Gaffney Officer Christie Cauthen, pictured here, is “shot” with a Taser gun, which sent her to the floor and rendered her immobile for several seconds. With a measure of calmness, Gaffney Police Officer Christie Cauthen turned away from her instructor and braced herself.

“Taser .... Taser ... Taser,” another instructor said aloud just before Det. Sgt. Tommy Kennedy pulled the trigger, sending two dart-like projectiles with fish hook-like barbs into Cauthen’s back.

For five full seconds, the Taser electronic stun device sent electricity into Cauthen’s body and she was powerless against it. With fellow officers at her side, she was lowered to the floor, where she remained for at least half a minute until she was able to recover.

While the experience is unpleasant, officer such as Cauthen know that it serves a purpose.

With the help of Justice Assistance Grant money, the Gaffney Police Department is joining other departments across the country in deploying the potentially life-saving devices.

With the approval of city council, Gaffney Police Chief Rick Turner said he has re-written department policies to include the use of the devices and is making the purchases. An initial batch of 15 Tasers were ordered and now the officers who elect to carry them have to go through the training — a task that includes being personally shocked.

For now, Turner said the officers carrying the Tasers and going through the training are all volun- teer.

Twenty eight more Tasers are on order for the department and Turner said it’s possible that carrying them may one day be mandatory.

“It’s a very good tool that has shown through other departments’ experiences to be something that cuts down on officer injuries and subject injuries,” he said. “It’s also a great deterrent for people resisting, or for stopping other instances where the officer might have to get physical or get close to a deadly force situation.”

Promoted as non-lethal, shocks from the electronic device temporarily incapacitate a person.

Turner explained that officers going for the training are shocked with the devices primarily for two reasons — to understand what it would feel like if the device was taken from them and used against them and to also understand what physically happens to the people they are used against.

The latter reason, he offered, helps focus the officer’s judgment on when and where to use the device.

While the devices have proven to be very effective, Turner noted, they’re not intended to replace firearms or the use of deadly force when deadly force is necessary.

It costs about $800 to $1,000 to equip each officer with the devices.