# Experiencing the Shock



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Officers Choose to Be Tasered

*ERIC BROOKS*
_Officer.Com News_

Police call it 'taking the ride'. Those subject to it are painstricken and immobilized. The procedure rushes 50,000 volts of electricity through the human body and is a common mandate of Taser training.
Yet among departments and training instructors, there is flexibility toward this policy. 
Currently, no U.S. department requires any of its officers take the ride. However, "half to three-quarters" of trainees say their departments require it as part of training for the weapon, estimated Taser Master Trainer Steve Ashley.
Taser International last year stopped recommending all officers take the ride. "They figured out not to tell departments how to run policy," said Ashley, who added that the manufacturers of pepper spray went through the same learning curve.
Consequently, methods and requirements for taking the ride today vary widely. One department procedure involves shooting the trainee for half a second by applying one clip or barb to the shoe and another to the belt. Two other students hold the trainee on each arm to catch him so he does not fall [see photo on right].
Another technique has participants join hands forming a 'daisy chain' in a sitting, kneeling position. A current is then transmitted from one shot through the entire group.
'Taking the ride' means being shot by a Taser for the duration of five seconds. Most agencies do not require a full five second ride, according to Kevin Davis, a Taser Trainer and Officer.com contributor.
At issue within each department's evaluation process are the perceived pros and cons of subjecting officers through the intense experience.
Since Tasers are new technology, no comprehensive study exists affirming the safety positives, or lack thereof, of having police take the ride before heading out to the field. Consequently, support for the training procedure is rooted in each trainer's insticts.
"If you've been exposed, you know more," Ashley said. "You can read all the books, but to explain [alone] makes you not as qualified."
Most who partake in the experience claim to be "really glad they did", adds Ashley, citing that police recipients typically feel they belonged to an exclusive club, and are even motivated to take the ride due to goading from fellow trainees. 
Taser International also endorses the practice, which is why it still requires the master instructors on its payroll to have taken the ride, and recommends the same for other non-department instructors.
Fears toward potential lasting effects of the procedure naturally correlate toward attitudes regarding Tasers in general. Advocates including Ashley and Taser International believe there are no serious risks for officers who take the ride -- the former citing that there are no proven instances where a properly applied Taser has been shown to cause permanently harm, and that every union grievance filed against the procedure has lost in court.
The company claims on its website that Tasers are incapable of causing injury because their "electricity goes through the skin surface instead of internal organs."
In contrast, Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union raise issues with the safety of being shot alone, and therefore believe departments should hold off the training or use of Tasers at least until further research is done. They reference coroners' reports in which Tasers are described as either contributing the victims' deaths, or having 'possibly' contributed to their deaths. (In the overwhelming majority of instances, drugs or pre-existing medical conditions are cited as the primary causes.)
Amid controversy, Taser International has further elaborated in recent months regarding the safety of its devices. Its training bulletin advises that "repeated, prolonged and continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed around the chest or diaphragm."

Also of concern are the effects of officers falling. Injuries emanating from the fall alone were enough for the Las Vegas Police Department to forbid officers from taking the ride in 2004. Eight of the nearly 500 officers trained were injured after they were shot with a Taser, according to a report by the _Las Vegas Review Journal_. National police organizations have generally refrained from taking polar stances toward taking the ride. Many have allied with a Washington D.C. national committee called the Less Lethal Working Group, which is studying the impact of Tasers in order to facilitate "the development of appropriate policies and guidelines regarding training methods and the use of tasers", according Holly Deal of the Fraternal Order of Police.
The International Chiefs of Police, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the National Sheriffs Association, the Police Executive Research Forum, and the Fraternal Order of Police comprise a partial list of the member organizations.
The future of officers taking the ride will hang in the balance of further research, and the malleable sentiments of law enforcement managers, courtrooms and government officials.


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## kttref (Oct 5, 2004)

It hurts...feels like death...don't do it


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## EOD1 (Mar 11, 2004)

i'm married kate, i know what death feels like... EVERYDAY!


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## spike9345 (Jun 23, 2006)

gee, when they went to 9MM did everyone have to get shot. This is a idea only Mass. could even liston to. Try this in Texas and you will get kicked out. Sounds like a good way to go ou/t for a while injured. If it doesn't work don't use it but to test it on cops is not right. Lets try it on the pols. that aboved it first!!!


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## EOD1 (Mar 11, 2004)

Kate, i'm married; i feel like death EVERYDAY!!


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## epd111 (Jul 20, 2006)

I happend to be in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and went into the Consumer Electronics Show. There was this line of people snaking down the middle of one hall, so, being the nosy type that I am, I went to the head of the line to see what was being given away. You got it - Taser was giving t-shirts to anyone who would take the ride!

Idiots! I don't know why the first ones didn't warn the ones behind them. 

I came damn close to resigning when our chief required it, I can't imagine volunteering in return for a t-shirt. Though, come to think of it, I didn't even get a shirt.....


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## Deuce (Sep 27, 2003)

Been there done that.. Not that bad, it's only 5 seconds...


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