A closer look at taser use

We're taking a look inside training police officers receive about when and how to use an electronic control device, or taser. Last month, a Waupaca County Sheriff's deputy used a taser on 85 year old veteran Edward Brunner.

"It's excessive force. I mean, simply said," Shane Brunner, Edward Brunner's grandson told FOX 11.

He and other family members believe a Waupaca County Sheriff's deputy acted too aggressively when he used his stun gun on Brunner. His family says he is a World War II veteran who has dementia.

Police reports say Brunner was walking around near the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, and followed some but not all of the deputy's directions, and was combative.

A witness who saw the incident disagrees.

"This gentleman was walking very slowly, very stiff. He's an 85 year old man. What is he going to do to an officer, a young officer?" said Kim Lick. "It was totally appalling. Very appalling. Like I said I had to fight back tears because this man was abused."

The Waupaca County Sheriff's department has refused to speak on camera about the incident, but tells FOX 11 it reviewed the deputy's actions, and found that he was in line with department policy.

The department also says the deputy took the cartridge out of the gun, delivering less of an impact than if he had left the cartridge in.

After the deputy used the taser, Brunner was evaluated and kept at a mental health center for a couple days, which caused him to miss his wife's funeral.

When it comes to electronic control devices, you probably have a picture in your mind. One of the best known taser incidents happened a few years ago when then presidential candidate John Kerry was speaking in Florida. Many law enforcement officials themselves get tased, and sometimes reporters get tased.

Aside from getting your attention on television, what is the purpose of a taser?

"The purpose of a taser as a control alternative is to overcome the threat of active resistance or active resistance," said Lt. Todd Peters.

Peters is the use of force coordinator for the Appleton Police Department. And yes, he's been on the other end of a taser.

"It's an overwhelming sensation," said Peters. "Where your body locks up and you fall to the ground, and you don't want to fight."

Peters doesn't know the details of the tasing that happened near the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King a few weeks ago, so he didn't want to comment specifically on that.

However, he did tell us tasers are designed to avoid injury, most officers take an eight hour training class on tasers every two years, and they are one of the tools available. He says when an officer gets a call, he or she has to evaluate many factors when deciding how to deal with the situation. Age is only one of those factors.

"We are dealing more and more with individuals who are elderly who are suffering from dementia, who have a hard time communicating with us, who exhibit violent outbursts and who I have witnessed be violent with caretakers, violent with police and if we use other conventional police tactics in order to control them you are gonna have significantly more injury to them, to the officers and the people that are there to take care of them," said Peters.

In the police report on the Waupaca County incident, the deputy says he took the cartridge off the taser, then activated the taser on the man's back.

Peters says without a cartridge a taser has less of an impact and covers less of the body than a taser with a cartridge in it.

"The tighter the spread the area the less skeletal muslce that's being effected," said Peters.

FOX 11 has contacted the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs about the stun gun being used on Brunner. The department will not comment on the specifics of this case, but tells us since the incident it has been working with the Alzheimer's Association and the Waupaca County Sheriff's Department to schedule joint training sessions "specific to handling challenging situations involving people with dementia."