It was just a little stun gun fun, but a police officer who demonstrated his Taser by zapping a willing subject in the genitals has drawn a warning from his bosses.
Officer Randy Reynolds ran into trouble when video of the incident last spring was posted on YouTube.com. The unidentified man wasn’t injured, and onlookers can be heard laughing in the background.
Interim Police Chief Larry Dickerson said Tuesday that Reynolds had been attending a social gathering, but was in uniform and on his way to work at the time. The man repeatedly asked Reynolds to use the weapon on him, and Reynolds eventually obliged — twice.
“He said he just wanted to know what it felt like. Randy didn’t want to do it at first, but the guy kept asking,” said Dickerson, who interviewed the man.
No uniformed officer should demonstrate his stun gun outside of the line of duty except during training exercises, the chief said.
“You don’t just go around doing your own demonstrations,” he said.
Reynolds, 30, has been with the police department in the southwestern Washington town since December 2005. He will receive a formal reprimand in his personnel file and a warning not to misuse police equipment, Dickerson said. He also must review the department’s Taser policy and go over them with an instructor.