Youngstown would lease 160 police stun guns

YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider legislation Wednesday to allow the Youngstown police department to lease 160 stun guns for its officers.

Leasing the 160 stun guns, for a $25,000 annual fee, is significantly less expensive than buying them, a $160,000 purchase, Police Chief Jimmy Hughes said.

The city will use federal grant money for equipment to lease the stun guns, Mayor Jay Williams said.

The expense is particularly important because of the city’s financial struggles, Hughes said.

The city’s 2009 general fund budget includes $655,000 in personnel cuts from the police department. That would mean about 25 police officers would be laid off. But the city administration is negotiating a buyout package with officers that could reduce and possibly eliminate the number of layoffs.

“Two things don’t make any sense to me: to have equipment with no officers and to have officers and not the proper equipment,” Hughes said. “The goal of the stun guns is to take dangerous and combative suspects into custody.”

For the complete story, read Tuesday’s Vindicator or Vindy.com