Class Notes: Muskego Citizen's Academy Ends With A Bang

Not that it was ever on my 'bucket list,' but now I'll never have to wonder what it feels like to be tased.

The answer: not good.

In the interest of covering and completing this story with the best journalistic intent, I had to allow myself to be taped to two probes while 50,000 volts ran from point to point. Sgt. Robert Ruspa with the assured us all that it's the amps that you need to be worried about, and taser guns don't have anywhere near a lethal dose of those.

Regardless, imagine the big iron hand of God slapping you on the back for making it through class. Hard.  While I can't call it pain, it was extraordinarily unpleasant and I was happy when it stopped.

The lesson is thus: police can tase suspects and they generally do in order to prevent from doing them harm.  In other words, physical altercations may end up doing far worse and longer lasting damage than "riding the buffalo" as they affectionately call it.

Even a daisy-chain of four students, holding hands with each probe placed on the two end students, buckled under the one-second jolt. I took video of that, but couldn't use it because of the expletives it also generated.

Once humbled, we were given the opportunity to fire service revolvers, Glock 35s, to test our target skills and to appreciate the power of a handgun and its lethal possibilities.  Concealed carry is probably something I won't take advantage of, mainly because after firing just a few rounds, I was feeling a bit intimidated by the weapon just how much time and training (way more than four hours) it would take to master it.

However, the experience with an AR 15, a standard policeman's rifle, was a bit more pleasant, as the recoil is far less than the smaller pistol.  Maybe hunting isn't out of the picture for me.

Minimum hours of practice are required, and often exceeded by officers, especially as many don't fire their weapons outside of the range. TV may show differently, but it's a rare occurrance in the line of duty.

Our final stop at the police range, which is situated in a fairly quiet area on the far south side of the city, was the shoot house, which is a shed that is used for training.  Inside, armored walls thickly lined with a rubber layer to absorb live fire keep bullets inside without ricocheting. 

Here we would see the effects of a flash bang, a canister charge that, when deployed creates a huge concussion and bright flash. Sgt. Ruspa explained that they are often used to distract or disarm hostage situations to afford law enforcement the ability to enter a building and overtake a suspect.

Thrown in one room over from where we were standing, the impact on my chest was impressive.  Had we not been wearing protective earplugs, I could easily see how the noise alone would drop someone to their knees.

I can't imagine being in a real situation where this or many of the other tools police have at their disposal would need to be used.  It again brings home the sobering reality and responsibility of every cop on the force.

I will officially graduate on Nov. 16 along with 13 others, and am grateful and honored to be part of the more than 200 alumni of this incredibly valuable program offered here and in many other departments.  My thanks to Officer Gary Mrotek, who was the program's main 'mentor,' as well as the many other officers and lieutenants who shared their perspectives with us since early September. It's a lot of time from their schedules put into forming a solid curriculum, and I tip my hat to you all.

This is offered again in March, and when those dates are set I will post them. Give it a thought in the meantime, and I look forward to attending your graduation as an alumni.