Community News

Nassau police open doors to the public

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Officer Daniel Hastings was speaking excitedly on May 20, his hands waving in all directions, as he explained to a group of three dozen schoolchildren why he had to, as a job requirement, submit to being shocked by a Taser gun.

A Taser delivers two high-voltage, “dart-like” shocks to a person, causing sharp pain and loss of all muscle control. The body just goes limp.

Nassau County police officers must be tased, Hastings said, so they understand precisely what will happen if and when they must shock a suspect. If a perpetrator were standing atop a high point, for example, he or she should never be tased  because the suspect would immediately fall and could be seriously injured or killed.

Hastings was speaking at the Nassau County Police Department’s 91st annual Open House, held in the parking lot behind police headquarters in Mineola. Dozens of schoolchildren from across Nassau attended the event, which featured an assortment of displays, from a police helicopter to a boat and a SWAT (Special Weapons Attack Team) truck, full of weaponry. Passersby were also free to check out the police hardware.

The Herald was on hand to catch the action.