Taser Taser Taser!!!!

I woke up this morning, looked around and thought to myself, “Today is a great day to get tasered!”  Yes, it’s true, I was actually looking forward to getting tasered.  Maybe it was because I really didn’t know what awaited me, or maybe it was just because I knew it was coming so there was no point fighting it.  Either way, I was getting tasered and there was no way around it. 

This morning, we got to the classroom just like we always do.  The room looked the same, nothing that indicated today was taser day.  Sure we’ve known about this for a couple weeks and most of us were excited, nervous but mainly excited......at least I was.  

We started out with a lecture on what exactly the taser does.  We talked about the different situations in which an officer would use a taser.  We asked lots of questions and even watched videos on how effective the taser is when used.  

A question that we asked in class was one that maybe all of you might be asking, “Can you die from being tasered?”  Most of us have been shocked either touching an outlet, the battery in your car or something else.  Whatever the case, you probably remember when you were shocked.  As we learned today, it’s not necessarily the voltage that runs through your body, but the amps.  To put it in perspective, the average home wall outlet has about 15 amps, a Christmas tree lightbulb has about 1 amp, and the taser that police officers use carries about 0.0021.  The bottom line is that tasering is safe and this non-lethal weapon has saved many lives, including that of the potentially harmful subject. 

Thousands of volts going through your body forces every muscle to tighten and keeps you incapacitated.  As I was getting tasered, I could have swore that 5 seconds had passed, but the electricity kept coming.  I tensed up and I could feel the electricity running through my body.  I tried to stand up, but couldn’t.  I tried to stand up and get away from that freaky sound of voltage, but I couldn’t.  My back and my legs just wouldn’t let me move.  I couldn’t hear anything except the sound of my voice grunting and the voltage running up and down my spine which was more powerful than I was.  I knew it would eventually end but these five seconds would feel like an eternity.  Does it hurt?  Well it doesn’t feel good.  Yes, 50,000 volts is what the taser contains but in reality, by the time the probes make contact with your body, it’s 1,200 volts, much less  than the 50,000, but still more than enough to keep you down for the fight.   

Yes, it was funny watching my classmates going through the same pain that I had just experienced.  Most would think that you have to have some weird/sick sense of humor to find this funny, but we were all highly encouraged to get taserd.  

The reality is that as soon to be police officers, we should know what this feels like and how it effects the body.  This helps you to understand when it may or may not be necessary.  We’ll, today was a good day and i’m looking forward to getting some well deserved rest and relaxation this weekend.  

Hope you guys enjoy this video and hope that my pain and the longest five seconds of my life, make you smile.  Thanks for taking some time to read this blog on my journey through the police academy.