Online Petition: Call for Moratorium on Tasers in Vermont

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(cross-posted to Vermont Watch, here)

As you might have already heard of or read about (including, here), this past Wednesday (June 27, 2012), mental health and civil rights advocates held a press conference in the Cedar Creek Room at the Vermont State House in Montpelier to call for a moratorium on the use of Tasers by law enforcement across the state until certain statewide, state-approved, standardized policies as well as more extensive training are put in place that has grown apparent are currently found to be seriously lacking.

View the archived video of the press conference (via YouTube, via vtdigger), here.

Read the statement, which goes into great detail about why the moratorium is being call for and is sorely needed (via Google Docs), here.

For his part, when asked by reporters about it that very afternoon during a press conference he was holding, Governor Peter Shumlin outright rejected the need for a moratorium and staunchly defended the use of Tasers by law enforcement.

View the archived video of Governor Shumlin’s comments, relating to Tasers as well as the advocates call for a moratorium on the use of them, provided in response to questions posed by reporters during that particular news conference (via YouTube), here.

After having sat in on the afternoon press conference and listening to Governor Shumlin’s stance concerning these matters as well as his reasons for the same, it came to mind to consider setting up and creating an online petition much along the lines of what the advocates’ statement is calling to be set in place.

Have since created the petition and it is available (via SignOn), here.

If you agree with the online petition, please consider signing onto it.

In addition, feel free to share the petition with others whom you believe might be inclined to sign onto it as well, most particularly anyone living or working within Vermont.

If, however, you are inclined to do more than signing the petition and sharing word about it with others, consider also contacting Governor Shumlin directly on the subject (if you do however, please be brief and to the point as well as, most importantly, polite and civil as possible), here.

It could also prove helpful to consider contacting your local state legislators as well as writing and submitting a letter to the editor to both your local weekly or daily newspaper as well as, if it is not the same publication, one or more of the statewide dailies.

The Vermont Advocacy Resource Toolkit, which I set up a while back for such purposes, might be useful in doing so.

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7 thoughts on “Online Petition: Call for Moratorium on Tasers in Vermont”

  1. Thatcher Moats of the Vermont Press Bureau wanted to interview me for an article about the Taser Moratorium petition earlier this afternoon and, apparently, just prior to heading out I went offline a moment before his e-mail hit my inbox. It was only by chance that we managed to connect because Peter Hirschfeld spotted me on the street and let me know about how what was up.

    While, after returning home I was going to post an update to let people know to be on the outlook for either the Times Argus or Rutland Herald for an article about the Taser moratorium petition possibly in tomorrow’s TA/RH (however the article will more than likely a paywall; paying $1.00 grants a one day pass to read); now more than likely the article could to be about what was announced in the joint press release issued late this afternoon by Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood and Public Safety Commissioner Flynn instead or at least in part anyway: i.e., if Thatcher manages to get the article changed in time. Either way, there should definitely be an article on the subject one way or another.

    Here is the press release:

    For Immediate Release

    July 2, 2012

    Contact:

    Commissioner Patrick Flood, 802-828-3867

    Commissioner Keith Flynn, 802-244-8718

    State Police, Mental Health to Improve Responses to People in Mental Health Crisis

    WATERBURY — The Vermont Department of Mental Health and Vermont State Police have agreed, consistent with Act 79 that was recently passed by the legislature, their joint efforts to work together to improve responses to persons in mental health crisis. That announcement came today from Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn and Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood.

    “The Department of Mental Health has been reaching out to law enforcement for many months to partner with state and local police on how best to respond to reports involving people in mental health crisis,” said Flynn. “We have agreed we need to step up the pace.”

    The first step will be to ensure direct communication between law enforcement and the local mental health agency whenever a call comes to the police about someone who appears to be in a mental health crisis. Effective within 48 hours all designated mental health agencies and district Vermont State Police barracks will have contact persons on hand to speed communication. Whenever either party learns of an event that may call for police and mental health intervention, the other will be called immediately, and the parties will stay in touch until the situation is resolved. Whenever possible, a mental health professional will join the police at the scene. Within three weeks, joint protocols will be in place to guide interactions in these situations.

    “Plans are underway across the state for better coordination between local and state police and mental health agencies,” said Flood. “Agencies are hiring new staff for what we call “mobile crisis response.” They will need to be trained, but in the meantime, there is more we can do.”

