Aurora cops soon will carry Tasers

In the coming weeks, the Aurora Police Department is set to join the ranks of local law-enforcement agencies carrying Tasers.

Police Chief Gregory Thomas announced Friday 20 officers already have been trained on the devices. More training is scheduled before the Tasers hit the streets.

Thomas called the Taser "an effective and safe tool" that greatly reduces injuries to police officers and suspects, while giving the department another option in their less-lethal arsenal.

Currently, the department has three types of munitions that can be fired from a 37-millimeter launcher: bean bag rounds, foam baton rounds, and O.C. (pepper) spray.

"At any one time, we have between 10 and 15 officers relegated to restricted duty -- many because they were injured during struggles with combative subjects," he said. "Utilizing Tasers will allow us to stop many of these incidents before they escalate."

Several local departments, including Naperville, Wood Dale, Oak Brook and Elmhurst, have Tasers to deal with a variety of incidents, such as fending off attacks, people who may be armed and threatening violence or suicide, those who choose to actively resist arrest and other calls with an elevated level or risk of danger to police officers.

Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said the department has chosen the Taser X-26 model, which most commonly uses propelled wires to stimulate nerves in the sensory and motor nervous systems to incapacitate them. This model delivers 1,200 volts of electricity across a person's body. Its average current is one-21,000th of an amp, which is lower than the average Christmas tree bulb.

He said it can also be used as a more traditional "stun gun" when applied directly to a person's body. It delivers a five-second jolt of electricity, ideally allowing police officers to handcuff or disarm a suspect.

When encountering a violent individual who refuses commands, Ferrelli said police will warn the subject of their intent to use the Taser.

Police say they recognize the intense scrutiny to which Tasers have been placed in the public and the media. They point to the fact that Taser International, the manufacturer of the weapon, has successfully defended their product in the more than 70 court cases in which it has been blamed for death or injury to a subject.

"Other departments have had them before us, but we were waiting for more studies to be completed," Ferrelli said. "Ultimately we got to a time where the information showed a Taser to be a good tool to keep our officers safe."