NEWPORT – Using a grant and local funding, police recently bought nine stun guns to help subdue dangerous and violent people.

While the devices often are thought of as urban weapons, they can be invaluable to police officers who find themselves in danger with a backup officer miles away, said Police Chief Leonard Macdaid.

More important, Macdaid said Thursday, the devices – known by the brand name Taser – have been proved to dramatically decrease injuries to police officers.

Not only do the devices help police officers, injuries to people being arrested are reduced because police do not have to fight with them.

Each stun gun costs $900, and training is key to safe operation, Macdaid said.

They have been used to disarm offenders in hostage takings and to halt suicide attempts, and they are a legal self-defense weapon for the public in 42 states.

When the weapons first were released to police years ago, they were controversial, Macdaid acknowledged, and Macdaid opposed their use. Better technology and training changed his thinking.

“For many health reasons, officers don’t want to get blood [on themselves] anymore,” he said. “Also, the use of pepper spray can cause a person to vomit.”

Macdaid said the Tasers would be used on large, dangerous and violent people. “We won’t be using them on children, the elderly or pregnant women,” he said. “We’re talking about 2 a.m. and an officer alone with a large, violent person.”

According to the manufacturer, Taser International Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz., the devices use compressed nitrogen to project two small probes up to 35 feet at a speed of 160 feet a second.

The probes are connected to the Taser by insulated wire. An electrical signal is transmitted through the wires to where the probes make contact with the body or clothing, resulting in an immediate loss of the person’s neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action.

Macdaid said the new devices have a built-in release after five seconds. “The early Tasers were being held too long by officers,” he said. Recent studies cited by Taser International concluded that getting hit by a Taser is twice as safe as taking acetaminophen.

That does not mean the experience isn’t unpleasant, Macdaid said.

“However, the vast majority of injuries happen when the person Tased falls to the ground,” he said.

Another bonus, Macdaid said, is using Tasers to control an animal attack. He pointed out that the deputy who went to the scene of a shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Palmyra last year was attacked by the suspect’s dog when he tried to apprehend the man.

“There are some very vicious animals out there,” he said.

Officer Jeremy Flynn said he is still getting used to carrying a Taser. The stun guns are being used by Dover-Foxcroft, Fairfield, Waterville and Clinton police, as well as the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, among others.

“It’s another tool for us, that’s what it really comes down to,” Flynn said Thursday. “There are some drugs that cause people to be so desensitized that pepper spray just doesn’t work.”

Macdaid said each Taser has its own computer chip and if it is required, the Taser will be placed out of service and a full printout of its use can be taken from the chip. “There is accountability built in,” he said.