That Time I Got Tased in Jail…
August 15, 2020 6:19am
Exactly ten years ago today, I spent the night in jail and got tased. This video is of the tasing incident.
Santa Rosa County had constructed a new wing for its jail. The night before it began taking inmates, it was used as a fundraiser for the Law Enforcement Explorer Scouts. The public was invited to purchase a night in the jail. The Scouts served as guards under the supervision of the real correctional officers, we slept in the bunks, and we were fed jail food.
I was asked by the Public Information Officer to cover the event as media. I don't recall where my wife was scheduled to be that night, but I told the PIO that I could only spend the night in jail if my two boys, then ages 13 & 11, could accompany me. He was fine with that, so the three of us reported to the jail at 6:00pm to serve our 12 hour "sentence."
We were processed in with photographs, fingerprints, metal detectors, and pat-downs. But we didn't just sit around doing nothing for twelve hours. As part of the experience, the correctional officers gave instructional lectures about law enforcement and prison life. It included a use-of-force exhibition in which they demonstrated proper use of handcuffs, leg restraints, pepper spray, batons, asps, etc.
At the conclusion, the officer asked if we had any questions. I inquired if he was going to demonstrate the taser. He replied that he was not. "Why not?" I asked. "Because we don't have someone to tase," he responded. So I said, "I'll do it!" After realizing I was serious, he set up the demonstration.
Cameras and cell phones were considered contraband, so we were not allowed to have them with us in the jail. But under escort by a guard, I was permitted to retrieve my camera from my car, so the tasing could be videotaped. My oldest son served as videographer.
So how was it? It hurt like bloody hell! It felt like a branding iron was searing into my back. Full disclaimer: I have never actually had a branding iron searing into my back, so this analogy is speculative. But it was a severe burning sensation. And for the few seconds the 50,000 volts were hitting my body it really hurt.
The human body responds to being tased in one of two ways: 1) it locks up like rigor mortis and falls to the ground like a tree, or 2) it goes loose and collapses down. I experienced the latter. I don't know why the reactions differ, and I don't know if the same person would react to a tase the same way each time. To reduce the chance of injury from the fall, two correctional officers guided me to the ground.
I am very glad that I experienced what it is like to be tased. Once. But I would never want to be tased again.
A word of advice. If you are ever told by the police to comply or be tased, comply!
We were released from our twelve hour jail sentence at 6:00 the next morning after being fed a jail breakfast, which I ate but my boys didn't (it was barely edible). I drove straight to the Waffle House and bought us delicious breakfast food.
My boys and I all thought the experience in jail was interesting and informative. But the conversation at the Waffle House was about following the law to avoid being sent to jail involuntarily. It was a good lesson, if you ask me.