MEXICO — A $13,428 federal grant has
paid for six Tasers and an all-terrain vehicle trailer for the Mexico Police Department.

Sgt. Roy Hodsdon said five of the
Tasers will become standard issue for the department’s full-time
officers and the sixth will be given to an on-duty reserve officer.

“This will be a great tool for our
agency,” Hodsdon said. “They are used for more of a defense and
will help apprehend someone. They will cut down on officer injuries.”

The five full-time and several reserve
officers will receive eight hours of training in the use of the
weapon in the next two weeks. The weapon shoots electrically charged
barbs.

The Mexico Police Department and neighboring Dixfield Police Department are now equipped with
the same Taser weapons as the Rumford Police Department and the
Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, Hodsdon said.

“They will reduce lethal force,” he
said.

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The ATV trailer will accommodate the
department’s two all-terrain vehicles and equipment needed when
police patrol wooded or remote areas.

The funds come from the U.S. Department
of Justice, Justice Assistance Grant.

eadams@sunjournal.com

Mexico Police Department Sgt. Roy Hodson displays the department’s new tasers as reserve officer, Matt Boucher, looks on.


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