Portage police have no plans to eliminate Tasers from their nonlethal arsenal, despite a $90,000 settlement the city had to pay as a result of an excessive force lawsuit.

And, in the adjacent city of Hobart, police are planning to add Tasers to their department for the first time within the next 30 to 60 days, Hobart Police Chief Rod Gonzalez said.

"They are absolutely going to help our officers and protect our citizens," Gonzalez said. "It's a method to subdue a violent offender."

The advantages -- which include the elimination of bodily harm for police and suspects -- outweigh any of the negatives such as occasional lawsuits that can target police for a variety of scenarios, Merrillville Police Chief Joseph Petruch said.

"There will continue to be lawsuits," Petruch said.

Merrillville police, which eliminated Tasers from their department for about three to four years because of charging problems, re-introduced the weapons about a year ago.

"They've upgraded them so much we went back to them. ... Any given day there will be a Taser on the street," Petruch said. "We can't afford to have every officer have them, but we do have at least one officer per turn."

Although most area police departments use Tasers and sing their praises, there is a downside to the weapon if not used properly, Merrillville attorney Stephen Bower said.

"The reason I don't like use of them is because it doesn't take into consideration other things that might be occurring," Bower said, adding, "There have been deaths from the reaction. The Tasers are not intended to kill, but that's happened."

Bower was the attorney for Portage resident James Wring who filed the lawsuit against Portage police and city officials following a November 2004 incident.

Wring was 17 years old when police officers used Taser guns on him 16 times, sprayed a chemical in his eyes, threw him to the ground and hog-tied him before taking him into custody, the lawsuit stated.

Bower said Wring, who was at his girlfriend's Portage home, apparently had gotten something lodged in his throat after he, his girlfriend and her mother had gone to a nearby fast-food restaurant.

The girlfriend's mom had called 911 when Wring came out of a bathroom staggering and mumbling, and apparently police arrived and reacted before the paramedics, Bower said.

Although police and the paramedics reported they thought Wring was intoxicated, tests showed that wasn't the case.

"Speculation was that when he choked, he shut off his air pipe, which made oxygen deficient to the brain, and it made him impaired," Bower said.

The lawsuit hasn't really changed the Portage Police Department's Taser use, police Sgt. Keith Hughes said.

In fact, his department just recently placed an order for 21 more Tasers, a purchase that will be paid for through federal grant money.

Hughes said the cost to buy video cameras is prohibitive for his department right now.

But he believes plans by Hobart police to buy the accompanying units with Tasers is a wise one.

"In a case of legal action, people like to fabricate how many times the weapons were shot. That's all kept on record with the video units," Hughes said.

Portage police Sgt. John Ryan, who trains officers on an annual basis, agrees that Tasers aren't the end-all, and there are cases in which they're not appropriate.

He said Portage police only used Tasers 10 times last year, and the weapon is a deterrent to some crime for "a lot of people just knowing they're out there and they don't want to experience them.

The Tasers emit an electrical charge into the body that causes muscle confusion, which makes the person not want to fight.

"We're keeping them in our tool box," Ryan said.