Stand Down /By John Lorinc /·

Stand Down ·


Illustration by Adrienne Kammerer

“Graduates of the program serve as first responders, racing to 911 calls. Most significantly, CIT officers have the formal authority to take charge of the scene, regardless of other officers’ rank or seniority. In Memphis, they are also the only ones allowed to use tasers, or “impact weapons,” menacing contraptions that look like grenade launchers and fire blunt, pill bottle–sized “batons” made of plastic or gel. These plugs will knock over a person brandishing a gun or a knife. They inflict a nasty bruise, as if from a hard slapshot, but that’s the extent of the damage.”