Being tased is the most painful thing I have ever experienced, 50,000 volts surging inside my body. It felt like my whole body was frozen in pain. Minutes after it was over, I was still shaking. Nampa police say they'll use a taser to stop a threat.
"And that threat may be by word deed or action, that tool can stop them before it gets to the point where unfortunately we would have to use some sort of additional level of force," said Corporal Doug Harward who runs the taser program at the Nampa Police Department.
During the Nampa Police Department's Public Safety Academy other volunteers and myself got to feel what happens to a criminal that does not listen to officers demands. We got tased. The Nampa Police Department uses taser cartridges that have a range of 25 feet. Wherever the two probes hit, it causes the brain to lose control of the muscles in that area of the body. Causing them to tense up for as long the officer keeps his finger on the trigger. I tried to scream and yell. I couldn't even talk let alone move, but as soon as the officer let go of the trigger all the pain went away.
"And that's what it's desired for. Just to give the ability to control that subject or subdue them," said Corporal Harward.
Currently, 35 officers with Nampa P.D carry tasers with them, but the department is working to get more officers trained on them so if they have to pick one up in the field, they'll know how to use it. Police say they won't use a taser on the elderly, small children, people with a low body mass index, the infirm, or pregnant woman. They say tasers do not have an effect the rhythm of the heart.
