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COMMITTEE BUSINESS: <br /> <br />Case #2: Purchase of Pursuit Intervention Devices <br /> <br />Police Chief Gustafson pointed out that high speed police pursuits continue to draw the <br />attention of law enforcement administrators, legislators and the public. While opinions of <br />the pursuits vary, there is agreement that a pursuit of short duration is less dangerous than <br />one that continues. An accepted method of attaining this goal is the use of pursuit <br />intervention devices by law enforcement officers at the earliest possible opportunity <br />during a pursuit. Chief Gustafson described the devices as basically an 18-foot long bed <br />of nails that is projected across the roadway immediately ahead of the suspect vehicles. <br />This occurs once other law enforcement officers who are not directly involved in the <br />pursuit are able to maneuver to a location some distance ahead of where the vehicle is <br />believed to be heading, then deploy the device once other vehicle traffic is stopped and <br />the deployment site is secure. He requested five pursuit intervention devices at a cost of <br />$2,500 ($500 each) with the funding supplied from drug forfeiture funds. The drug <br />forfeiture funds are placed in the Peace Officer's Special Revenue Fund and are to be <br />used exclusively for public safety expenditures. <br /> <br />Councilmember Haas Steffen wanted to be certain these are not the type of devices that <br />have caused cars to flip and Chief Gustafson assured her they were not. Councilmember <br />Haas Steffen asked for the department's policy with regard to pursuit and Chief <br />Gustafson offered to present the policy to Council for review. <br /> <br />Motion by Councilmember Haas Steffen and seconded by Councilmember Beyer to <br />recommend Council adopt the resolution authorizing the purchase of five pursuit <br />intervention devices. <br /> <br />Motion carded. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Haas Steffen, Beyer, <br />Beahen and Zimmerman. Voting No: None. Absent: None. <br /> <br />Case #3: Purchase of Semi-Automatic Police Shotguns <br /> <br />Police Chief Gustafson reported that the Police Department currently has four, pump <br />action 12-gauge Remington shotguns which are rotated between the five patrol vehicles. <br />While all four of these weapons are still in serviceable condition, there is evidence to <br />support the purchase of alternative weaponry for deployment in the squads. Chief <br />Gustafson explained that the Beneli brand, M1 super 90 semi-automatic shotgun is <br />equipped with night sights to enhance effectiveness during Iow light conditions and with <br />a specially designed choke tube for pattern enhancement. The night sights are for the <br />benefit of the officer and the enhanced pattern greatly lessens the chance of a stray pellet <br />injuring a bystander or other member of the public. He pointed out that the useful life of <br />this shotgun has been proven to be well over ten years in large agencies that fire some of <br />these guns several thousand times per year during training exercises. The cost per gun, <br />electronic locking mechanism for the squad, night sight, and tactical sling is $1,100, or <br /> <br /> Finance Committee/June 23, 1998 <br /> Page 2 of 7 <br /> <br /> <br />