Two local organizations donated money to the Barren County Sheriff’s Department on Friday that the department will use for buying more Tasers and cartridges, Sheriff Chris Eaton said. VFW Post 5906 and Monticello Banking Company donated funds that the department will use to upgrade existing equipment and purchase more Tasers. Currently, the department has more than a dozen Tasers all together issued out to its deputies.

Eaton said the money will be used to supply up to three of the county courthouse security officers with Tasers and will also go towards purchasing more cartridges for the deputies. He said the community has been largely supportive of his department’s use of Taser equipment.

“I’d studied Tasers for a long time and decided it would be a good useful tool for our agency. We then opened the training up to the public, and from that we’ve had numerous businesses in the community buy us Tasers and give us money for Tasers. So what that means is that we have not used any taxpayer money to buy the Tasers,” he said.

Deputy Matt Mutter, acting Barren County Jailer, is a certified Taser instructor and has led training sessions for not only Barren County law enforcement agencies but also agencies such as the Tompkinsville and Scottsville police departments and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department. He said he wishes every agency could afford to outfit their officers with Tasers.

“Each Taser can cost around $800, so it is not an easy expense for some departments,” he said.

But he said the benefits of having the equipment are immense, and almost all of the Barren County deputies carry one on their utility belt. He said he believes any officer carrying a Taser needs to have been shot with one so they know how it feels. The Tasers carried by BCSO deputies can either shoot two small electrical probes at the subject or the cartridges can be removed so the device is used as a stun gun.

“When I was planning my training I thought it would be a good idea that if the deputies want to carry a Taser that they should get shot by one so they know how it feels. That way if they have to testify at a trial or something they can describe its capabilities. It is painful, so I want them to know that they need to think twice before firing. And you do think twice before using it, because you know what it can do,” he said.

Eaton said he is pleased that the community has been so supportive with funding the department.

“We’re just very grateful that the community as a whole has stood up and has been able to assist us in this, and like I said we have not used any taxpayer dollars to fund this. It’s all been donated and we are just very appreciative of the individuals and businesses that have done this,” he said. “It’s good knowing that we live in a community where people see that we need these safety tools and are able to come forward in these hard times to help us, it’s great.”

Mutter said the department has only needed to use its Tasers sparingly in the two years it has had the equipment, but they offer an alternative to using lethal force in extreme situations.

“Mine came into good use a while ago, when we were trying to serve a warrant in Park City. We found the subject had barricaded himself inside a closet and was holding a butcher knife up to his neck. So we were able to get to him and I shot my Taser which caused him to drop down uninjured. So a lot of people think that they are used for our own safety, and they are sometimes, but they can also be used to protect people from injuring themselves. It is not the cure-all to answer all of our problems, but it is a useful tool to have,” he said.

Eaton said a similar situation could have taken a drastic turn if the officers did not have Tasers.

“In any other circumstance it could have taken a turn for the worse and became lethal,” he said.