Douglas County Sheriff’s officers have new, nonlethal weapons in their arsenal, thanks to a $10,000 federal grant.

The department joined a growing number of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the Taser, an electric stun gun, as another option for disabling disorderly suspects.

Douglas County Sheriff's Lt. Don Crowe demonstrates a Taser, an electric stun gun. The weapon costs about 00.

The Taser will join a weapons belt that already includes a pepper spray canister, baton, and 9 mm pistol.

“The long-range goal is for everybody working court security and everybody on patrol to have one,” Sheriff’s Lt. Don Crowe said.

In March the department took possession of three of the X26 Tasers, an improved version of the first Taser marketed to law enforcement agencies in 1999. It later received six more.

The weapon, which looks like a bizarre pistol you might see in an old, grade B-science fiction movie, is made by Taser International in Scottsdale, Ariz. It costs a little more than $800.

The department’s Tasers will be carried primarily by supervisors in court security and patrol as well as a supervisor at the Douglas County Jail, Crowe said. All officers in those divisions, however, will be trained to use them, Crowe said.

The Sheriff’s Office also haspurchased three FN 303 pellet guns, which can be used to fire a plastic pellet to disable someone or a pellet that carries the liquid version of pepper spray, Crowe said. They also can be used to fire a pellet that breaks open and marks a suspect with a colored dye, similar to a paintball gun, he said.

“This is something that would be used mainly for crowd control,” Crowe said.

An FN 303 also would be available for use by patrol, court security and jail officers, although they probably wouldn’t be carried with the other weapons, Crowe said.

“It looks like an old Tommy (Thompson) gun,” Crowe said of the weapon, which costs about $900 and is made by FNH USA Inc., McLean, Va.

The grant money to pay for the weapons came from a local law enforcement block grant, Crowe said.

A Taser can be used on a person by pulling a trigger after making direct contact with a person, or by shooting out two wire prongs that latch onto a person. The wires can reach about 20 feet.

The X26 Taser uses five watts to disable someone, by causing “electro-muscular disruption.” In other words, a suspect falls to the ground paralyzed. The effect wears off after a few seconds.

Training on how to use the Tasers and the FN pellet guns was to be conducted in time for the weapons to be available for use by May, Crowe said.

Tasers have already been in use by several regional police and sheriffs’ departments, including Topeka and Olathe police departments. Spokesmen for both agencies said officers were pleased with the weapon.

“It gives us another alternative before we have to hurt people,” Topeka Police Lt. Randy Listrom said. “With the Taser, once you’re done with the five-second ride, you’re down. There are no aftereffects.”

Olathe Police Sgt. Greg O’Halloran has had the Taser used on him, as have most officers who have been trained in their use.

“It’s extremely effective,” O’Halloran said.

The Taser is safe for use even on someone who has a pacemaker or who may be standing in water, O’Halloran said.

Olathe Police have seven Tasers and they are carried by patrol sergeants, O’Halloran said. Tasers are carried by at least 20 Topeka officers, Listrom said.

Since they started carrying Tasers early last summer, Olathe officers have pulled out the weapons 17 times but have only had to use them twice, O’Halloran said. In 15 of the cases the threat of seeing the Taser or hearing an officer explain what it would do if forced to use it was enough to convince the suspects to surrender, O’Halloran said.

“They’ve been a very valuable tool for us so far,” he said.