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Edition:
September 02, 2010
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NEWS
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Friday, November 20, 2009
Stun guns control individuals, prevent injuries
Frazee Police Chief: Department’s three ‘Tasers’ used once
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Photo by John W. Dermody |  |  | | A barbed probe fired from a stun gun attaches to a human (or animal) target with a trailing wire that subsequently conveys a debilitating shock of 50,000 volts. Frazee police have only had to use a Taser once in three years. Photo by John W. Dermody
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• by John W. Dermody
The prospect of getting a mini-fishhook type of probe fired into one's body is more than a bit daunting.
But to also have a connecting line from a Taser stun gun transmit 50,000 volts through a body is a whole lot worse.
That is what faces some individuals who are drunk, strung out on drugs, involved in a domestic dispute or any number of confrontational situations with police officers.
The person or persons targeted may also be involved in a criminal activity with complications added by use of booze or narcotics. That is often the case, according to cops at all levels.
The Frazee Police Department has three stun guns made by the Taser firm, a manufacturer that produces several types. (See www.taser.com.)
A decision to use a debilitating jolt from a Taser, however, may prevent serious injury or death to a perpetrator or a law enforcement officer.
Both Police Chief Mike Lorsung and another officer, Tim Kulik, believe the units are valuable.
"We definitely have fewer fight situations," Kulik said recently.
Tasers, short- or long-range
During any incident in which an individual may have to be subdued, the projectile launched from a Taser unit has a barbed point that hits the target's body. More complex Tasers can fire three probes, including a model that can fire one right after another, if necessary.
Stun gun occurrences have made statewide or national news, frequently during protests of some kind. If the protestors are judged to be dangerous, officials have made decisions that protecting onlookers is imperative. Thus, one or more individuals might have to be incapacitated by the guns.
"We've only had one Taser fired in three years," Lorsung emphasized.
A very memorable national case two years ago involved a University of Florida student whose plea to not suffer a hit resulted in a headline that became a touchstone: "Don't 'Tase' me, Bro...don't 'Tase' me!"
That sentence was termed the phrase of the year for 2007 and a song was even written with that title by a member of The Clash.
Tasers pack a punch
Obviously, people who have not been hit with a burst from a Taser don't want to get struck because they've heard enough to anticipate a bad experience.
If they have been previously 'tased," they want to avoid a second chapter with the barb/electrical charge.
However, police can also fire the gun without the armed projectile (the barb) at the end of the wire. Just shooting the bare end of the cartridge has a strong effect.
In that scenario, a person is generally helpless for minutes, even with less than an optimum charge. That sequence is used when there is a danger of a perpetrator reviving to the point where he could become a renewed threat.
The latter use is called a "drive" stun, enacted after the barbed projectile at the end of the cable has been launched. Generally, the use is required just to keep a perpetrator under control. In those instances, a police officer can give the target a five-second burst, the same length of time as when a probe is fired.
The smaller guns have cartridges with varying ranges - 21, 25, 35 feet - with a shotgun type of Taser also able to shoot targets at 50 feet or so.
Stun guns have memories
The Taser units like the three used by Frazee police officers cost $800 each. One is owned by Chief Mike Lorsung, a personal unit used previously while a member of a Colorado department. Another is used by Frazee's additional full-time officer, Tyler Trieglaff; the part-time men on the force share use of the third unit.
Interestingly, producers have thought of aspects that fortify officers' positions. If a perp were to say in a court of law, for example, that he had been blasted several times, the stun gun shows when and how many times the officer fired the unit.
"With one charged cartridge, the gun can be fired 500 times and the memory records the last 100," the police chief explained.
He noted that officers have pulled a Taser on occasion but have not had to use it. The only occasion for use was during a nasty fight near the Frazee Event Center several months ago.
Lorsung noted that the threat of the stun gun benefits both an officer and a perpetrator. The latter doesn't want the massive shock and the policeman doesn't want to fire the projectile.
He explained that an officer has to be certified for using a Taser, and that process required him to get 'tased' just to know how it felt. It is not pleasant, he affirmed.
"Six of us linked hands in a 'daisy chain' and sat on a mat when we were tased," he commented.
Afterward, it was apparent they all had moved about two feet on the mat because of the massive energy burst that went through them.
Helpless, but with a purpose
"It locks you up," he stated. "It disrupts the body so much it is like you are 'crippled.'"
Muscles don't work and the body does not get back to normal for a while.
Lorsung pointed out that an officer might have to subdue a woman who is under some influence or stress. The Taser will stop her physical attack without really doing harm.
Both the chief and Kulik noted that mace can be of help to officers, but it can't compete against the Taser. Some drunks and druggies can fight right through a cloud of mace.
Kulik, who has been a member of the department for eight years, said he responded to a mutual aid call near Rose Lake years ago because no county deputies were in the area...back before Frazee owned Tasers.
He tangled with a nearly naked man who was drunk and drugged to the point that the ensuing fight lasted several minutes. Kulik finally subdued the perp, who was a repeat offender.
"Sometimes, mace just isn't effective. We both were covered with it, with mace in our mouths and eyes," he said.
He said in all his time in law enforcement he has never had to use a Taser.
There have been occasions, Lorsung continued, when criminals will grab an officer's Taser or attempt to capture a gun. In cases where the offender becomes an armed aggressor, the police officers are authorized to use deadly force, he said.
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