Rockford Police to use Tasers again

ROCKFORD — Rockford Police officers will once again be armed with Tasers six years after the department stopped using them.

The Rockford Register Star reports that the City Council voted on Monday night to spend more than $51,000 over five years to purchase 15 of the devices that use electric shock instead of lethal force.

The department stopped using the Tasers in 2009 after Taser International warned law enforcement agencies that they could be liable if someone shocked by the device suffers a heart attack.

The company now instructs officers to aim the Tasers at a person’s hips and thighs instead of the chest.

Some police supervisors and SWAT team members will be issued Tasers this fall. Officers issued them must take 40 hours of training on how to use them.