FORREST CITY, Ark. — Memphis Police might not have their body cameras up and running, but police in Forrest City do, and it appears they soon get to add another tool to their belt.
“Tasers require restraint.”
WREG met up with Sergent Darren Smith as he went door to door connecting with the community on Wednesday.
He said while he wants to add tasers to the body cameras they carry, he’ll teach his officers not to use them.
“The most effective tool any officer has is verbal communication. If he uses his mouthpiece he can resolve a lot of issues without using his hands,” he said.
Acting Police Chief Deon Lee said they need to have them for when you can’t talk it out.
“All we use is pepper spray and officers carry a baton.”
Low tech has always been the way out here, but when they added the body cameras they saw big changes.
“We were excited about body cams. Complaints are way down. Complaints come in it takes me 5-10 minutes to review the body camera,” said Lee.
He talked about the incidents like the Darrius Stewart case in Memphis and what happened in Ferguson.
While the City of Memphis can’t seem to figure out how to quickly implement cameras, or fully implement tasers, city leaders say Forrest City Police will get all the support they need to get less lethal force in officers’ hands.
“Thus far we’ve be able to pay for them. We’re one of the first to pay for it. If we need more we’ll ask citizens and I think they’ll grant us the money to get them,” said Mayor Larry Bryant.
Obviously the mayor is on board, but the full City Council has to approve.
Based on the performance they’ve had so far we’re told it will likely happen.
