BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield Police Department patrol cars will be carrying two officers until further notice, according to BPD Director Samuel DeMaio.
The decision comes in response to a sniper’s killing of five law-enforcement officers, and the wounding of seven others, in Dallas last week. The suspect was himself killed by law-enforcement officers.
DeMaio said to accommodate the change, additional officers will be deployed and areas of patrol will be expanded. He also anticipates the use of Tasers by Bloomfield police in the coming weeks.
A Taser is a type of stun gun that uses an electric current to incapacitate a suspect. The BPD has 12 Tasers, DeMaio said, and all officers have been trained to use them; the department is only waiting for clearance for their use from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Initially, the use of a Taser was considered the use of deadly force,” DeMaio said. “It’s been changed to less than deadly.”
He said the change was made by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.
A March 3 directive to law enforcement officials from acting Attorney General John Hoffman changed the policy on the use of stun guns, or conducted energy devices.
The amended policy allows a police officer to use a CED when a suspect, who is resisting arrest, uses or threatens to use physical force against the officer; or if the suspect has an object which the officer considers can be used to inflict bodily harm.
Before the directive, a law-enforcement officer could only use a CED when confronted with the imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death from the suspect.
The directive underscored that a CED is not intended for use against a suspect with a deadly weapon, or against a suspect offering passive resistance to an arrest. A police officer using a CED must also be outfitted with a body camera, according to the directive.
Councilman Joseph Lopez, who advocated for CEDs and body cameras, said their paired use is very timely. The use of a CED, he said, may also protect a police officer from the traumatic experience of deadly force.
“It’s most appropriate to have this alternative,” Lopez said of CEDs.
Mayor Michael Venezia said Tasers would protect an officer from a rowdy suspect when, in the past, an officer might have to resort to his gun.
“And the use of a body camera, having to use it with a Taser, shows that the OAG wants to protect the public, and wants police accountability,” he said.
DeMaio said with the addition of Tasers, there will be five types of possibly force for the BPD, including the use of a baton; pepper spray; physical force; and deadly force.
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