MCSO to be among the first departments nationwide to use new stun gun model
A “new era in less-lethal technology” is coming to the Moniteau County Sheriff’s Office as it reportedly becomes one of the first agencies to acquire a new stun gun.
A new virtual reality (VR) training system and upgraded stun guns are part of a package the sheriff’s office is purchasing, which it said will improve training and make incidents safer for deputies and the subjects they interact with.
Sheriff Tony Wheatley told attendees of the Moniteau County Crime Watch’s Community Emergency Response Team presentation June 5 his office is one of the first agencies in the United States, aside from testing agencies, to purchase the new model of stun gun. The sheriff’s office will be signing a five-year contract with Axon, a manufacturer of public safety technology, for the equipment, he later told the Democrat.
The exact cost is currently unknown, Wheatley said, but it is “comparable to if we had to go out every year and purchase the new Tasers that we have like now, the older models, if we had to replace those every year.” He added the contract covers training, stun guns, cartridges and replacement cartridges — meaning there should be no additional expenses beyond the contract cost. The purchase is being made through the sheriff’s office’s equipment budget, which is funded by Proposition P, a half-cent sales tax voters approved in 2020.
Chief Deputy Tyler Zumwalt said the sheriff’s office learned about the new technologies after visiting a demonstration by Axon at the Cole County Sheriff’s Office. Following much research, he said, Wheatley agreed the technology was the way forward.
“We conducted a lot of research on it and we found that this is really a superior product from Axon,” Zumwalt said. “There is a ton of upgrades that we were super happy with that will actually help the deputies be safer when they’re put into these scenarios where they have to use force.”
The first part of the package is the TASER 10, a stun gun which Axon touts as beginning “a new era in less-lethal technology” in a promotional video. Zumwalt said the new device allows deputies to deploy from further away, and gives them more chances for sufficient placement of the probes on the aggressor. He said stun guns currently used by the sheriff’s office, the TASER X2 and TASER X26, each has a 25-foot effective range and only gives deputies two chances at probe placement. The TASER 10 has a 45-foot effective range and, with 10 probes in a cartridge as opposed to only two, gives deputies nine chances to make contact with the aggressor.
“Having more shots available allows us to place our probes where we need to (for) maximum efficiency on the taser deployment,” Zumwalt said. He continued that the TASER 10 uses straight barbs on the probes, as opposed to the angled barbs found on older stun gun models, for accurate probe placement.
The new stun gun is also waterproof, Zumwalt said, as previous models could malfunction after getting wet. According to the TASER 10 webpage, the new model also features an audible and visual warning alert system for alerting aggressors, data management system that tracks usage, and a green laser for aiming the device.
TASER 10 also works with the Axon VR Training system, which is the other part of the package the sheriff’s office is purchasing.
Zumwalt said the VR Training system will improve training within the sheriff’s office without relying on other agencies. It consists of a VR headset featuring built-in headphones that depict multiple situations.
“When I initially heard of virtual reality, I was a little skeptical until I went through and actually sat through the demos and sat through several of the scenarios that Axon provided us with, and I was absolutely sold,” he said. “It is not video gaming; … they’ve used cameras to recreate a lot of these scenarios for us. … You’re in the shoes, you’re getting a birds-eye view while you’re in that scenario system. And with the purchase of that system, it’s great because now we don’t have to send deputies off to other agencies in other counties to get this training. We can do this stuff in-house, and I’m really excited about that.”
“I can get on a tablet and start setting scenarios for them, where I can watch in real time how the deputies are performing,” Zumwalt continued. “Whether it’s they’re dealing with a subject and they’re going through the proper use of force continuum that we have set forth here at the sheriff’s office in our policies on ‘Hey, did they deploy the TASER at the correct time? Could they have done something different? Could they have handled it a different way?'”
In addition to use-of-force scenarios, Zumwalt said the training also has sessions for jail staff, such as conducting cell searches. The scenario that excites him the most, however, is mental health training. He said one scenario depicts a subject suffering from auditory hallucinations, a common symptom found with some mental illnesses. Deputies not only go through the scenario as law enforcement responding to the situation, but also get “put in the shoes” of the subject with a simulation of the hallucinations.
“It’s really great because it gives our deputies a chance to be put in the shoes of the subjects who we quite often respond to calls on, who are suffering from mental health issues,” Zumwalt said.
Wheatley said stun gun usage can vary — deputies can go a month or longer before having to use the devices. At other times stun guns might be used multiple times on a single call.
“They’re a good deterrent and a good tool to have to make our job safer, but hopefully we don’t have to use them, but it’s inevitable that we will,” he said.
Zumwalt said the current stun guns will be re-issued to other responding officials in the sheriff’s office who currently don’t carry the devices, including detectives, court bailiff and Wheatley.
Axon representatives estimated an August or September delivery date for the new equipment, Zumwalt continued. In the meantime, the deputies are excited about the upgrades.
“We’re definitely excited, and definitely all the deputies are appreciative of all the support we’ve gotten from the community that have been able to make this possible,” Zumwalt said.
