Banff Mounties may have one more weapon in their arsenal if the detachment is chosen to carry Taser guns, designed to stun people with up to 50,000 volts of heat.
As one of the top 10 busiest detachments in Alberta, Banff is likely to be among the first recipients of the stun guns.
There are 104 RCMP detachments across Alberta and one-third of those are due to receive training on the new guns in May. Banff made the top 10 for its high numbers of criminal cases per Mountie and number of prisoners.
Banff employs 29 uniformed officers and seven highway patrollers.
"I don’t know if Banff is on first round of the rollout, it’s possible, Banff is one of our busier detachments in the province," said Sgt. Steve Gleboff, media relations with Criminal Operations for Alberta’s K division.
"But every detachment is going to get a Taser by the end of the three-year plan,"
Although numbers could not be confirmed, Gleboff said G-8 security will be issued with some of the stun guns.
The electrical current released through the gun lasts as long as the trigger is pressed, said Gleboff.
The most common reason for using the Taser would be a one-on-one confrontation where the officer was less than 50 feet away, from someone brandishing a knife, said Gleboff.
"It’s something else that you could use that would be less lethal than a gun," said Banff RCMP Staff Sgt. Joe MacDonald.
MacDonald hasn’t heard of any guns being given to Banff and isn’t aware of any scheduled training exercises, although the local detachment is waiting to hear more from Edmonton.
Banff Const. Trish Killon felt the effects of the gun during a training session last year when she volunteered to be hit in the upper arm. She compares it being stung by an electrical fence "only different."
It did not hurt, said Killon, who was immobilized for only a few seconds and slowly regained her senses. She did not suffer any harmful effects and said she would rather use a Taser gun than her sidearm.
"It’s better than using our firearm," she said.
"When I joined the force (12 years ago), we only had our firearm, that was our line of defense," said Killon.
Today Banff RCMP officers carry pepper spray, expandable batons and firearms.
As far as Taser guns go, MacDonald said, "There’s always the potential you’d need to use it."
The Banff detachment is in no greater need, however, of the new stun guns than any other of Alberta’s municipal detachments, said MacDonald.
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