If you touch someone getting "tazed" do you get shocked? If so, doesn't that make the tazer useless?

Question

By useless I mean, it's supposed to be a quick recovery device, but if that's true, isn't kind of hard for cops to make use of restraining the suspect, if they can't touch while tazing, and tazing doesn't really work unless while tazing. Does that make sense?

Answer 1

There are different types of tazers. People react differently to electricity. What kills one might not really be felt by another.

From a technology point of view, the shock is based upon a potential difference between the electrodes. The shock only occurs to things within or between those probes. The shock is only slightly transmitted to the rest of the body, but little or no current flows elsewhere. Further, your skin is a poor conductor of electricity. The "victim's" resistance plus your resistance without a "nice" place for the electricity to go means that you should feel nothing or nearly nothing. If you do, then the design is bad. The victim will be injured far worse than needed.

Answer 2

The only way another person would be affected by the Taser is if they touched between the probes in the subject. The Taser completes an electrical circuit and shocks everything in between the probes. Another officer can grab the arms of the suspect without getting shocked provided he doesn't touch between the probes.

Answer 3

You wouldn't receive the same amount of electricity as the poor feller who is in direct contact with the current, but I'm sure it could open your eyes a lot. Cops usually get tazed a little in order to be prepared for such an event happening out on the streets.

Answer 4

No you do not get shocked. You have to be receiving the jolt from both leads of the taser.
When police get tased during qualification one of the things they do is practice handcuffing and movement techniques while the volunteer officer is still getting jolted. The actual jolt lasts only 5 seconds. It can be turned off faster with compliance or sent out for another 5 seconds if the first jolt did not work.