You can call FAU’s police chief Won’t-Tase-Me Lowe. He’s been here since September, but hasn’t decided if Tasers “are appropriate in the FAU environment.”

For two years, a dozen Taser-brand stun guns have laid inside a huge weapons safe alongside handguns and shotguns in the back of the Police Department unused.

They were purchased in April 2006 – for almost $10,000 – after an FAUofficer shot “uncontrollable” student Zach Carroll twice with her handgun outside of the Indian River Towers dorms that February. (Visit the UP online archive for more about the shooting. It was our Feb. 16, 2006 cover story.)

But the police weren’t even able to use the Tasers when they bought them: First, they needed to develop guidelines in their “use of force” policy – rules that lay out which officers can use certain weapons and under what circumstances. Then, officers needed to take a state-mandated training course for the weapons.

Chief Lowe wouldn’t guess why they bought the Tasers and didn’t use them. He says he wasn’t here for that decision. But, he considers them “to be one of the safest less-than-lethal force options available to police officers.”

They’re safe to use, Lowe thinks, and he has developed an appropriate policy for them. But, he says they haven’t trained officers yet because he still hasn’t decided whether the weapons are worth keeping. He hasn’t seen one situation on campus where a Taser might have made a difference.

Student Government Director Rivka Felsher says students might help Lowe make the decision – if they knew about it.

“I think that is an important conversation to have,” Felsher says.

Two weeks ago at a retreat for Student Affairs administrators, she heard about the research the police are doing about Tasers, but that information isn’t making its way to students.

Felsher suggests that SG could help start a dialogue between students and the Police Department.

“[Lowe] is being deliberate in his decision-making,” Felsher says. “But I think it’s important to have some kind of student feedback.”

Student Body President Abe Cohen could not be reached for comment.

But, his VP Ed Fulton says Tasers are a great non-lethal tool and he’s not hesitant with his opinion: “FAU Police should carry them. They should tase the crap out of [anybody] if they threaten students.”

Because Lowe’s still debating about Tasers a year after arriving, he says he’s been busy with other things.

“When I got here, people started asking me, ‘Tasers? Tasers? Tasers?’ Frankly that was not my number one priority. I thought, ‘gotta get my feet on the ground, learn my people, [and] the policy base has to be built,'” says Lowe. “All kinds of things that, in my mind, came first.”

Lowe says it’s probably too late to return the Tasers, but thinks the police may be able to sell or trade them. Like every other department on campus, they could use extra funding right about now.