~moho.com
Published Wednesday
November 14, 2001
ISU looks at arming officers with stun guns
BY KATI JIVIDEN
THE AMES TRIBUNE
Three Iowa State University student organizations said Monday that they support arming some ISU Public Safety
Department officers with stun guns. But some faculty members don't like the idea.
"I was held at knifepoint in college," said Herman Quirmbach, an associate professor of economics and a member of
the Ames City Council. "If I would have reached for a weapon, I'd be dead."
Quirmbach and other members of a 30-plus audience voiced their concerns about public safety's proposal to arm its
state-certified officers with ADVANCED AIR TASERs, a device that stuns by electric shock.
Others, including representatives of the Government of the Student Body, the Inter-Residence Hall Association and
the Graduate Student Senate, overwhelmingly spoke in favor of the plan.
"In my opinion, this is the least we should do," said Andy Tofilon, the president of ISU's student body. "We need to
make sure DPS has all the tools they need to make sure this campus is safe ... we depend on them for protection and
safety, so do their families."
The audience continually questioned the medical aspects of the TASER, which shoots out two barbs on a thin wire.
The device administers about 50,000 volts of electricity from as far as 20 feet away. The barbs will penetrate about
21/2 inches of clothing.
The weapon is fully accountable, releasing several microdots with serial numbers when fired. The dots can be traced
to the weapon and the officer. Officers will be assigned a weapon individually.
The weapon also will time and date each firing in a computer chip.
Public Safety Capt. Gene Deisinger said the medical repercussions of the device are small. He said the barbs, if they
penetrate the skin, can be taken out by the officer.
"It's not used in verbal (situations)," Deisinger said. "But when the person is combative or a threat to themselves or
others."
ISU President Greg Geoffroy is accepting comments about arming public safety officers with TASERs until Dec. 1.
He will present ISU's decision on TASERs to the Board of Regents in 2002.