TIVERTON — Police Chief Thomas Blakey would add Taser guns to the toolkits of nearly 30 officers on the police force, but only after they are trained to use them.

Blakey told the Town Council on Monday he wants to purchase 28 Taser guns with $30,000 from the proceeds of assets seized from defendants in drug cases.

But members of the council told Blakey that they wanted some time to think about the idea.

Yesterday, Blakey said he has looked into all aspects of the use of Taser guns, which immobilize people through a barb delivering an electric shock.

Tasers are gaining widespread use among police departments in Rhode Island and across the country as a way to de-escalate a potentially violent situation without firing a gun.

They also have been a magnet for controversy in recent years.

In 2006, a Woonsocket man arrested in a domestic disturbance collapsed after he was shot with a Taser and died an hour later at a hospital. But the medical examiner’s office ruled that the death did not result directly from the Taser shot.

Blakey asserted that Tasers minimize injury to police officers in dangerous situations and are safe for use with the general public.

He acknowledged, however, that Tasers should not be used on people with known cardiac conditions, neuromuscular disorders, the elderly, pregnant women, people in wheelchairs, people driving a car or children weighing less than 80 pounds.

If the police department purchases Tasers, Blakey would institute a medical protocol requiring the police and rescue personnel to transport anyone shot with one of the electric barbs to a hospital emergency room for clearance by a physician before the suspect can be taken to the police station.

All in all, it is preferable for an officer to reach for a Taser instead of a gun or a baton when faced with a violent or armed suspect, Blakey said.

Just last week, Fall River police used a Taser to subdue a suspect at the construction site of a new court house on South Main Street.

The Taser would be “another tool” in a continuum, to be used sparingly in accordance with strict policies and procedures, Blakey said.

Blakey said large departments cannot afford to buy Taser guns for all their officers, instead deploying them strategically in an effort to ensure they are available on all shifts.

The equipment and the training required before an officer is certified to use a Taser runs to about $1,000 per person, he said.

He emphasized that the purchase would not come from taxpayer funds.

On Monday, council members asked for additional time to peruse a five-page memo describing Blakey’s policies and procedures for the use of Tasers.

Blakey said he expects the matter to come up again at the council’s next meeting Sept. 8.

gmacris@projo.com