Flint Police Department to Start Carrying Tasers

Members of the Flint Police Department will soon have a new weapon in the fight against crime, Tasers.

According to Flint Police Chief James Tolbert, he believes equipping officers with Tasers "will lower the number of fights Flint police officers have with suspects." Tolbert says in his first two months on the job, officers have been involved in as many as 10 hand-to-hand confrontations with suspects. Tolbert says he doesn't need officers hurt out there and wanted to find the most acceptable practice for officer safety.

The Flint Police Department was one of the last departments in Genesee County to refrain from carrying Tasers. The move now leaves Davison and Flushing Township as the only police departments in the county that don't use Tasers.