HPD receives new tasers

HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The Hattiesburg Police Department recently received its second batch of tasers.

The department now has 80 tasers and it's becoming beneficial.

Hattiesburg Police Officer, Lt. Jon Traxler said, "This right here will get almost the entire department to where they are equipped with the tasers. Of course first thing we're going to make sure of is that all of the patrol officers, all the traffic, and those types of units are completely covered first. And then we'll work our way into the administrative side as well.”

“But the tasers are a really good tool for us. It gives us another opportunity to be able to control a situation without actually having to put our hands on somebody," said Traxler.

Traxler said the tasers make it so officers don't have to pull out a lethal weapon as the first defense.