PORT TOWNSEND — It felt like a steel mechanical arm clamped down on my right thigh, ripping my leg muscles one by one, then sledgehammering into my flesh for what seemed like an eternity.
Thin wires drew electricity to darts stuck in my leg, and I could not control my arms to shake them off.
All I could do was scream.
The musky smell of compressed nitrogen, released into the air, filled the Pope Marine Building on Water Street.
There on Wednesday afternoon, Port Townsend and Jefferson County law enforcers presented — and demonstrated — their newly acquired M-26 Tasers.
Acting out on boyish excitement, I volunteered as a “subject.”
It was a feeling I will never forget.
The pain subsided almost immediately, and my thigh felt strangely relaxed — as if after a visit to a masseuse.
Laser-sighted device
During the media presentation, officials from Port Townsend Police Department, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office announced their purchase of 21 Tasers.
Though it looks like a regular handgun, the Taser is a laser-sighted device that projects a pair of prongs, or darts, on steel wires up to 21 feet.
The Taser sends 50 kilovolts of electricity over the thin steel wires.
In effect, the blast of voltage into the human body renders the recipient’s motor and sensory nervous systems momentarily useless.
In other words, while an attacker is paralyzed for several seconds, police officers then move in and take control of the person’s body or weapon.
County law enforcement agencies spent $3,700 of drug arrest forfeiture money to buy the high-tech weapons from the Lynnwood Police Department.
In early May, the Lynnwood Police Department surplused its supply of M-26 Tasers, while upgrading to a newer model.
