The Pullman City Council unanimously approved a resolution in favor of a contract with Taser International, Inc. for supplies for the police department during a joint meeting between the Pullman City Council and the ASWSU Senate.

Resolution 70-15 authorizes “the execution of a master services agreement between the city of Pullman and Taser International, Inc. for the purpose of securing body cameras, storage, licensing, accessories and conducted electrical weapons (tasers) for 2015 through 2020.”

The Pullman Police Department has been using body cameras since 2013, which has held the officers more accountable, Chief of Police Gary Jenkins said.

“They increase our transparency dramatically,” he said. “When you know you’re on camera you tend to behave better than you may otherwise, which has made our officers behave better.”

Jenkins also shared some statistics on the increase of certain crimes in Pullman since 2012. In the past three years the number of burglaries has increased by 100 percent, domestic disputes by 128 percent and auto thefts by 150 percent.

Mayor Glenn Johnson and He said that, despite these statistics, Pullman is still a safe place to live, citing Pullman’s number four rating on the “50 Safest Cities in Washington” report by SafeWise.

Councilman Nathan Weller also proposed an idea to rename parts of Nevada Street to Waller Street

Weller, a WSU alumnus who attended the closing ceremony for Waller Hall in April, said he felt this name change would be a good tribute to one of the university’s oldest residence halls.

“I think it would be a good memory for that hall, which did so much for its residents and the university during its time (as a residence hall),” he said.

Waller Hall, which sits on Nevada Street, is named after Osmar L. Waller, former vice president of the university. The hall first opened in 1935, and was always an all-male residence hall. Since closing, the hall has been turned over to the academic department.

One of the original ideas was to rename the road to Waller Way, as a tribute to an old newspaper the residence hall used to release, Weller said.

The name change would need to be approved by the city council, the police department, the fire department and university’s Facilities Names Committee to become a reality.

The Senate and city council meet once a semester to discuss how they can work together to handle issues that affect the city and the university.