Linden Police Department gets new tasers
The Linden Police Department has been using a second-generation taser for several years. Knowing that technology has improved dramatically in the last ten Years and the equipment was worn and outdated decided to update their taser equipment.
Chief Eric Lee says “It was time to upgrade, and seeing recent events across this country,” made Lee to decide the time was now. “An upgraded non-lethal device is required for the Officers to use if it can be safely deployed to reduce injuries to all involved in an arrest where the person being arrested refuses to comply with lawful orders from a Sworn Officer.”
Lee says he doesn’t anticipate “that any changes will occur in how our officers conduct themselves. The Moto of the Linden Police Department is ‘Temper Justice with Mercy’. I first heard that phrase from Chief Deputy Ralph Allen of Cass County Sheriff Office, 30 years ago. It stuck with me that we should do everything we can do to serve society with Mercy and Justice. The Taser is a good non-lethal device that can save lives when it can be safely deployed.”
“On Saturday we had a very good in person training with the Tasers. The new Taser is capable of deploying twice where the old ones could only deploy once. Incredibly important when an Officer misses his Target. My Investigator Jarrod Hampton recently traveled to Amarillo to train as an instructor. He did a fantastic job and I appreciate his hard work with the Officers to certify them. The Officers began utilizing the new equipment after they were certified on Saturday,” says Lee.
Hampton says he believes “tasers or CEWs, (Conducted Energy Weapons), provide law enforcement officers a less than lethal force options. Having a less than lethal force option can save lives. There are cases all around the country where officers were able to use CEWs to subdue subjects with knifes, clubs, etc. instead of having to use deadly force. There have been situations where mental health consumers tried to commit suicide by cop, provoking law enforcement to use deadly force by coming at officers with a weapon or attacking officers with weapons. During some of these instances, officers were able to subdue the person with a CEW and the person was able to receive help for their mental illness. CEWs can also help prevent officers from getting hurt or killed by preventing a hands-on fight with an assailant. Approximately two years ago, Axon, the company that makes tasers/CEWs claims that these less than lethal devices have saved over 200,000 lives since the development of the company, (25 years), where lethal force could have been used instead.”
“This gives us another less than lethal force option. Some law enforcement officers carry pepper spray and/or an ASP baton, but with both of these tools’ assailants can still physically fight the officer. With the use of the CEW, this less than lethal option has the capability to temporarily incapacitate an assailant where they can be taken into custody. The way the CEW works is by causing Neuro-Muscular incapacitation, (NMI), (causes uncontrollable muscle contractions and reduced ability to perform voluntary movements). This is accomplished by delivering electrical pulses across two electrodes to over stimulate the motor nerves. When the CEW is used it shoots two darts out of a cartridge. The darts hit an assailant and pulses of electricity pass from the CEW to the darts by wire that is connected to the darts. The pulses of electricity then pass between the darts that have struck the assailant causing NMI. For the CEWs to work properly, both darts have to strike the assailant, and remain in the assailant.
With any less than lethal force option, nothing works 100% of the time. One of the darts might miss the assailant, or bounce off,” says Hampton.
When asked about the quality of the tasers, Hampton replied by saying “the CEWs that we carry are the most advanced ones offered. The model that we now carry is the Taser 7. They have two cartridges that can be loaded in the device at once. There are two different cartridges for different ranges. With one of each loaded in the CEW, we can switch between the different cartridges with a quick movement of our wrist instead of having to press a button like on one of the older models. With the older model CEWs, when they were shot the darts came out pulling the connected wire as it traveled to its attended target, but with the new CEWs that we are using the wire travels with the dart, unwinding as it goes which gives us a faster and more accurate shot. This also helps the darts to penetrate clothing better making contact with an assailant’s body.”
“This device has rechargeable batteries that also downloads the device usage log and uploads any new updates for the device.”
Hampton agrees with Lee that the training went very well. “The officers got to get familiarized with the new CEWs and use them in different training scenarios. Before this training course, some of the officers had never experienced being tased, but during the course the remaining officers volunteered to be tased. Being tased is not a requirement to carry a CEW, but the officers that had not experienced it in past training volunteered to do it. They wanted to experience firsthand the effects of the CEW to be able to know what it is like when the device is used on an assailant. None of our force options do we take lightly, we wish we didn’t have to use any type of force at all, but unfortunately there are times when we have to.”
Chief Lee would like to thank pastor and chaplain Claude Crocker of New Colony Baptist Church for participating in the training. Crocker helped provide a citizens perspective to the training.