Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — The menacing target looked a bit like Brian Urlacher with a hangover.
I stood 7 feet away, pointing a yellow TASER gun at it. A red dot from the laser sight bounced above the target’s belly. I squeezed the trigger.
Two 21-foot wires ejected from the TASER. Metal barbs attached to the wires punctured the target, one near the red dot and the other about a foot lower in the crotch.
Too bad for Urlacher -- but a perfect shot. In the real world, the man would have collapsed as 1,200 volts surged through his body for five seconds. In that time, officers would have scrambled to grab his arms and handcuff him before he was able to get up and fight.
On Wednesday, the Chicago Police Department showed reporters how they intend to train thousands of officers on the use of the TASER. It was part of an announcement that 380 more TASERs are hitting the streets.
For the first time, an officer in each beat car will carry a TASER. Tactical officers and specialized units like the Mobile Strike Force will get them, too, thanks to $514,000 in federal funding.
About 3,000 officers will go through mandatory eight-hour training sessions. Voluntary four-hour sessions are being offered, too.
Up to now, about 280 TASERs were being used by sergeants and field training officers.
“We’ve done a lot of homework on this,” said Sgt. Michael Partipilo, a trainer, adding that about a quarter of the officers in each training class voluntarily get zapped.
When the barbs hit you, it feels like getting smacked hard with a Wiffle bat. The area around the barbs goes numb, you lose muscle control and fall down.
TASERs were used 228 times last year and 166 times in 2008. That includes suspects who were struck by barbs as well as suspects who were laser-targeted but not hit.
Department policy allows officers to use TASERs only on people who are considered assailants or are resisting arrest.
During training, officers sprint through the closed Near North Career High School at 1450 N. Larrabee -- where Wednesday’s demonstrations were held -- and fire at targets. That tests how well the officers perform under stress.
Officers are instructed to aim at a suspect’s back if possible. That’s because the back has lots of muscles, clothing fits tighter, it offers a surprise factor and it avoids hitting the face, throat and groin, Partipilo said. If the officer doesn’t have a clear shot at the back, the recommended aiming point is below the chest.
Those guidelines were put into place in October after TASER International issued an advisory on chest shots, saying they could pose a low risk of an “adverse cardiac event.” By firing at the preferred areas of the body “you can avoid controversy and get a better shot,” Partipilo said, adding that TASERs have no lasting effects, as opposed to pepper spray or batons.
Although police consider TASERs a non-lethal option, the Cook County medical examiner ruled in 2005 that Ronald Hasse died of electrocution after he was TASERed by Chicago officers. Drugs were a contributing cause. TASER denied any link between Hasse’s death and the device. At the time, the Police Department delayed expansion of TASERs to study Hasse’s death.
Partipilo said he’s seen no clear medical evidence that officers’ TASERs killed anyone. But because TASERs have a reputation of being deadly, many suspects give up before an officer is able to fire, he said.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Sun-Times