Area law enforcement add tasers to arsenal
Area law enforcement add tasers to arsenal
Guns propel electric current
| CAPTION: Laura Kirby/Daily Mining Gazette Deputy Joe Brogan of the Baraga County Sheriff Department explains the working of a taser gun purchased this year to help control unpredictable arrests and situations. |
By LAURA KIRBY, Gazette Writer
BARAGA — At least half a dozen times within the the past year Baraga County Deputy Sheriff Joe Brogan has wished that he had more than just a can of pepper spray to defend himself.
The blinding mixture, a favorite non-lethal means for control in an arrest, can sometimes cause as much grief for the arresting officer as for the suspect, said Sheriff Bob Teddy.
“If you use it downwind, it’s inevitable for the officer to also get it, which could be dangerous,” he said.
That, and the rising number of drug-related crimes, have prompted local law enforcers to find new ways to control what they say can often be “unpredictable” arrests.
The purchase of a new taser system earlier this year allows for full control of a situation up to 20 feet away from a suspect, Teddy said.
The battery-powered gun uses compressed nitrogen gas to shoot two electrically charged probes at a subject. When the probes connect with a target they release about 50,000 volts of electric pulses for about five seconds, which stun by causing a person’s muscles to contract involuntarily by interrupting the central nervous system, Brogan said.
The Taser TX26 is the first of its kind in the Copper Country and has yet to be used.
“It’s more used as a deterrent. It’s a very good deterrent,” Teddy said. The stun gun technique has also been used by Ishpeming, Negaunee and Marquette law enforcers for four or five years and during that time was used five times only, he said. In Baraga, the sheriff’s department and village police department each have one gun while the L’Anse police department is in the process of purchasing one.
Baraga County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph O’Leary has been a “subject” in a taser test. The experience, he said, was as quick as it was “excruciating.”
“I couldn’t raise my arms. I was on my feet just clenched up,” he said. “But when it’s over, it’s over. You’re right up off the floor, and you feel a little shaky.”
And while O’Leary said he felt as though he had been lifting weights for four hours after the taser, he vouches that any lasting effects are minimal, contrary to past national news reports, which have implicated tasers in the death of suspects.
In those cases, deaths are often related to other drug uses and medical conditions, O’Leary said.
“I won’t say it’s non-lethal,” said Teddy. “But it is less lethal.”
Added O’Leary, “It’s a relatively high voltage, but low amperage.” He said he supports the use of tasers.
“I believe that they’re a very effective law enforcement tool, that has to be properly enforced, with policies and procedures,” O’Leary said.
He also cited the recent “explosion” of prescription drug-related arrests in the past couple of years as a reason to add tasers to police equipment. He said rumors have recently surfaced that methamphetamine is making its way back into area. The drug-induced “meth psychosis” typical to a meth user renders a person completely unpredictable, he said.
“Normal individuals can take five officers to bring them down because they feel no pain,” he said. “That’s the kind of case a taser would be ideal.”
Cost for the taser run at about $800 each, and each cartridge costs $26 per round.
Michigan lifted a ban on taser use for law enforcement in December 2002 and is part of a group of states legalizing use on suspect criminals, including Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Pennsylvania.
Forty-three states still allow citizens to buy 30-second stunning tasers for private use, Teddy said.
Laura Kirby can be reached at lkirby@mininggazette.com
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