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Last updated on Friday, March 14, 2014
(BLOOMFIELD) - Bloomfield Town Marshall Ken Tharp says having Taser weapons available for use by officers is essential equipment in this day of rampant use of illegal drugs that produce unpredictable and dangerous behavior use by suspects.
The Greene County Daily World reports, on Wednesday the town council approved a request from Tharp to purchase five new tasers.
Tharp says Taser weapons are not used often, but they serve as a definite deterrent. The department has had six actual shots fired from the Tasers.
Tharp explained that the department's five current Tasers are outdated and needed to be replaced. The company will no longer warranty those weapons, which are more than five years old.
The town marshal said the Taser Company is offering an acquisition program with an initial cost of $4,161.90, including new holsters for five Taser.
He explained that cost is actually for four weapons and a fifth comes with the deal.
With the five-year contact, each year after this year, the town will pay $740.
"Basically, you are buying one Taser a year for five years after the fifth year, they ship you four brand new ones, plus the extra one, so every five years they are rotating the weapons out so you won't have outdated weapons," Tharp explained. "Basically, what you are doing is locking in this year's price for five years."
Tharp said the old weapons are dangerous for his officers to carry saying if an officer is relying on the weapon and it fails to work, the officer or others could be injured or the officer would have to resort to using his firearm for protection.
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