Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/140592
Sarasota News Leader June 28, 2013 Page 36 plan, allowing the rezoning of the property FAILING TASERS from Residential to Community Commercial. Police Chief Bernadette DiPino will come forTahiti Park residents did not learn about the ward Monday to tell the commissioners her change until long after it had been made, and department has applied for a $35,406 grant they feared commercial intrusion into their from the Office of Justice Assistance to buy area. The zoning change sought by the appli- 26 Tasers as part of an effort to replace all the department's "stun guns." cant would allow a gas station, convenience store, bar or liquor store should Fusion sell Tasers are pistols that fire darts containing a high voltage that disables people, but they are the property at some point. designed to be non-lethal. The Planning Board recommended denial of the petition. The City Commission took testi- DiPino says the Tasers carried by her officers mony on March 4 and June 3. Monday's pub- are first-generation equipment that has been in use for nine years, and they are out of warranty. lic hearing will be the wrap-up session, with cross-examination and rebuttal before the She is not requesting funding. The public hearing is a requirement of the grant. commissioners decide what to do. A U.S. Military officer holds an M26 Taser. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Military via Wikimedia Commons