Have been deployed twice since being issued in September 2007. One case involved a suspect being shocked and, in the other, one fired prong missed the subject, who was later detained after a foot chase.

A Lewiston officer, assisting Auburn in another incident, also fired a Taser at an armed and barricaded man and, while one prong did not hit its target, the suspect surrendered after the Taser was deployed.

Auburn officers have displayed Tasers four times to subjects without having to deploy them, according to Deputy Chief Jason Moen.

Officers are required to attend a six-hour training class and show proficiency with the Taser before being allowed to carry it. Officers attend a refresher class annually and must show proficiency annually.

“In the initial classes, 98 percent of our officers took ‘the ride’ from the Taser though we did not require it,” Moen wrote in an e-mail message to the Sun Journal. “The ride” is what officers call being shot by the Taser.

Officers are required to file a use of force report when the Taser is displayed or deployed at a subject.

Rumford

Have been used three times since two weapons were put into service in July of 2007.

First was on July 15 on an OUI suspect after he pushed an officer and became combative, according to Chief Stacy Carter. The second deployment was during an effort to assist to Mexico Police Department, which doesn’t have Tasers. An officer responded to a domestic assault report on Sept. 23 where the suspect had confronted a Mexico officer with a baseball bat and tried to get back into the house.

Third use involved a suicidal man at Rumford hospital acting aggressive and throwing things around inside the emergency room. Suspect failed to comply with police officers trying to get him calmed before being shocked.

Officers using Tasers must file a report about why they used a Taser, Carter said.

The department purchased its two Taser X26 models with money from its drug seizures account.

Oxford County

The sheriff’s office and jail started using Tasers in May of 2007, according to Chief Deputy Dane Tripp. They have been used seven or eight times by deputies, including one case when a Rumford man escaped from police with one prong from a Taser in his calf. The man later turned himself in.

Each deputy, after training, gets a Taser. The purchases, along with maintenance costs, were funded with drug forfeiture money.

A use-of-force report is filed after every use of Tasers, firearms, nightsticks, pepper spray and “unarmed self-defense” (using defense moves to block a punch, etc.), Tripp said.

Deputies go through an eight-hour training course to use the Taser, including getting zapped, Tripp said.

Jay

Have had Tasers available since July of 2007 with no reported uses, although Livermore Falls Police did drive-stun (when the Taser is pressed against the skin but the prongs are not deployed) one subject in Jay while assisting Jay officers.

Department has “very stringent guidelines” for use, according to Chief Larry White. Policy requires a supervisor to be notified and investigate any Taser use. Policy also requires officers to remove prongs from stunned suspects and have suspects checked at a hospital.

Farmington

Have had Tasers since December of 2006. Department currently has four, video-enabled Tasers.

Have had three incidents of use, including one involving a suspect involved in a high-speed chase. Suspect was stunned after he attempted to ram police cruisers with a car, according to Detective Marc Bowering.

Franklin County

Has had three Tasers available to shift supervisors since 2007. One reported use involving a 70-year-old domestic violence suspect who was stunned at his Chesterville home.

All deputies receive training on use of the device. “They’re a good thing. They save officers from getting into hands-on situations that not only protect the officer, you’re also protecting the suspect from getting hurt,” said Lt. Niles Yeaton.