Next time students have a run-in with a UAPD officer, they may be in for a shock.
UAPD officers are now equipped with Tasers, weapons that use electrical shocks to immobilize someone temporarily.
The Taser fires two electric probes up to a distance of 21 feet and transmits pulsed energy into the central nervous system of the target, causing immediate incapacitation.
UAPD Sgt. Robert Summerfeld offered reporters a demonstration of how the Taser works in the UAPD lobby yesterday, allowing one of the 10 Tasers to be deployed on him.
Afterward Summerfeld compared the shock he received to the shock felt after holding a 9-volt battery to someone's tongue. Summerfeld said a Taser shock goes through the entire body.
"Having experienced it, I would utilize it whenever I have defensive resistance from an individual," Summerfeld said.
Summerfeld added he would use the Taser instead of a hands-on arrest that could injure the suspect or himself.
Sgt. Eugene Mejia, spokesman for UAPD, said the department decided to train officers in Taser use because they are not lethal weapons. He said Tasers cause no long-term or short-term bodily damage.
The Tasers cost the department $1,000 each.
Mejia said the money came from the special events fund for the purchase of special equipment.
"I'd like to equip every patrol officer with them because it makes sense," Mejia said.
Mejia said the first weapon to use electrical shocks was a stun gun.
"The difference is the stun gun is painful; the Taser isn't at all," he said.
Ben Fredlake, an undeclared freshman, said he was skeptical that Tasers aren't painful.
"It just sounds like it hurts. I had a friend who was Tasered, and it wasn't good," Fredlake said.
Michael Coyne, an aerospace engineering freshman, said he didn't have a problem with the Tasers.
"As long as they're not using them to round up drunk kids, it's fine," he said.
Summerfeld said in some cases, simply showing the weapon to a suspect and yelling, "Taser, Taser, Taser," would be enough to get a suspect to comply.
Summerfeld said an officer's use of the weapon would depend on the situation. He said the Taser could be used as many as two times per week, or an officer could go for months without using the Taser.
Mejia said 800 police departments in the United States and Canada use the Taser X26. Arizona State University's officers are also equipped with Tasers.
Mejia said one of the benefits of a Taser is that it helps prevent lawsuits that are often filed after officers use pepper spray, batons, impact weapons or a hands-on arrest, which may involve twisting arms or legs.
The Taser is able to store information on who deployed the weapon and how many times it was deployed.
"Once it's been deployed, you can re-Tase," Mejia said.
Officers who are equipped with the Tasers were trained Monday and yesterday.
Mejia said by the end of the week, all 50 officers in UAPD will be trained to use Tasers.
÷ Jesse Lewis contributed to this report.