Rochester Police say every time an RPD officer uses any kind of force, it gets documented to make sure it was justified.
Thank you.
New on daybreak.
19 years ago... a situation similar to the fatal shooting of daunte wright happened in rochester where an officer says they mistook their gun for a taser.
Since then, the rochester police department says its made it their mission to continue improving and providing the highest level of public safety.
Kimt news 3's madelyne watkins joins us live to tell us more about the changes the department has made.
Good morning, madelyne./// tyler.
The biggest change i'm learning about is where the taser and hand gun are positioned on the officer.
In 2002... the taser didn't have a holster so a lot of the time, it was in the pocket of their strong sided arm.
That's no longer allowed under policy.
Tasers are now located on the opposite side of the officers strong arm... meaning it's on the opposite side as their gun.
Police chief jim franklin says in the past two decades... there have only been two incidents in minnesota where an officer mistakenly grabbed their gun instead of the taser.
He says it's extremely rare.
But captain john sherwin says people aren't perfect and that's why they continue with extensive training.
"we have incidents every year in rochester where tasers are used and what would potentially be a deadly force scenario and they've successfully resolved them.
So, tasers save lives.
That's why we were early adopters, that's why we still carry them today and that's why we take the added responsibility of making sure our officers are trained and that our policy is cohesive in ensuring we're using tasers appropriately."
Chief franklin says when officers respond to a call... they try their best to de?
"* escalate the situation so they don't have to use any kind of force ?
"*?
"* that includes bo taser and handgun.
Live in rochester.
Madelyne watkins kimt thank you madelyne.
He says every time an rpd officer uses any kind of force... it gets documented and later broken down to make
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