{"id":43954,"date":"2021-11-02T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-police-department-adds-sponge-dart-shooters-to-arsenal\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:16:32","slug":"durango-police-department-adds-sponge-dart-shooters-to-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-police-department-adds-sponge-dart-shooters-to-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango Police Department adds sponge dart shooters to arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango Police Department officers went through training in October for nonlethal sponge dart launchers that are safer than bean-bag rounds. (Courtesy of Durango Police Department)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango Police Department officers have been training to use a new nonlethal projectile launcher that shoots sponge-tipped plastic-body rounds that don\u2019t penetrate the skin.<\/p>\n

Durango Police Deputy Chief Brice Current said the new launchers are a safer alternative to nonlethal bean-bag rounds the department has been using.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bean-bag rounds are not as safe at distance or up close, and these are safer at distance and up close,\u201d Current said.<\/p>\n

Fifteen 40LMTS tactical 40mm single-shot launchers were purchased to outfit all of DPD\u2019s patrol vehicles. Launchers cost the department $500 each, for a total of $7,500.<\/p>\n

Current said situations where these new launchers come in handy include pacifying someone who\u2019s looking to cause harm to themselves or others when an officer is not being directly threatened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us an alternative to say if somebody wants to hurt themselves or others, and it\u2019s not a direct threat to us at that point, we can create distance and create a safe environment,\u201d Current said.<\/p>\n

Current said while the new launchers provide for more options, he doesn\u2019t think they will be used as often as Tasers when nonlethal force is necessary.<\/p>\n

Training entailed working with the devices so officers can understand the functionality of the device and become accurate with it.<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango Police Department officers trained with what they called \u201csouped up Nerf launchers,\u201d in October, adding another nonlethal option to its arsenal. (Courtesy of Durango Police Department)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe want to train to hit the right areas that aren\u2019t going to cause injury,\u201d Current said. \u201cWe obviously want to avoid certain areas of the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Facebook post about the new launchers, DPD called them souped up Nerf launchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a good phrase for what they are,\u201d Current said.<\/p>\n

Training was completed for all officers, and launchers have been added to all vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our responsibility to be well-trained and accountable and have less-lethal options,\u201d Current said.<\/p>\n

Current said first and foremost the role of the police is to make sure the public is safe, and these new launchers give DPD another nonlethal option when filling that role.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is public safety, and that even means people who are making bad decisions. We want to make sure they\u2019re safe as well,\u201d Current said. \u201cJust because someone is in crisis doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re a bad person.\u201d<\/p>\n

njohnson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Launchers offer safer alternative to bean-bag rounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1065,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango-police-department","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85910,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43954\/revisions\/85910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43954"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}