Ten Athens Police Department officers had 26 watts and 50 volts of electricity buzzed through their systems yesterday as part of a training session to teach the officers how to use the department's new X26 taser guns.
There is nothing you can do. You're incapacitated for that time when the current just keeps going
said Chief Richard Mayer.
Mayer completed the training with APD Lt. Jeff Finan at Hocking College in December. Unless an officer has a doctor's excuse, he or she must be tasered to use the guns. The release form for the officers states there is a possibility of concussions from tasers.
After the training session, officers will know how to fire, load and unload the weapon as well as the history and safety precautions to be taken.
I don't think the training is difficult at all. It uses a lot of the same instincts you use with the firearm Mayer said. That's what makes it easier to adapt to is that the sighting of it and the aiming of it is very comparable to the fire arm at shorter range.
The taser gun works by sending two stainless steel barbs, or probes, into a subject's skin. The gun then sends out a five-second electrical shock when the officer pulls the trigger, Finan said.
If the subject is not incapacitated with the first shock, the officer can continue to shock the subject for up to 15 seconds, which is the recommended limit, Finan said.
The guns work best between 7 to 15 feet away, but the guns can shoot up to 21 feet away. Before shooting, officers must yell, taser taser. This call tells other officers that one officer is using the taser and prevents confusion between the pop sound of the taser cartridge and the explosion of a gunshot, Mayer said.
Mayer said the guns are more effective than pepper spray at handling people who are emotionally disturbed or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Pepper spray is not as effective in a lot of situations as a taser
Mayer said. No one item is effective 100 percent of the time
but the taser has a much higher reliability.
Mayer said the taser emits little current, which is what can cause damage.
A watt is a unit of energy and amperage is a unit of electrical current
said Michael Braasch, Ohio University associate professor of electrical engineering. From what information I've heard
it's a certain level of amperage or a certain current level that is harmful to the human body.
The amperage for the tasers used by APD is less than .004.
OU sophomore Kathy Hillyer said the taser guns are too extreme a measure.
I don't see a lot of violence in Athens
so I think it's a little overkill
she said. I've never seen anything too wild.
But other students, including OU junior Jenni Parrish, think tasers could be necessary because of the increasing crime around campus, including this year's Halloween and Dads Weekend.
Considering the violence we had in the past
maybe it's a good idea to have them just to scare people
Parrish said.
The Nelsonville Police Department has had taser guns since December, but they have not been used yet. Mayer said he expects to begin using the tasers before Palmerfest, possibly this weekend.
