It’s the new big thing in law enforcement, and the San Benito
County Sheriff’s Department is hopping on the TASER bandwagon
thanks to state-allocated funds even though the guns have been
shrouded in a national controversy lately.
It’s the new big thing in law enforcement, and the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department is hopping on the TASER bandwagon thanks to state-allocated funds even though the guns have been shrouded in a national controversy lately.
The sheriff’s department plans to buy 28 TASERs, which are stun guns that transmit powerful electrical shocks through two small darts that shoot out of the gun up to 21 feet away, according to Sheriff Curtis Hill.
The department will be purchasing the TASER X26e, the same model Gilroy’s police department uses, for about $800 each, said Lt. Pat Turturici.
The darts that shoot out of each gun transfer 50,000 watts of electricity into the subject for seven or eight seconds – long enough for a deputy to put handcuffs on a combative suspect, Turturici said.
The darts have to be removed by a doctor after they are deployed, he said.
“If a person is tased, we immediately take them to the hospital to get medical attention and the darts are taken out there,” he said.
Controversy erupted after some reports surfaced that claimed people had died from excessive TASER use.
“If I wanted to I could give my guys sticks and guns and we could just beat them into submission. Does anybody think that’s the appropriate way to do law enforcement? Absolutely not,” Hill said. “This is not the police using something they think is neat or cute or the latest… It makes the job easier for the deputies and safer for them and the suspects, and that’s a winner.”
Hill had already purchased a few of the weapons for correctional officers and was planning on acquiring the guns for his deputies a few at a time, he said.
The $500,000 the department received through the Rural County Crime Prevention Act will allow Hill to buy one for every officer on staff all at once. Equipping every deputy with a TASER creates a safer situation for the public and the deputies when a confrontation occurs because they will be able to adequately restrain someone without having to injure the person, Hill said.
“No matter how technologically advanced we get – all the nicest cars and the fanciest radios – the bottom line is that sometimes you have to put your hand on someone and say, ‘You’re coming with me,’ and take them by force. That never changes,” he said. “When that happens, sometimes it’s fight on.”
Hill already has sent one of his deputies to be trained in TASER use, who will be in charge of training every deputy in the proper policy and procedure to use the guns.
Deputies will watch an eight-hour video made by TASER manufacturer, TASER International, to learn how to shoot the guns and learn about the effects the guns have on people, Turturici said.
Deputies will have strict guidelines for when a TASER can be used, how much it should be used, and so on, he said.
“We have rules for everything… from then on the deputy has to use his discretion,” Hill said. “I just want to give them an extra tool to do that.”
While many officers are tased as part of their TASER training, Hill said his deputies will not be subjected to that because it’s not necessary.
Over the past few weeks media reports have stirred up controversy over the guns supposed “less-than-lethal” status.
According to an article in the Arizona Republic several weeks ago, medical examiners found stun guns partly responsible for three deaths of arrestees: in Las Vegas in February, Indiana in November and Florida in 2002 – although a second medical opinion overruled the Florida finding.
TASER International – the only company that makes stun guns – contests these medical reports, saying the deaths were due to drug overdoses and heart attacks. In an attempt to prove its weapons are completely nonlethal, the Scottsdale, Ariz. firm claims 4,000 lives have been spared by police using TASERs, and it points to stories of people killed in police shootings that could have been avoided with stun guns.
Hill doesn’t believe enough evidence has been shown to prove the guns alone can kill people, and he keeps up to date on all the tools available to law enforcement officers that can exhibit nonlethal force in confrontational situations, he said.
For example, Hill chose not to purchase nonlethal bean bag guns for his deputies, such as Hollister police officers carry, because he doesn’t think the bean bags fly straight when they’re deployed, he said.
“There are all kinds of options to minimize injuries to suspects and deputies. This is one of them,” he said. “I wouldn’t be implementing this thing if I thought it was a danger to the public or my deputies.”
The Arizona Republic reported that in each of the five alleged TASER-related deaths, the subject was tased multiple times. In each of these, medical examiners said the repeated shocks made it hard for the man to breathe. Each man was also high on illegal drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and PCP.
Hill doesn’t have a timeline for when deputies will begin training and finally be equipped with TASERs.
But he believes the controversy will die down and TASERs will be just another instrument officers have available to them instead of using a handgun or baton, which cause more lasting physical effects or death.
Staff Writer Peter Crowley contributed to this report.
How tasers work
The TASER X26 can be used to shock an assailant in two
different ways.
First, when firmly pressed against a person’s body, it will stun them. However, it also can be loaded with projectile cartridges that shoot two metal prongs connected to the gun by thin wires.
Through the prongs, the gun delivers an electric shock that briefly incapacitates the person hit.
Each prong is tipped with a fishhook-like barb to stick in up to two inches of clothing or into skin. These can be easily pulled out without bleeding. Through the prongs, 50,000 volts of electricity will briefly incapacitate an assailant.
