Jasper County Sheriff’s Office to obtain 35 new tasers

Updated taser contracts for the sheriff’s office were favorable for Jasper County Board of Supervisors, which officially set public hearings for the agreements to be approved during the last meeting in December. If approved — and it seems likely — the sherif’s office will save almost $10,000 annually.

Although the board of supervisors had every intention of approving the contracts during the Dec. 17 meeting, officials realized last minute that any five-year contract requires them to set a public hearing. So the supervisors set the public hearing for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 31 in Room 203 at the Jasper County Courthouse.

Sheriff-Elect Brad Shutts said the department has utilized Axon Enterprise, Inc. for its tasers for about 20 years. Law enforcement staff have gone through two different models. However, the current models on-hand are about 10 years old. The updated models are the new Taser 10 by Axon.

According to the company’s website, the Taser 10 has a maximum range of 45 feet and can deploy up to 10 individually targeted probes without the need to reload. These newer models are also more accurate, pack more penetration power and fire at a rate of 205 feet per second.

In total, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office wants to purchase 35 tasers to equip all active law enforcement staff, including reserves. Shutts said the price of the taser systems will be paid in yearly installments, with the first being a discounted rate of $16,700. Beyond that is a yearly payment of $37,575 until 2029.

Over the course of five years, the county will pay $167,000 for the tasers.

“We’ve had a good partnership with Axon,” Shutts said. “They’re the same company that makes our camera systems, our body cameras and our car systems. These tasers integrate with our cameras. So if they’re activated they automatically turn on our cameras if they aren’t on.”

For the sheriff’s office, a taser is the premiere tool for when a more hands on approach has failed or is not possible. Tasers are less-lethal weapons since they use electrical currents to incapacitate a person temporarily. Shutts said tasers are a valuable tool that help officers in their duties.

In April 2022, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved a more than $524,000 system upgrade to replace body cameras and car cameras for the sheriff’s office. Newton News previously reported the new system would improve accountability and provide protections for both deputies and suspects.

The sheriff’s office obtained 38 body cameras and 24 car cameras over a five-year period. As part of the agreement, the footage of the cameras is stored in a cloud system hosted by Axon. Originally, tasers were included in the camera proposal but were removed due to admins feeling they could get by without them.

If there are no objections to the first public hearing on Dec. 31, it is likely the supervisors will opt to waive the second and third and approve the contract.