The Morden Police Service had to use a taser to pacify a man in Morden last week.

"Use" here means the officer drew the taser and threatened to deploy it if the man didn't comply with police.

The threat came after officers responded to a report of yelling and screaming at a Morden residence. When they arrived, a woman threw something at them and slammed the door. Officers entered the house to arrest the woman when a man, who lived at the same residence, "became aggressive" with the officers.

That's when the taser was used to stand the man down. He was later released without charges. The woman was charged with multiple offences.

Fortunately, tasers aren't needed often. However, they're used enough to warrant MPS looking to buy a couple updated models, the same models recruits are being trained with.

"When they are used, it's in situations that absolutely deem them to be necessary," said Sergeant Sean Aune.

"We're using these in instances where the officers could have gone up to a higher level of force, possibly to firearms, and they're able to get a positive outcome using just the taser alone," he said.

"Level of force" refers to the Use Of Force Continuum which is a series of five ascending methods for officers to control situations: officer presence, verbalization, empty-hand control, less-lethal methods, and lethal force.

Tasers or Conducted Energy Devices (CED's) fall into the less-lethal method.

Morden Police has had tasers for many years and, according to Sgt. Aune, there's never been an inappropriate use of them.

"They've done exactly what they're designed to do: for people to comply in some pretty tough situations," Sgt. Aune said.

Thanks to a donation from the Morden Thrift Store, MPS hopes to purchase three new models in the next few months.

Each one, plus the power magazine and two cartridges, costs a little over $2,000.