Bainbridge police enter 'new age' of police equipment
BAINBRIDGE -- According to Bainbridge Town Marshal Rodney Fenwick, there is a new age coming in police equipment.
His department recently acquired a new Taser gun, one of several purchased by the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.
"Somewhere between hand-to-hand and using lethal weapons (on offenders), it's better to use the Taser gun," Fenwick told the Bainbridge Town Council at their monthly meeting Wednesday.
"There is a new age of equipment coming. The military has been working with them for a while. Officers in Florida have been using them in the major cities for one-and-a-half to two years now. There used to be 100 to 150 assaults, now they are down to zero," said Fenwick.
The Taser Electronic Control Device (ECD) uses a replaceable cartridge containing compressed nitrogen to deploy two small probes that are attached to the gun by insulated conductive wires with a maximum length of 35 feet (10.6 meters). It then transmits electrical pulses through the wires and into the body, affecting the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system. The energy can penetrate up to two cumulative inches of clothing, or one inch per probe.
"It lasts for five seconds and then the person is fine. Prisoners call it 'taking the electric ride,'" Fenwick said.
"The Putnam County Jail is starting to use the Taser, as are prisons and many police forces," he added.
He plans to add another Taser to his equipment list so that both police cars have one. Fenwick has already been trained by the Sheriff's department and plans to train his deputies.