Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to reflect the correct date and votes of the Mesa College Academic Senate about the SDCCD Police taser resolution. The story has also been updated to reflect that it was the Mesa College Academic Senate and not the SDCCD Board of Trustees that voted on this resolution. The SDCCD Board of Trustees has not voted on or been presented a resolution about police tasers.
The Mesa College Academic Senate approved a resolution to oppose the deployment of tasers by San Diego Community College District Police on campus at its Feb. 24 meeting. The resolution passed 15-8, with 8 abstentions.
There have been many concerns raised by mostly students, faculty, and staff at Mesa College regarding the deployment of tasers to on campus officers, regarding the safety of students, specifically minority groups.
Chicano Studies professor Jennifer Moreno proposed the resolution for the Academic Senate meeting.
“We wanted to establish a united faculty voice against the use of tasers in support of our students,” Moreno said.
According to Moreno, arming police officers with tasers created a “culture of oppression” when there has been little to no record of crime or need for tasers on Mesa’s campus.
“Myself coming from a Chicano studies background, our history and our research through learning people’s testimonies is that they are heavily affected by over policing and they are the ones that are targeted by these new weapons, like tasers,” she said.
Moreno also explained how the deployment of tasers is, in her opinion, out of personal interest and an overuse of power, since the police already have plenty of weapons to protect themselves, students, and be effective in de-escalation, which is one of the police department’s goals.
SDCCD Police Lt. Ken Nelson indicated that it is a priority for police to use the least amount of force possible when responding to a situation on campus.
“I want folks to know that if they want to talk to us, all they have to do is reach out. We’ll come talk to them and answer any questions that they have. We try to be as transparent as possible,” Nelson said in response to concerns. “The ultimate goal is to try to de-escalate any type of potentially dangerous situations as early and as frequently as possible.”
He also explained SDCCD Police is the only local law enforcement agency that does not carry tasers, and how if any outside threats were to come on campus and potentially harm students, the use of a taser would de-escalate the situation, while also inflicting the least amount of harm.
