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The TASER uses an electrical current which interferes with the body’s neuromuscular system. It allows officers to deal with violent or potentially violent people at a distance.
The TASER is taken out of its holster.
The TASER is aimed at someone.
The TASER is switched on and the trigger squeezed, but no cartridge is attached so that the electric currents arc between the contact points on the front of the TASER.
The TASER is pointed at someone with the red dot laser beam active, so a red dot appears on the person it’s pointed at. This is often enough to de-escalate a situation. On the occasion when red dotting does not resolve an issue, the TASER can be discharged with one of two functions: ‘fired’ or ‘drive stun’.
When a TASER is fired, this means that the trigger is squeezed, and the cartridge is fired from a distance.
Drive stun is when the TASER has no cartridge attached but is applied by hand directly to somebody in close quarters who is displaying serious threats of violence. The trigger is squeezed so that electric current arcs between the two contact points on the front of the TASER.
As above but repeated.
With the cartridge attached, the officer fires the device. One or both probes may attach to the person. The officer then holds the TASER against the subject’s body in a different area to the probe(s), to complete the electrical circuit and deliver an incapacitating effect.