Watch Indiana officers get tased during training

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – The newest officers with the Lafayette Police Department can say they’ve experienced the feeling of being hit with a stun gun.

On Friday, News 18 followed the officers as they went through Taser training.

The effects of the taser are felt for about five seconds.

“That five seconds seemed like 30. It just took forever,” said police Officer Samuel Gawaluck.

Gawaluck, Mason Jones and Bryan Strah were sworn into the department last month. They have been working their way through an extensive training process, and feeling what it’s like to be hit by a Taser is part of it.

“My whole body convulsed. I couldn’t move. I think I ended up going up on my toes, just trying to get away from it,” said Gawaluck.

The new officers spent Friday learning the ins and outs of deploying a Taser.

“When you pull the trigger, it activates the weapon, which fires probes,” said Sgt. Michael Brown. “There are two probes that are attached with wires that attach themselves to the offender and then there’s a surge of electricity.”

Brown said the electricity causes the muscles to tense up. He said that’s when an officer would want to move in.

“Primarily, it’s a control weapon and it’s designed to overcome somebody who is physically resisting arrest,” explained Brown.

While he knew it would not be pleasant, Gawaluck is glad he experienced it.

“It’s one of those things that everyone on the force has had done to them. I tried to keep it in the back of my mind. I knew it was going to happen, but right now, it’s fine,” said Gawaluck.

The new officers will go through dispatch training next week. Two of them will head to the police academy in July. They won’t start patrolling on their own for about a year.