In an effort to save lives, officers take advantage of tasers’
less-than-lethal force
As of February, California Highway Patrol officers carry Taser brand conducted energy weapons, or CEWs.
Although many police departments carry CEWs, the CHP just recently made the purchase and changed the policy that authorizes CHP officers to carry the weapons, Officer Chris Armstrong said. CEWs have many advantages over firearms, he said. “We are doing everything we can to save lives,” he said. And CEWs “gives us a less-than-lethal weapon to keep a situation from escalating to the use of deadly force.”
A five-second exposure causes neuromuscular incapacitation, a “window of opportunity for the officer to complete the arrest,” Armstrong said. The CHP hopes the presence of a CEW will cause many people to want to comply, he said.
