Durham Police Taser Program Has Unusual Effect – Reducing North Carolina Workers' Compensation Costs
Last year, the Durham, North Carolina Police Department adopted the widespread use of the taser – a non-lethal weapon designed for what police technically call “force applications.” The purpose of this program was to encourage suspects to comply with officers without the officers having to brandish lethal force. In a story in the Herald Sun, Durham Officer Lt. John Shelton touted the taser program as a major success for Durham in terms of deterring escalations of confrontations between suspects and officers. One key downstream effect, according to Shelton, has been “lowering cost for workers’ compensation claims.” Since city police can use tasers to effectively to contain suspects more effectively, they need not pursue potentially risky maneuvers like high-speed chases through traffic or hand-to-hand combat. As a result, cop injuries are way down this year.
Since the implementation of this taser program, North Carolina workers’ compensation claims for local officers have dropped by nearly $0.5 million – from over $650,000 to just over $187,000. Assuming other police departments across the state implement similar programs, if one extrapolates the numbers, NC could see a reduction in North Carolina workers’ compensation payouts on the order of several million dollars annually. Not only will the state therefore save money, but also the savings can potentially fund other programs to reduce North Carolina workers’ compensation costs. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the taser’s utility in reducing injuries to officers is a long term effect.
The Hearld Sun, Taser use aids police, August 25, 2009
Journal Live, North police use Taser guns every three days, August 18, 2009
More Web Resources
