CLAYTON — By the end of this month, all St. Louis County patrol and specialized unit officers will be equipped with a Taser, and each time they use the device, they will have to call an ambulance.

A federal grant allowed the Police Department to buy an additional 300 of the devices, which deploy electrically charged barbs that temporarily paralyze a person. In all, about 600 officers will be equipped with the $1,000 Tasers.

Chief Tim Fitch said he believes distributing the devices department-wide will continue to reduce injuries to officers and suspects.

He says the devices are safe, and that the ambulance policy is unique and precautionary, despite criticism and studies that have linked the devices to deaths.

"If we Tase someone, the safe thing to do is always have a medical evaluation, because we don't know what they've done before we Tased them," Fitch said. Drug use often is the reason for irrational behavior, such as resisting arrest, he said, and can lead to death whether a Taser is used or not.

Redditt Hudson, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, praised Fitch's decision to involve medical personnel but said it's a concern that more officers will have Tasers.

"Officers have enough tools already to bring just about any situation under control, and adding this to the arsenal is an unnecessary risk to the public and to law enforcement professionals who may be deploying a weapon that (they think) is safer than it really is," said Hudson, a former St. Louis police officer.

TASER CONTROVERSY

Tasers have sparked debate since they were widely adopted by police in 2001.

In June 2008, a Department of Justice report called for more research on the effects of Tasers on small children, people with heart conditions, the elderly and pregnant women. The report also called the effects of multiple exposures "unclear."

That same year, Amnesty International linked 334 deaths to the use of Tasers, from 2001 to August 2008. The group found that many fatalities involved multiple shocks or exposing suspects to prolonged shocks.

Despite the questions surrounding its device, the Taser company has lost just one of 107 suits brought against it. Its products are used by 15,100 law enforcement agencies in 44 countries, said spokesman Steve Tuttle.

In the case that the company lost, the jury cleared the police officers involved but said the company didn't warn the officers of the risks of delivering multiple shocks.

Most injuries or deaths come from improper use of the device, which includes shooting at someone who could fall near water or from high elevations, Tuttle said.

In 2008, Taser revamped its training policy to aim for the suspect's back or lower belt line to improve the device's performance, saying the larger the spread of the barbs, the better the effectiveness. Critics saw the move as an admission that shots to the chest are unsafe. Some departments discontinued using Tasers.

Locally, departments are divided.

St. Louis police have been using them since 2008 and have 157 Tasers.

The St. Charles County Sheriff's Department started using Tasers in 2004 and has about 100 of them.

Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer said he believes pepper spray is just as effective.

"There's too much controversy, and too many deaths have been reported, and there's been too much misuse of them," he said of Tasers. "We don't use them, and I'm not planning on it."

OFFICER TRAINING

For weeks, St. Louis County officers have been training to use their new tool.

Training officers Jerry Lohr and Rob Bates emphasize that Tasers should not be used on visibly pregnant women, because the risk of injury to the fetus when the mother falls is too great. They say a suspect's back is an effective target and avoids having barbs pierce a person's neck, throat, face, eye, groin or breast.

Lohr says he has used his Taser once in five years. Bates has never had to use his Taser, because the mere threat of doing so has sufficed.

"It takes the fight out of them," he said.

That intimidation factor has reduced the number of injuries to suspects and officers, because it has reduced the number of times officers must use force, Fitch said.

Since 2004, county officers have used Tasers about 110 times a year. The department has seen a 20 percent drop in injuries to suspects and a 37 percent drop in officer-related injuries.

Since 2004, eight suspects have died after encounters with county officers; two involved Tasers.

In 2008, a suspect shot himself with a handgun hidden in his waistband after a Taser shock.

That same year, Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Case determined that another man had died of "excited delirium" because of a psychotic episode, rather than being shocked twice by a Taser.

'IT REALLY HURTS'

St. Louis County officers will be required to carry the devices, complete yearly Taser training and face consequences if they abuse them.

Each Taser keeps a record of how many times it's used. When fired, they release pieces of paper like bursts of confetti that have the Taser's serial number on them. Internal Affairs will randomly inspect the devices and investigate the circumstances under which they are used.

Tasers produce 50,000 volts to create a spark that transmits electricity through 2 inches of clothing. Pulses of 400 volts with 0.0021 amps enter the body. A Christmas tree bulb has about 1 amp.

During a training class last week, three officers volunteered to be shot in the back with Taser barbs.

Joe Brandt has been an officer for 29 years. He said he did 25 push-ups after being pepper-sprayed. He planned to crawl on the mat while being shocked by the Taser.

Once hit, Brandt went down. Two officers lowered his stiff and stunned body to the mat, where he endured a five-second blast delivered through two barbs that pierced his back.

He shouted in pain.

Lohr showed the officers how to remove the barbs, which resemble flattened fish hooks, from Brandt's back. A bead of blood at each entry point seeped through his shirt. The group applauded when he stood up.

"Just so you know," he told them, "it really hurts."