police officers on the street," said councilwoman Addie Wiseman."

The police SWAT teams already use the tasers, which use about 20 feet of wire and a dart-like tip to hit and shock suspects into submission. As police chief in Phoenix, Hurtt says tasers were responsible for a 50 percent reduction in officer-related shootings.