Page 345 - NIXBOOK

Those models were replaced later with the next generation model, the Taser X2 CEW.
This new and improved bad boy had not one but TWO cartridges ready to go that each
fired two barbed point dart probes, allowing the user to shoot one guy twice with 4 probes
(if one of the first two missed) OR shoot two different clients. Bonus: if you zap two guys
and one of them starts acting up again before the cuffs go on, you can zap him extra and
not the other guy while the wires are still stuck in him. Yep, that’s some advanced level
shit right there.

Number of clients I had to zap with that fancy model: zero. Apparently my verbal commands were persuasive enough to gain
compliance from unruly subjects without having to resort to tasering.

The Tasers were a very significant upgrade to our collection of tools of the trade, and they almost completely replaced the rare
times when we had to pepper spray uncooperative customers.
Although my academy class in 1993 did not have to get sprayed with pepper spray (I don’t know why or how we managed to
escape that test) and because the taser hadn’t been invented yet, we didn’t get tasered either. But when the Poulsbo PD did
decide to issue Tasers to the officers, it was required that everybody ride the lightning in a training session. So while I never
officially got pepper sprayed, I did meet the occasional cloud of pepper spray mist that got caught in the wind during the rare
police applications, and I can definitively state that I, personally, would much prefer to get hit with a taser anytime instead of
getting peppery spray in the face. Because the thing with the electricity is that as soon as the juice is turned off, one can make
virtually a complete and quick recovery. Of course the person zapped will have a pretty elevated heart rate from being shocked,
but I saw a lot of demonstrations over the years and I was trained that it is possible to get zapped and jump back up onto one’s
feet pretty quickly and get over it. Unlike the pepper spray. That shit will sting and burn for hours and hours no matter how
much rinsing in cold fresh water happens. In fact I have never, ever, heard of a cop anywhere who said they would prefer
personally getting pepper sprayed instead of getting shocked. Basically, chemical irritants are the worst!
Our taser training was slightly scaled back; we did not get actually shot at with the barbed darts that would have pierced our
skin; we got the slightly gentler method which was to have the darts removed and the metal probes taped onto exposed skin in
two places on our body. Now if the two contacts are relatively close together, the pain and neuromuscular incapacitation is more
localized. But if the two contact points are spread apart, say one on one leg and the other placed across the body on the arm on
the other side, then there’s a lot more area for the electricity to run through and create a circuit; especially if the path goes over
one’s spinal column. Which is what our instructors did. Everybody has their own unique reactions to getting shocked. I
remember one female reserve officer went rigid and rose up on her tip toes (while two other officers held her arms to keep from
tipping over or face planting) and she started yip yip yipping in a very high pitched cartoony voice.

When it was my turn and the power was turned on and I got shocked, my entire body tensed up as the current coursed through
my body. It was a highly distracting and painful experience. As the taser crackled and transferred a lot of electrons into my flesh
all I could do was -quite involuntarily- say “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU….” And when it was over I was able
to finish my word and then I felt really warm all over. Not cause I peed myself, I just felt warm. I immediately thought if I ever
fell into the bay in the winter and needed to get warmed up, a taser application might fulfill the need nicely.

It was extremely painful but much better than getting pepper sprayed because like I said, once the power is off, the pain subsides
very quickly. The pepper spray, once applied to bare skin or clothes or hair, does not dissipate. It stays there until it is thoroughly
washed off. The good news is that most bad guys, when they get zapped with a taser, they are done. The fight leaves them and
they choose to cooperate. Of course most of them get the metal probes shot into them and if they tried to get up and run or
continue fighting, the barbs are connected pretty well and a second trigger pull would start another 5 second round of zapping.
Which I can attest from personal experience can be about the longest 5 seconds of your life.

I saw an officer once get tasered in a training, with the goal of seeing if he could draw his gun out
of his holster and return fire while getting tasered. (simulated gunfire, of course, using an empty
training gun). Guess what. He was able to power through the zapping and while lying on the
ground getting the shit shocked out of him, (and involuntarily hollering a lot) he was actually
able to get his gun out, aim it at the guy holding the taser, AND pull the trigger several times. It
impressed us all. Not that we ever planned to get in a situation where a bad guy might try to taser
us, but at least we were able to see that it could be overcome, even while in the throes of it. (don’t
share this part with the bad guys!!)