    The Mobile Crisis Teams will improve officers’ abilities to effectively, respectfully and safely interact with persons with mental illness and subsequently divert more of them away from the criminal justice system and to mental health services. This approach will avoid incarceration in favor of a more appropriate, safe placement and optimize the utilization of available resources.

    Both agencies have been working together on coordination prior to the legislative session, and mental health

    legislation passed earlier this year calls for improved communication and collaboration. Situations like the

    recent death in Thetford illustrate the need for improved coordination and mobile outreach. Unfortunately over past years, reduced funding eroded the ability of mental health agencies to provide mobile crisis. Those services are now being re-developed with new funding from the Legislature.

    “Our goal is to make sure mental health professionals are directly involved, working with the police, to provide

    additional and different services to avoid harm to people in crisis,” Flood said.

    State Police Director Col. Thomas L’Esperance agreed, adding, “The safety of the public is our ultimate mission

    and it is important that we employ all available resources to aid in the execution of that mission.”

    Commissioner Flynn said the Department of Public Safety embraces the concept of working closely with mental health professionals and will do everything possible to ensure good communication right away, and fully developed working agreements as soon as new staff are hired.

    The problem however is that the Tasers will still be out there on the street all across the state for the time being, not only by state police, but also local police departments. In addition, it will be a real busy and hectic time during the next 48 hours with the 3th and 4th of July celebrations and all. The fact remains that the moratorium is still very much needed to be put in place right away.

    Another thing to consider is about how, in other areas across the country when there were deaths after someone was tased, there have been some police departments that have pulled the Taser guns off the street, at least for a time until both policy and training could try to catch up and, as I understand it.

    There is no reason to wait until whenever the autopsy as well as test results concerning the death of Macadam Mason are available to those looking into the matter or until investigations are completed (more than likely well after the general election).

    Although the state police are stepping up certain efforts along the lines the press release has stated, more needs to be done right now and one such need is to pull the Tasers off the street across Vermont until everything that needs to be put in place is rolled out and, then, they are reevaluate whether or not to reissue these weapons to police officers once again.

    Other regions of the nation, whether it be at the city, town or county level, have done the same when needed, why not Vermont?

    Why Governor Shumlin cannot see either the wisdom and logic of doing so is beyond me.

  3. Since vtdigger articles often get updated and edited after initial posting as well as thereafter at times, make sure to revisit it later on too (including in order to view comments, of which I posted one and it is probably still within the moderation cue), fyi:

    Tasing police officer not trained for mental health crises (via vtdigger; Thursday, July 5, 2012):

    http://vtdigger.org/2012/07/05…

    In the meantime, if you have not already done so and if you believe a moratorium on Tasers should be put in place across the state, please sign onto the online petition calling for such (via SignOn.org):

    http://signon.org/sign/call-fo…

    Thank you in advance as well as thank you if you have already signed the petition. It is greatly appreciated.

  5. Up until last weekend the Call for a Moratorium on Tasers in Vermont online petition was slowly receiving anywhere between fourteen (14) to at least one (1) signatures each day since it was created and posted online.

    On Saturday, July 7th, this slowed down to a mere trickle and, Wednesday (July 11th), which marked three (3) weeks to the day that Macadam Mason was tased by Vermont State Police and died shortly thereafter, was — if I recall correctly — the first day there were none at all. The petition had 74 signatures as of Tuesday (July 10th).

    Yesterday morning was quiet as well (Thursday, July 12th). However, when I went online and checked in the early evening, all of a sudden there was a “bump” of 48 new signatures, which have since been added to as well.

    The final result was a total of 61 additional signatures added yesterday (including the 48 noted in the above paragraph), which is the most of any one day period thus far.

    It is my understanding that, along with the efforts of others who have been independently signing on and also helping to spread the word as well, thanks to the power, support and outreach of MoveOn.org, not only has there already been a healthy “bump” in signatures posted to the Call for Moratorium on Tasers in Vermont online petition as of yesterday, but I have been informed there could also be even more signatures expected to come both today and thereafter as well.

    The current tally is now at 139 petition signatures.

    It is hoped this momentum continues to build from here on out and ends up turning the “bump” into a “jump”. Keep them coming!

    If you have not already signed onto the petition, please consider doing so asap:

    http://signon.org/sign/call-fo…

    In addition, please help spread the word about the petition and why the moratorium on Tasers within Vermont it is calling for is needed.

    It should also be noted that the majority of the signatures the petition received thus far has come from Vermont residents.

    By the way, several signatures include comments very much worth the read as well.

    Thank you in advance!

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