SAN FRANCISCO - The ACLU of Northern California is urging the Los Gatos Town Council to hold off on purchasing Taser stun guns until the public has had an opportunity to review proposed regulations governing their use and appropriate training is developed.

The Los Gatos Town Council tonight is set to consider the purchase of 41 Tasers for the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department. The item is on the consent calendar, which means it can be approved without a public hearing.

In a letter sent today, ACLU-NC Police Practices Policy Director Mark Schlosberg and San Jose Director Sanjeev Bery urged the Town Council to delay purchase until strong regulations are publicly debated and approved.

“We appreciate the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department’s efforts to weigh the pros and cons of Tasers before making the purchase, however, without a publicly available draft policy, it is impossible to fully evaluate whether the stun guns will be sufficiently regulated,” Bery said.

“Moreover, it is our understanding that the training will be largely based on Taser International’s program. That training is woefully inadequate as it exaggerates the safety of the weapon and downplays health concerns,” said Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU-NC.

In the last year the number of deaths following encounters with police who used Tasers has doubled to more than 150 deaths, with 15 Taser related deaths in California. Between 1999 and September 2004, more than 70 people died following encounters with police who used Tasers.

In response to these troubling statistics, the ACLU-NC recently released a report titled Stun Gun Fallacy: How the Lack of Taser Regulation Endangers Lives. The comprehensive report, examines policies and training materials in more than 50 police departments in northern and central California.. The survey found a troubling lack of regulation of Tasers considering the death toll, medical concerns about the weapon and the aggressive and misleading marketing practices of Taser International. Not surprisingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona Attorney General is investigating the company.