If that is departmental policy...and she was wearing her taser on the opposite hip from her duty weapon...then she really really messed up and will be charged with manslaughter as least. And she should be so charged. Police just cannot make that type of mistake. I can comprehend such a mistake if the taser is on the same hip or close to the duty weapon...but not if it was cross-body.
“Police Chief Tim Gannon on Monday said that he believes the officer who shot Wright during the traffic stop accidentally discharged her firearm. He said he believes the officer, who’s now on administrative leave, meant to fire a Taser.”
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Gannon walked reporters and community members through his interpretation of the bodycam footage Monday.
“As you can hear, the officer, while struggling with Mr. Wright, shouts ‘Taser, Taser’ several times. That is part of the officer’s training prior to deploying a Taser, which is a less lethal device,” he said. “That is done to make her partners aware, as well as the subject, that a Taser deployment will be imminent.”
Gannon said the officer instead drew their handgun.
He explained that officers are trained to keep their handguns on their dominant side, and their Taser on their “weak side.”
“As I watch the video and listen to the officer’s commands, it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Gannon said.”
So, from the above we can confirm that that department’s officers are trained to carry the Taser on their opposite hip. This implies that this is department policy, though it is not explicitly stated as such.