The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon, Creighton and Cranberry Portage police officers have a new weapon in their fight against crime Ñ the stun gun. Officially known as Taser guns, the handheld units jolt resistant or combative suspects with 50,000 volts of electricity, causing them to temporarily lose muscle control so they may be apprehended. "I don't think, locally, the Tasers will get much use," said Creighton RCMP Sgt. Mark LeMaistre. "It's just another tool the officers have for certain intermediary interventions." Similar in size and shape to a handgun but carried in its own holster, the lightweight Taser features two modes. The first is stun mode, used to shock an individual by pressing the Taser against his body and pulling the trigger. The second mode allows officers to shoot small barbed metal darts, which stick in the individual's skin or clothing and deliver a jolt through a thin wire connected to the Taser. The Taser shoots two darts simultaneously, one straight ahead and the other at a downward angle. Powered by a nitrogen cylinder cartridge, the darts can shoot up to about 15 feet. When the trigger is pulled, the Taser crackles loudly as bright blue bolts of electricity light up the discharge point. Surprisingly, the Taser draws its power from the same source as your television remote control Ñ AA batteries. It takes eight of them to power the unit. Sgt. LeMaistre has heard from colleagues in other communities that the Taser is a highly effective tool. "When it's needed and it's used, the response has generally been very good," he said. "It has actually lessened the amount of times for repeated use because the public learns very quickly of its effects." Cpl. Doug Ashton of the Cranberry Portage detachment, who has past experience with Tasers, is pleased the weapon has made its way to his district. See 'Accepted' P.# Con't from P.# "It's just a fantastic tool to help us avoid injury to the public and our officers," he said. "It really minimizes physical confrontations and the potential for injury." Sgt. LeMaistre stressed that the local use of the Taser does not mean crime in the area is worsening. "I would hope that the public doesn't perceive that crime is running rampant and that we've had to step up our weaponry," he said. "Tasers are an accepted tool by most police departments in North America." Although it's not always viewed by the public as such, the Taser is also very safe. "The tests that have been conducted on them have proven that they're safe," said Sgt. LeMaistre. "There have been no cases of anyone suffering a heart attack of anything like that afterwards." Sgt. LeMaistre prefers the Taser to the more rudimentary pepper spray, noting that the stun gun does not require a decontamination period and that the effects quickly wear off. Eleven officers from Flin Flon, Creighton and Cranberry Portage received training with Tasers this week at the Creighton Sportex. The sessions involved each officer being voluntarily jolted for just a second to better appreciate the power of the weapon. "It's a shocking experience," said Cst. Cory Laird of the Creighton RCMP. "All the muscles in your body contract at once." Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage will share one Taser, as will the officers in Creighton. This week's training in Creighton also involved officers from the Saskatchewan communities of Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay, Deschambault Lake, Stony Rapids and Fond du Lac.
