By Richard Tew
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
League City Police conducted training for officers in the use of their new TASER 10 Taser system.
The training took place on February 8 in the Johnnie Arolfo Civic Center, located at 400 W. Walker St. located next to City Hall.
During Thursday’s nearly eight-hour Taser training and certification class, 19 officers were familiarized with the new features and operation of the TASER 10. Afterwards, they spent hours focused on scenario training where officers are put in situations they might face while on patrol or when responding to calls for service.
Many of the police department’s other officers went through the same training earlier in the week.
According to League City Police Department’s Lt. Tim McCurley, the police department recently replaced the aging TASER X26P with the newest Taser system from manufacturer AXON: the TASER 10 system. It offers the department an advanced “intermediate weapon” offering many updates including the ability to deploy 10 probes carrying 1,000 volts each traveling about 205 feet-per-second compared to the former system’s 2 probes carrying some 50,000 volts traveling at just over 100-feet-per-second.
According to AXON, the manufacturer of the Taser system, the TASER 10 offers an effective range of 45 feet. McCurley says the X26P’s effective range was closer to ten feet given the spread of the probes being deployed. He says officers qualify with the new version of the Taser from a maximum distance of 34 feet.
McCurley says the new TASER 10 system also offers integration into the police department’s body camera and in-car camera system. The new system is also more efficient than the department’s outgoing X26P which had batteries that didn’t last as long as the new TASER 10’s battery pack. A software suite also monitors and logs usage information including activations of the device, individual probe serial numbers along with firmware controls for future device updates.
At the front of the TASER 10 is a small panel of LED’s that provide light at night. There are also deterrent features such as built-in sounds which give the impression the weapon is being charging up. The sound is a built-in digital audio clip played through a small speaker on the device. It also comes equipped with a green laser sight for aiming. McCurley says some of the features are designed to help de-escalate situations where a Taser might be deployed.
The probes themselves are small metal tubes, which once fired, send a barbed needle guided and later energized by an ultra-thin wire lead connecting the probe back to the Taser unit. This provides electrical pulses to muscle tissue once the probe makes contact with skin. After the connection is made, the pulsed electricity can cause neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI) rendering a person temporarily incapacitated to aid in apprehension.
League City Police Mental Health Division Sgt. Kierstyn Portis took part in the training and certification on Thursday. She says she has had to use a Taser during her ten plus years of service with the department.
“There’s a wide variety of calls where a Taser would be applicable,” said Portis. “There’s a lot of reliability in these exact scenarios.”
Portis says the new TASER 10 system will give officers who choose to carry them advantages over the previous system.
“I’ve been very impressed with the improvements as far as shot placement and the accuracy that you can achieve with this (TASER 10) versus the X26P,” said Portis.
McCurley says officers are not required to carry a Taser and notes several officers do not carry one. He says regardless of the decision to carry or not, officers are still required to go through certification training. McCurley says officers might resort to a Taser over their firearm in situations where a person is combative. He says a lot of de-escalation training is given to officers to minimize the use of either their primary or intermediate weapons like a Taser or Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray.
McCurley says officers are taught to be prepared for anything; working their way through a myriad of situations they may encounter while on patrol.
“We want them thinking about the what if game on the way there so they’re prepared for it but if they get there, whatever the call may be,” said McCurley. “…take a breath, pause for a second and get control of yourself and your adrenaline, and start to work through the situation,” said McCurley.
Both McCurley and Portis say training with Tasers is just one of many types of training the department puts officers through each year.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to say with confidence that we are a very highly trained department as a whole,” said Portis.
Photo cutline: League City Police Training Lt. Tim McCurley (left) and Training Officer Andrew Ives (right) demonstrate the use of the department’s new TASER 10 Taser system to 19 officers last Thursday. The police department is upgrading to the advanced Taser system which offers improved capabilities over the outgoing X26P Taser system. Photo by Richard Tew/The Post Newspaper.
