MORRILTON, AR – As the use of excessive or deadly force remains in the spotlight on law enforcement everywhere agencies around Arkansas have come together to train. Their focus: tasers, and they say it can save lives.
According to the “Taser” brand over 140,000 lives have been saved by the use of their tasers. It may sound strange but consider the alternative.
The class we sat in on Tuesday (3/31), certifies the Officers in attendance to take what they learn and teach the rest of their department.
27 officers from around the state met in Morrilton for an the Instructor Certification Course for their Taser equipment.
Sgt. Brandon Davis is an officer for the Greenwood Police Department but also teaches the course as a Master Instructor.
The course is required every two years for instructors.
Officers receive 8 hours of training a year just to be able to use their tasers.
He explained, “The taser is designed to take an individual into custody that doesn’t necessarily want to go into custody.”
When an officer encounters a potential threat sometimes it’s in close quarters.
Sgt. Davis added, “That means the bad guy can actually hurt the officer, the officer can hurt the bad guy. So [having the] taser basically means we can reach out and touch them.”
What seems like forever when 50,000 volts are pumping through you are five valuable seconds for the arresting officer.
“That window of opportunity to move the subjects arms into a position that they can go ahead and handcuff them, many times before the subject even knows they’re handcuffed,” said Sgt. Davis. “What we want to do is not only save the lives of law enforcement, we want to save the lives of the bad guys.”
It’s a valuable tool for any department. It’s one aimed to shock rather than kill.
According to the “Taser” brand over 140,000 lives have been saved by the use of their tasers. It may sound strange but consider the alternative.
The class we sat in on Tuesday (3/31), certifies the Officers in attendance to take what they learn and teach the rest of their department.
27 officers from around the state met in Morrilton for an the Instructor Certification Course for their Taser equipment.
Sgt. Brandon Davis is an officer for the Greenwood Police Department but also teaches the course as a Master Instructor.
The course is required every two years for instructors.
Officers receive 8 hours of training a year just to be able to use their tasers.
He explained, “The taser is designed to take an individual into custody that doesn’t necessarily want to go into custody.”
When an officer encounters a potential threat sometimes it’s in close quarters.
Sgt. Davis added, “That means the bad guy can actually hurt the officer, the officer can hurt the bad guy. So [having the] taser basically means we can reach out and touch them.”
What seems like forever when 50,000 volts are pumping through you are five valuable seconds for the arresting officer.
“That window of opportunity to move the subjects arms into a position that they can go ahead and handcuff them, many times before the subject even knows they’re handcuffed,” said Sgt. Davis. “What we want to do is not only save the lives of law enforcement, we want to save the lives of the bad guys.”
It’s a valuable tool for any department. It’s one aimed to shock rather than kill.
