Sixty Macon police officers are on the job these days armed with a taser.

This is one response to the December shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer.

Civil rights groups nationwide are often reticent about the use of tasers because they say they can be lethal and are often used too frequently.

But Bibb County Sheriff David Davis says in Bibb tasers can be an effective alternative to deadly force. He says there must be good policy and procedure into when and how they are used though. “You have to have checks and balances and a review of each time a taser is used.” Davis also says with any type of tool that officers have, oversight prevents over-use.

Sgt. Bill Skinner at the Macon Police Training Academy, works with officers who are assigned tasers. He says “what the taser does is minimize the risk mainly to the officer, but also to the individual that may be tased, whereas another type of use of force application, such as a baton is far more likely to cause an injury."

Tags: Leah Fleming, Police; tasers