Workers’ Comp Cases Prompt Tennessee City to Deploy Stun Devices

Police in the West Tennessee city of Brownsville will soon be armed with electric stun devices.

Mayor Webb Banks said city officials realize the weapons are controversial, but said if police tell people they have them, officials believe officers won’t have to use them.

Banks said the deciding factor in buying the 10 Taser devices was the number of police officers who needed time off work to recover from injuries.

He said the city has paid worker compensation and seen its insurance rates increase because a dozen officers have been injured on duty and needed time off to recover in the last year.

Banks said the devices being bought by Brownsville are Taser model TX26, which have audio and video recording capability.

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Information from: The Jackson Sun, http://www.jacksonsun.com