Unlike other Iowa law enforcement agencies, ISU and Ames police officers who carry Tasers undergo annual training.

In the last six years, eight different lawsuits were filed against Iowa law enforcement officers, alleging that the officers misused stun guns.

According to a Des Moines Register investigation, officers involved in three Muscatine County Jail tasing incidents, including an October incident when an officer used a stun gun on a mentally disabled woman four times to compel her to change her clothing, have never undergone stun gun training or were overdue in training updates.

Ames police Investigations Commander Geoff Huff said all officers who carry Tasers must be certified and undergo annual training.

Derek Doebel, Drug Task Force Detective for ISU Police, said all patrol officers carry Tasers and undergo certification when they are hired. Both departments said they do annual training along with supplemental training throughout the year.

Tasers are a conducted electrical weapon marketed by Taser International to law enforcement agencies as another tool that will help them gain compliance. Taser International says that the use of their product helps to reduce the use of deadly force and decreases injuries to both suspects and officers.

Tasers can be used in drive-stun mode and pressed directly against a suspect, usually as more of a compliance tactic than a response to a threat. When used from a distance, officers can aim the taser at a suspect, usually at the torso, and pull a trigger. Hooked metal darts remain connected to the device through wires that conduct electrical pulses down to the darts. The darts are designed to embed into clothing, but may puncture the skin in some cases.

Both ISU and Ames police officers use the Taser X26 model which is capable of up to 50,000 peak volts. Huff said that 50,000 volts may seem like a lot, but the effect is not as great as it sounds.

Volts measure electrical pressure, or the amount of pressure used to push an electrical current across a wire. Amperes, or amps, measure the actual flow rate of electrons through the wire. The amperage used in the X26 Taser is .0036 amps. A regular Christmas light bulb uses 1 amp. The Taser does not emit a continuous flow of electricity, making the device less harmful than something like a wall outlet that has a continuous flow of energy.

Unlike pepper spray that may not be effective for aggressive suspects under the influence of other chemical substances, stun guns emit an electric pulse that interferes with nerve signals from the brain and causes muscles to contract rapidly.

“It’s just another tool in the tool belt,” Huff said. “Usually it works effectively and doesn’t leave any long-lasting effects. Speaking from experience, I will take the Taser over pepper spray any day of the week.”

Doebel said while certified ISU officers are not required to experience the Taser like Ames police, all ISU officers have been tased.

“We’re certified on it, but if you don’t get tased you don’t know what it feels like. It helps build credibility when they go to trial,” Doebel said.

Policies for each department state that Tasers should not generally be used on elderly persons, young children and visibly frail persons. However, they said each circumstance is different.

Officers must use their discretion and make immediate decisions, which is where situation-based training can help them prepare for different scenarios.

“If we’re trying to affect an arrest, and they’re getting aggressive with you, physically confrontational, we can deploy our Taser. It’s beneficial for both us and the person that is getting arrested,” Doebel said. “If we have to actually fight with them, chances are if we both go down to the ground something’s going to get hurt.”

Doebel said using Tasers can help prevent incidents like what an ISU officer experienced last year when he broke his hand trying to subdue a suspect.

As for Taser misuse, “like any tool, they can be abused, and then it becomes a problem,” Huff said. “If they’re used appropriately, I think they’ve been a good tool.”