Local law enforcement began carrying Tasers in 2005, but haven’t had much occasion to use them.

The Bowling Green Police Department received Tasers on Feb. 21, 2006. Since then, Tasers have been used only 45 times. That’s because when officers threaten to use a Taser on a suspect, the person usually stops resisting arrest, BGPD Maj. Quinton Hughes said.

In 2006, city police officers used Tasers 22 times – three of those times on animals, Hughes said. The next year, that number decreased to 15 uses; thus far in 2008, they have been used only eight times.

“The first year we had a citizens’ council to review each Taser incident,” Hughes said. “Their concern was that officers not be excessive in using them … We never had any sort of incident.”

Now, each Taser use is reviewed to determine that the less-than-lethal weapon was used correctly, and to check that they’re not being used discriminately on one group of people, he said.

There have been no lawsuits against city police due to Taser use, nor have there been any serious injuries, he said.

When asked about the recent death of a New York man who fell on his head after being shot with a Taser, Hughes said, “the largest risk of injury from a Taser is falling. That’s why the city has a policy against using a Taser on anyone elevated.”

Since receiving Tasers in November 2005, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office has used them 21 times and has not had any sort of serious incident.

And 10 Kentucky State Police troopers in Bowling Green received Tasers on Aug. 20, while two others have had Tasers for more than a year, said Trooper Todd Holder, spokesman for the Bowling Green post. They’ve been used only four times.

“All the road troopers have went through their training,” he said. “Even officers and others who won’t be getting Tasers have gone through the training.”

The Taser has not replaced other law enforcement tools, such as pepper spray or batons, said Maj. Randy Hargis from the sheriff’s office – it is simply another tool, and one that has improved safety in some situations.

“In my experience, I’ve seen a significant reduction in injuries to both officers and suspects,” he said. That’s because the situation is ended more quickly, he said, and the Taser has a much more brief effect than pepper spray or hitting a suspect with a baton.

The baton, meanwhile, has been improved to make it safer for officers. Essentially a long, hard stick, officers would frequently not have a baton when needed, he said. Now that it’s collapsible and more portable, the baton can easily be carried on an officer’s belt.

A panel of medical professionals recently concluded there’s no significant risk of death or serious injury to healthy adults from being shot with a Taser, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice.