Cannon Falls Police Department
Citizen's Academy
“Use of Force” was the topic under discussion at the Cannon Falls Police Department Citizen's Academy recently. Every Tuesday night for seven weeks, six local citizens are learning the “what, how and why” officers do what they do. They include: Tim Dehmer, Aaron Ekstrom, Rod Holst, Mike Manning, Jay Sjoblom and Rosie Schluter.
Leading the group is Police Chief Jeff McCormick. Instructors have included officers Mitch Altoff, Dave Timm, and Joe Berg.
Safety is a priority with the Cannon Falls police, they explained. Therefore the safety of the officer and any innocent by-standers will determine the use of these devices. Last week’s “hands’ on” session taught about some of the protective measures used in police work ranging from an expandable baton to electronic control devices like the Taser known for its Neuro-Muscular Incapacitation (NMI).
Officer Timm, a firearms and use of force instructor for the department, demonstrated putting handcuffs on Officer Joe Berg and then observed when Mike Manning practiced how to “Cuff a Cop!”, as someone quipped.
Berg is a Certified Taser Instructor for the department. In explaining the effectiveness and safety of the Taser, Berg reviewed that a Christmas tree bulb has 1.0 amps and the Taser has less than 0.004 amps. It's not the volts, it's the amps that are dangerous. For example: the X26 taser is 50,000 volts, low amps, less than 0.004, and a safe energy of 0.36 Joules per pulse. Cardiac Defibrillators are greater than 150-400 Joules. Therefore: High voltage + Low amperage = Safe and effective weapon system.
Officer Berg aimed his taser at the mounted target. The attached wires could be triggered again if needed to keep the criminal under control. Timm showed how the hooks shot by the taser should embed themselves in the skin or clothing a short distance apart for the best effect.
None of the citizens appeared to want to play the role of the criminal being apprehended with a taser. And the officers had all done it before and didn’t want to again! So Chief McCormick volunteered. Instead of having the “hooks” shot at him, McCormick taped one to his ankle and the other to his shoulder while Officers Timm and Nick Sather held his arms to protect him from falling when the shock hit him.
Apparently since the students saw that the chief had survived (although if you look at his face you’ll see a grimace as he feels the two to three second blast from Officer Berg), Tim Dehmer decided to feel its effect. He explained afterwards that he wanted to see if it was worse than an electric fence. To protect him, Officer Timm had Dehmer lay down on a cushion on the floor. The probes were taped to one leg . Even so, Dehmer was amazed at the strength of the shock he got which was less than one second of the normal five seconds used in dangerous situations. As you can notice in the picture, one of Dehmer’s shoes slipped off as he felt the blast.
Future sessions in the citizen's academy are planned to include crime scene processing and a “ride along” with local police.
.
