02/26/1998 03:35 PM Senate STA

Number 100                                                                     
                                                                               
         SB 309 - USE OF NONLETHAL AND DEFENSIVE WEAPONS                       
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN brought SB 309 before the committee as the next                 
order of business.                                                             
                                                                               
SENATOR WARD, prime sponsor of SB 309, informed the committee that             
his son-in-law is a member of the SWAT team in Anchorage and that's            
how he became interested in the use of nonlethal firearms.                     
                                                                               
CRAIG JOHNSON, staff to Senator Ward, explained that the bill will             
basically indemnify an officer who, while acting under his training            
and within the rules of engagement, fires what is known as a                   
nonlethal projectile or a less lethal projectile which is designed             
to incapacitate but not kill an individual.  As the law stands                 
today, a police officer acting under instructions who fires this               
weapon and causes bodily harm is subject to liability.                         
                                                                               
Mr. Johnson said SB 309 is patterned after a law in Iowa, and it               
has been crafted with the attorney from the Anchorage Police                   
Officers Association.  He said many of the state's law enforcement             
branches have indicated their support, in concept, for  the                    
legislation and they will have formal support once they have had               
the opportunity to review the bill.                                            
                                                                               
Mr. Johnson directed attention to an article in the members' backup            
from the Anchorage Daily News relating to an incident in Anchorage             
where a beanbag round was used successfully to keep a woman from               
committing suicide.  He added that there have been cases where                 
these weapons don't work as designed and beanbags have been the                
cause of at least five deaths in the U.S., and SB 309 keeps the                
police officer from being responsible for using deadly force.                  
                                                                               
Number 155                                                                     
                                                                               
SENATOR MACKIE commented that read the article in the Anchorage                
Daily news, and having that having been a police officer, he                   
thought that in that instance it was a pretty good use of nonlethal            
force, but he asked if that currently was not allowable.  MR.                  
JOHNSON replied that it's allowable to use the weapon, but Alaska              
law does not protect the officer from liability in the event the               
lady decides to file a lawsuit against him . This was a projectile             
launched from a weapon capable of being lethal and under Alaska law            
that is lethal force.  SB 209 makes it a nonlethal use of a                    
potentially lethal weapon.                                                     
                                                                               
SENATOR MACKIE asked if an officer shoots somebody with a                      
"nonlethal weapon' and it kills them, is it correct that the                   
officer can't be sued for using a lethal weapon because it was                 
supposed to be nonlethal even though it killed the individual.  MR.            
JOHNSON responded that would be correct at long as the officer was             
acting within the training under the guidelines of the police                  
force.                                                                         
                                                                               
SENATOR WARD noted police officers have to undergo training in                 
order to become certified to use these weapons and right now only              
30 out of 350 police officers in Anchorage are qualified to use                
them.                                                                          
                                                                               
Number 215                                                                     
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN GREEN commented that a bigger concern might be the chance             
of someone being injured rather than being killed, and then filing             
an action against a police officer.                                            
                                                                               
Number 300                                                                     
                                                                               
BILL PARKER, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Corrections, voiced            
the department's support for SB 309.  He noted that the                        
correctional officers preferred to be called "officers" not                    
"guards' as they are referred in two places in the bill.                       
                                                                               
Number 320                                                                     
                                                                               
SENATOR MACKIE moved the following amendment to SB 309:                        
                                                                               
Amendment No. 1                                                                
                                                                               
Page 1, lines 5 and 7:  Delete "guards" and "guard" and replace                
                        with "correctional officers" and                       
                        correctional officers"                                 
                                                                               
Hearing no objection, the amendment was adopted.                               
                                                                               
CRAIG JOHNSON pointed out that according to the legal department               
"guard" is a recognized statutory term throughout the statutes.                
However, SENATOR DUNCAN and SENATOR MACKIE thought that could be               
addressed by the revisor of statutes.                                          
                                                                               
SENATOR WARD moved SB 309, as amended, and the accompanying zero               
fiscal note be passed out of committee with individual                         
recommendations.  Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.