Police train for Tasers in Pratt

The sound alone is intense and the effect is unforgettable. The Taser is an important tool for law enforcement and Pratt was the site of a multi-state Taser training session.

On Thursday and Friday, 21 officers from nine agencies in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri took part in a two-day Taser training session at the Pratt Law Enforcement Center.

Over the two-day session officers had classroom work, live fire training, quick change, an extensive written test and some officers opt to subject themselves to being tased.

In the live fire training, the officer draws the weapon, yells Taser, and then fires the weapon at a special silhouette that reveals the electrical pattern. Officers did three of these live fire tests.

When the Taser is deployed it has a distinct popping sound and the electricity can be seen in dim light.

During the quick-change test, the officer has to change the firing head as quickly as possible. Each Taser has interchangeable heads that contain the two probes that make contact with the subject. Each head can only be used once then it has to be replaced.

The two probes attach to clothing or skin and provide two points for the electricity to travel.

Officer Mark Pyle of the Grandview Police Department in Kansas City, Kansas, was one of the officers getting his first Taser certification and getting the first hand experience of being tased.
“I’ve learned it hurts,” Pyle said.

Getting tased causes the subject to be incapacitated and unable to move. Once the Taser is turned off the effects stop immediately, Pyle said. 

It is designed to change a subject’s behavior. The Taser is shaped like a handgun so it is easy for officers to learn and it gives them an option to lethal force. It helps keep officers and the public safer.

“It’s obviously a good tool,” Pyle said. “It gives you one more option.”

Pyle was impressed with the capabilities of the Taser and is ready to add it to his law enforcement tools.

“It’s going to be a great tool,” Pyle said.

Wichita Police Department Lt. Kevin Vaughn led the training session. He is one of only two master teachers in the state of Kansas. Only master teachers are allowed to lead training sessions for officers to become teachers so they can instruct officers in their own department proper use of a Taser.

He teaches an average of six Taser training classes every year. Most are in Kansas but he does get outside the state.

In this session 10 officers were getting new certification and 11 officers were renewing their Taser certification. Of the officers getting new certification six opted to be tased, Vaughn said.

Officers have to be recertified every two years as well as keep up to date on information released during the two years, said Pratt County Sheriff’s Deputy Jimmy White.

The Pratt County Sheriff’s Department hosted the two-day event.

The word Taser is an acronym for Tomas A. Swifts Electric Rifle. The Taser inventor enjoyed the Tom Swift books and named his invention for them, White said.