Plano Police purchasing new Tasers for $73K

The Plano Police are upgrading equipment the department says is a key tool for de-escalating situations and keeping both community members and officers safe.

The department is purchasing 10 new Tasers from Axon Enterprises, Inc. to be shared by the patrol division. The Tasers have a price tag of $73,321. The department will pay for the equipment in installments over the next five years.

Plano Police Chief Norm Allison said even though the department only deploys Tasers less than twice a year on average, the equipment serves as a vital tactic to calm members of the public without having to use potentially harmful force.

“Our goal is always de-escalation, but sometimes it gets to the point where there needs to be a tangible deterrent,” Allison said. “More often than not, a Taser just has to be shown to an individual and they will calm down. We can then use verbal communication to keep them calm at that level.”

Allison said Tasers are only deployed when other de-escalation tactics have failed. This could involve situations where an individual tries to fight an officer or displays a weapon.

The Plano Police Department has used Axon Tasers for more than two decades. The company claims in tested field cases, 99.75% of their Taser usage resulted in no serous injury, according to the agreement.

“They have been beneficial to mitigate situations where there’s no further use of force that has to take place,” Allison said. “It disrupts the behavior of the individual, and then the officer can put that person into handcuffs as opposed to having to get physical where they could get hurt.”

Along with the purchase of the 10 tasers, the department is purchasing extended warranties for the tasers, batteries, multiple cartridges and other associated hardware.