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ymmates

Five seconds is all Clarke
County deputies need now to
sUbdue unruly inmates.
A handful of Clarke sheriffs jailers have been armed
with electric-shock weapons
commonly known by their
trademark name - Tasers _
that send a 5O,OOO-volt jolt of
electricity coursing through
the body of anyone who puts
up a fight.
The controversial, nonlethal weapons - critics call
them cruel and unnecessary
- are catching on throughout
law enforcement as a way of
subduing inmates who start

3'ASERS from Ai

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required," said Brett Hart,
commander of the Clarke
County jail. "In the last 45
days since it's been in use,
we've seen a dramatic reduction in our use of force
reports and deputy injury
rep0l1s."
Hart said the jail - which
currently houses more than
400 people who are either
awaiting trial or serving county time - has been plagued
with uncooperative, violent
inmates who require force to
subdue. Hart said the jail
averaged about one incident a
day, and several deputies lost
time or were assigned to light
duty because of on-the-job
injuries sustained in brushes
with inmate&~-On Aug. 13, eight of the
$500 Tasers were distributed
to deputies who completed a
required four-hour training
course that includes a onesecond taste of their shocking
power. Since then, Tasers
have been used to subdue
inmates 10 times. The message has gotten out, sheriffs
officials say.
"Since then, the number of
officer-inmate altercations
has dropped to almost nothing," Hart said.
Said Lt. David Fulgham,
certified to train deputies on
the use of the Taser, "This,
you can't ignore."
Not everyone thinks

fights with deputies or other
prisoners. DeKalb and
Gwinnett counties both
employ the devices in their
jails.
The Taser-brand pistol
fires a pair of thin wires connected to needle-tipped
probes that puncture the skin
an eighth of an inch and
deliver a stream of electricity
evenly through the central
nervous system. One five-second dose will stop a 300pound man in his tracks and
bring hIm to the floor.
,·It's a safe, non-lethal
weapon used to immobilize a
Camaron S.artzlStatt
subject so that force which The Clarke County Jail is now using Tasers, like this one displayed by
could cause injury isn't defenSive tactics IIlstructor David FUlgham, to control unruly inmates
The Taser shoots a projectile connected to wires that deliver a signifi:
See TASERS on A5
cant electncal shock.

Tasers in the jail are a good use of Tasers, Mays said.
"We're not going to use
idea.
"The use of electric shock them just because somebody
is normally reserved for live- won't do what we tell them to
stock," said Russell Gabriel, do," he said.
Several safeguards predirector of the University of
Georgia Legal Aid and vent potential abuses of the
Defender Clinic, which repre- devices, sheriffs officials say.
sents most of Clarke County's When fired, the guns spray
criminal defendants. "It is dozens of tiny, paper color
dehumanizing for both tabs carrying numbers that
inmates and the jailers. What correspond with the cartridge
is the difference between this used. A computer chip keeps
thing and a whip? Wouldn't a track of how many times the
whip be cheaper?"
gun has been fired, and when.
Athens, GA
Responds Hart, "This was
"There's more backups
Athens Banner-Hantld
designed for humans in mind and safeguards on this
Alhon'
- it was not designed to inca- weapon than you could ever
M'I Ar..
pacitate animals. It is feasibly use," Fulgham said.
Monda,
designed to be humane, so
Gabriel said Tasers could
034,877
that a human can be incapaci- lead to injuries to inmates
OCT I. 2001
tated with no injury as a who hit the floor. Sheriff's
result."
officials respond that a physi-cS heriff's officiaioscay-tlre---cart-'confrnntation coulct-eause
//I 111111111111111/1 11111111/ /I 11111111
pain of the shock wears off far more serious injuries.
rllm
NI948
after a few seconds with no
Gabriel believes the counU!L!lPRESS CI.1PPINGS
lingering effects. Research, ty jail has seen a progression
they say, has shown that of overprotective, unnecesTasers create no lasting sary measures implemented •
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I i'
injuries, and they have with- in the past decade, such as
stood all legal challenges so the handcuffs and leg irons
far. But a training video required for all defendants
showing deputies screaming brought to court, including
out during demonstrations those charged with misdemakes it clear the pain, how- meanors like bad checks and
ever brief, is excruciating.
shoplifting.
"The introduction of the
"We're not out here to torture folks," said Chief Deputy Taser is just one more step in
Gene Mays. "We're out here this overly protective directo control them with less tion," Gabriel said.
injuries to them and to the
Said Fulgham, the trainer,
deputies."
"This is nothing but a better
Only physical, hands-on tool to help us do a better,
resistance will prompt the safer and more efficient job."

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