Bereaved Father Donates Stun Guns to Sheriff’s Department

When Placer County Sheriff’s Department received the gift of an additional ten Taser stun guns, they were indeed welcome. The department wants to equip all its officers with non lethal weapons to provide an additional step before it is necessary to use the lethal force option.

To that end, the nonprofit support organization Placer County Sheriff’s Council raised enough money to purchase and donate a batch of new stun guns to the Department. The dinner held by the group in April, raised over $17,000 which was earmarked for weapons acquisition. Each stun gun, plus ancillary equipment, costs about $1,730. The models donated have built-in cameras so that each time the weapon is used the situation can be recorded for review.

The fund is named after Council member Don Vanderschoot’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Justine, who was murdered by a jealous boyfriend and another man in 2003. Vanderschoot said the Sheriff’s Departmental equipment budget “is being squeezed, so we want to do a bit more to help them.” Donations for Justine’s Fund were raised through its third annual dinner-dance.

The Sheriff’s Council raised $50,000 during its first two years, making it possible for Placer’s law enforcement agency to buy equipment there wasn’t room for in the budget.

Vanderschoot, grateful to the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office for their efforts to investigate and prosecute his daughter’s killers, has expressed his gratitude over time by raising money for the department. His philanthropic efforts also benefit the county’s Victims Witness Program and the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy.