New York City Will Arm Prison Guards With Tasers

At a press conference on Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced his decision to authorize the use of taser guns for a special group of correctional officers at the Rikers Island jail.

The change will allow about 30 elite officers, part of the emergency and violence response unit at Rikers, to zap inmates they say are involved in fights or other violent encounters, sources told the New York Daily News. Currently, guards at Rikers Island carry batons and pepper spray to break up fights and enforce order.

The move comes about a month after the correctional officers’ union blamed de Blasio for an alleged spike in violence against officers. The union has been fending off efforts to end the use of solitary confinement, which they claim is essential for officer safety, and are claiming that the addition of tasers actually doesn’t go far enough.

“Given the amount of direct contact officers have with inmates in New York City jails, deploying tasers to be carried by a small number of Department of Correction supervisors does little to protect officers or stem the tide of daily violence,” said Elias Husamudeen, the union president, in a statement to The New York Times.