The Selma Police Department has received a new weapon we hope will further reduce the need to use deadly force.

Two weeks ago, the Selma Police Department received 27 stun guns. The X26P tasers were handed out to patrol officers after each underwent eight hours of training on the weapons system.

The small stun gun, which can incapacitate it’s target with 50,000 volts, can neutralize a subject at close range or up to 25-feet from the firing officer.

The stun guns, along with OC spray, commonly referred to as pepper spray, or asps, also known as batons, provide law enforcement officials with ways to resolve a tense situation without the use of a gun.

We hope officers with the Selma Police Department are never faced with a situation in which a stun gun is required, but we are happy to know they now have the option.

“Those three items, the spray, the asps and the tasers, will be largely interchangeable, depending on the situation,” Selma Chief of Police William Riley told the Times-Journal this week. “After those options, is deadly force, which we hate to use. We are going to do everything we can to avoid using deadly force.”

During their training on the stun guns, officers with the Selma Police Department had to learn first hand about the physical effects of being shocked by the weapon.

One officer, now trained to use a taser, said the experience of being shot, dropped his to his knees and removed any doubts he had about the weapon’s power and usefulness.

We are thankful to live in a city with a police force that works hard to find other measures of protecting the citizens along with themselves.

Their dedication to thoroughly train officers lets us know their main objective is to protect our city the safest way possible.