Proposition H is a San Francisco ballot measure that would speed up the process of arming the city’s police officers with stun guns.
San Francisco’s police officers are already on track to carry taser stun guns. Last November, the city’s police commission voted to arm police with tasers.
But the police labor union didn’t trust the commission to come up with a policy for when or how to use the devices. The union was frustrated by more than a decade of inaction, and the fact that San Francisco is only one of two major cities without tasers. So the union put this measure on the ballot.
THE POLITICS
However, since then, the police commission has adopted a policy that would arm police by the end of the year. That new policy says officers can use tasers on subjects who are violently resisting.
In contrast, the police union’s Proposition H would allow police to use tasers on anyone actively resisting officers.
It also sets a firm deadline to take all necessary means to get the stun guns into the hands of officers by the end of 2018.
SUPPORTERS & OPPONENTS
While the police union is behind Proposition H, Police Chief Bill Scott is against it. He says it devalues the police commission, and the community input it receives. By he also says that if Proposition H passes, it will be hard to turn back, since it can only be amended by the ballot box, or by an ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
YOUR VOTE
If you want to vote to adopt the police union’s taser policy, vote yes on Propositon H. If you want to leave adopting tasers to the city’s police commission, vote no.