To The Board of Santa Clara County Supervisors: Please let me begin, by saying we appreciate your service to the county of Santa Clara and outlining communities. We understand the importance of officer and inmates safety while incarcerated. As you may or may not know Tasers are unregulated weapons unlike firearm under the department the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE). Case in point, a recent weapons recall involved Remington Firearms https://xmprecall.remington.com/ due to safety concerns and deaths which having occurred prompting a voluntary recall. In addition, The Department of Transportation (DOT) regulates the automotive industry. Again, the DOT turned its national attention towards Takata, an airbag manufacture in which its products have purportedly injured scores of individuals including deaths, prompting a national recall. https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags Tasers on the other hand have caused over a thousand deaths in the United States alone. Which should, which should prompt a similar product recall. We believe Tasers, should be strictly regulated, and come under the same stringent ATF controls with similar Federal Regulations in light of serious safety concerns for both officers and civilian population. We believe they should be immediately removed from the market place due to these and other concerns, including well documented reports of injury and death. Therefore, in light of the forgoing we strongly suggest Tasers not be considered for use within the Santa Clara County correctional system, or for that matter any place at all, until all safety concerns have been satisfied for both inmates and correctional officers alike. Sincerely, Mark Petersen-Perez Editor: Palo Alto Free Press Ticuantepe, Nicaragua ???? Sent from my iPad Received on Sat Dec 16 2017 - 17:08:16 PST
