Tempe Police shot 50,000 volts into a fellow officer during a Taser gun demonstration Friday night.
The department will have all officers carrying Taser guns within the next few weeks, said officer Noah Johnson, who conducted the demonstration.
"The reason we want to use the Taser guns is to reduce injuries to officers and suspects," Johnson said.
Johnson added that by using the Taser, they decrease the risk of hitting someone other than the suspect.
Officers also have to be close when using Mace or pepper spray, not giving them much mobility. The Taser can be used up to 15 feet away.
Mace also has a 45-minute to an hour recovery time, while the Taser recovery lasts only seconds.
The Tasers would be used for situations such as suspects resisting arrest or suicide attempts.
Thirty guns at $400 each are scheduled to be in officers' hands in the next few weeks, according to Johnson.
In a demonstration broadcast over Channel 11 on the "Tempe StreetBeat" show, Johnson used the gun on Public Information Officer Dan Masters.
Two officers stood next to Masters while Johnson stood approximately six feet away and fired the gun into his back.
Two fishhook-ended wires shot out and attached themselves to Masters, filling him with 50,000 volts of electricity for five seconds.
Masters fell backwards, twitched and tried to shout as audience members gasped at the sight.
As soon as it was over, Masters jumped up and was walking around normally.
"It was incredibly painful," he said. "But [I don't feel any] lasting effects."
Although the voltage is high, the damage is not lethal. Since the power source for the Taser is a 9-volt battery, the shock is not life threatening.
The only signs of damage were where the barbs of the wire hooked into Masters' back.
Johnson said the Taser fires one shot at a time, but there is an extra round attached to the gun and if necessary, the officer can pull the trigger more than once to release the electricity for increments of five seconds, he said.
He also said all the officers who are going to be trained in using the gun will have to be hit with it to see its effects.
Reach the reporter at christina.viloria@asu.edu.
