County gets Tasers
By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor
If you've seen a Polk County Sheriff's deputy on duty in the past few months, you may have noticed him or her donning an extra holster that holds a rather unusual-looking weapon. The weapon is a Taser - the latest trend in law enforcement technology sweeping the nation.
Deputy Jim Tadman gave an overview of the Taser to Polk County Commissioners Tuesday, showed a video of several deputies receiving the "taser treatment" themselves, and demonstrated it live on Deputy Darrin Selzer. Tadman said the Polk County Sheriff's Office has been using Tasers since January 17 of this year.
The PCSO is equipped with X26 advanced Tasers, the latest incarnation of the product that only came out in 2003. The X26 is five times more powerful than the previous version, the M26, yet is 60 percent small, said Tadman.
Tasers don't come cheap - the X26 carries a price tag of $800 apiece. Besides the guns, several cartridges to go along with them, at $18 and $22 each, must be purchased as well. Each deputy carries three or four of these with the Taser, he said, and more are needed for training.
"The big cost is the startup," said Tadman.
Funds to purchase the Tasers came from several sources, including $2,200 from fund-raising, the law enforcement budgets of Fosston and Fertile and PCSO funds. There are currently 11 tasers distributed among deputies: two in Fosston, one in Fertile, and eight that are rotated among other deputies on duty.
Effective, non-lethal weapon
Many people have heard of the taser but don't understand how it works. The muscular destruction weapon - essentially a stun gun - is considered non-lethal in that it doesn't cause long-term injury. It simply immobilizes a person for a few seconds.
Tadman explained how the high-tech Taser works: The gun is packed with 50,000 volts of electronic electrical energy and runs on batteries. A cartridge attached to the unit holds two fishhooks attached to a 21-foot long super thin thread. When fired, the laser-guided probes propel two darts at 180 feet per second that, ideally, penetrate the subject's body. The second dart actually propels eight degrees lower than the first.
What happens when the probes hit a person's body, sending out 50,000 volts of electricity? The subject will be dazed for a few seconds and drop down to his or her knees, Tadman said, but "recovery is fast. The effects stop the very instant it's shut off."
The Taser is automatically timed to last five seconds, though he said the operator can stop it sooner. When Tadman turned the unit on (without the cartridge attached), a small flash of lightening constantly displayed and it sounded like a jackhammer. "That's a long five seconds," he commented.
"Does it hurt? It's extremely painful," he said. "It also takes your breath away and feels like you can't breathe, but you can."
The pulsating electrical output communicates between the brain and muscular system, he explained, which throws it off balance, resulting in loss of control and tensing of the body. It is not, however, destructive to nerves, muscles or other body elements.
Once the Tasing incident is over, the deputy pulls the probes out, wipes the area with antiseptic, and may need to put a bandage on it. The area where the probes hit may resemble a bee sting, said Tadman. If the probes get in any soft tissue, such as the face, neck, groin area or the breast area in women, officers must immediately take the subject to the emergency room, where medical personnel will remove the probes.
The Taser is totally safe, said Tadman, even for heart patients. As proof, he showed a video of one deputy who'd recently had a pacemaker put in. After being "Tased," he promptly got back up and showed no ill effects from the experience.
When using the cartridge, the output is not transferred from one person to another even if they touch, he said. The unit can also be used in water, though someone must be there to keep the subject from drowning.
There are two kinds of cartridges the PCSO works with: the regular aluminum cartridge and the XP (extra power) yellow cartridge. Because people in northwest Minnesota tend to wear heavier clothing and more clothing, Tadman said they recommend carrying the XP, which penetrates .56 inch. The regular cartridge penetrates 3/8 inch. Each cartridge can only be used once.
Another option for using the Taser is the dry stun, Tadman explained. If, for example, a deputy would need to use the cartridge on one person and immediately use the gun again, he or she could press the subject with the gun and it would produce 50,000 volts. This could be done with or without the cartridge but it can't be done at a distance, he said.
This is the first of two parts. Part 2 will appear in tomorrow's Times.
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