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The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is the first law enforcement agency in Monmouth County to equip and deploy their officers with Tasers, according to a department news release.

Eight sheriff’s officers have been trained and certified to use the four Taser Model X2 Conducted Energy Devices, recently added to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Division.

A taser is a device that fires darts and transmits an electrical charge or current, temporarily disabling an individual.

The warrants fugitive bureau and five K-9 teams, which assist in narcotics & explosive detection and criminal and missing person searches, makeup the county sheriff’s law enforcement division.  The division also provides the security for the Monmouth County Courthouse and other facilities.

“This initiative is another innovative step that keeps the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office in the forefront of law enforcement and public safety,” Sheriff Shaun Golden said in the release. “These Tasers are lifesaving mechanisms that can deter lethal force and danger to an officer, an innocent bystander, a victim of a crime or a suspect.”

“During high profile cases in a confined venue of a courtroom setting, the deployment of mechanical force is crucial and more practical than the use of a firearm,” said Michael Donovan, undersheriff of the law enforcement division, said in the release. “Our officers are also placed in situations that present a danger to themselves and others due to the increase in high risk crime areas and the growing drug problem that plagues our county.”

New Jersey was the last state to approve the conducted energy devices and is considered to have some of the strictest policies through Attorney General guidelines. The Tasers must come equipped with a high definition video recorder so all incidents are recorded to ensure that the device is being used appropriately.

Attorney General Guidelines state an officer “may use enhanced mechanical force when the officer reasonably believes such action is necessary to protect the officer or another person from danger or serious bodily injury,” and that “an officer may use enhanced mechanical force against persons whose conduct is injurious only to themselves.”

“Our sheriff’s officers are deployed throughout the entire county and it is important for them to be equipped with these devices, which must and will be used responsibly, when combating crime and protecting the public,” said Golden.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office conducts the Taser training for law enforcement officers in Monmouth County. An officer must file a report each time the Taser is used.

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