Customer Stories
On a summer night in Germantown, MD, two life-and-death decisions hung in the balance. Inside a home, a man held a knife to a child, threatening violence. Outside, two members of the Montgomery County Police Department stood ready, voices firm but calm, working to de-escalate the situation. In that moment, what mattered most wasn’t bravado or impulse. It was the preparation behind every step, and the technology that made precision possible.
It was the kind of call that gives every officer pause: a domestic disturbance, a child at risk, a suspect armed and unyielding. The officers who responded, including a sergeant recently certified on the TASER 10, understood the difference between tragedy and resolution could lie in milliseconds, inches, and would depend on remaining calm under pressure.
Fifth District officers rescue child held at knifepoint by father
Fifth District officers rescue child held at knifepoint by father
"One of the things that kind of just jumped out was the emotional intensity that our officers were faced with in that moment," said Lieutenant Tenesha Bellamy, MCPD’s Deputy Director of the Training and Education Division at the time of the call. "Their composure, the fact that they tried to use de-escalation skills... under that extreme stress and duress... I think that's what helped maximize the safety for everybody that was involved, for the suspect, for the little boy, and for themselves."
That composure came from experience, repetition, preparation, and from training scenarios, including Axon Virtual Reality (VR) training, that puts officers in those worst-case moments before they happen. "Static drills... they have their place," Lt. Bellamy said. "But realistic, scenario-based training... can really help prepare officers for that unpredictability."‘
Sergeant Nate Kunkle, who leads de-escalation and TASER training for the department, added: "We try to integrate de-escalation into every aspect of our training, to include TASER training. A decent portion of our TASER training is using TASER for de-escalation."
In this case, that training held. Kunkle recounted how Officer Smith maintained position of cover outside the house for as long as possible, even with a child inside—"which is so hard to do," he noted. "Using that calm voice, trying to reason with him, trying to explain to them that they don't want to hurt him... Just prime examples of what we're looking for in our officers."
When Sergeant Kwaloff arrived, his movements mirrored the department's training. "We separate the officers; we don't want them bunched up. With one outside, one inside had a good position to cover in the living room. Giving those verbal warnings prior to deploying, telling him they didn't want to hurt him, and then using TASER 10 to have a great outcome in this event."
What stood out to Kunkle most was that Kwaloff was relatively new to the device. "He just got his TASER at the end of 2024. We're still in the process of mandating the entire department." Kunkle said. "His confidence in that weapon really, I think, shined in this situation."
That confidence wasn’t luck. Kwaloff had completed Axon VR Core 1 and 2 just three days before. "All those extra trigger pulls, getting confidence in the weapon, I think that really led to a successful outcome," Kunkle said.
Given the immediacy of the threat, TASER 10 offered the best chance to end the standoff without escalation. "For us, that would really be the only tool to use in that situation. We don't have anything else that would be an appropriate force option," Kunkle said. "The ability of the TASER to completely incapacitate a subject is what we had to do. It was either that or move to lethal force."
Kunkle added, "I think with this TASER 10 and your nine opportunities to create a connection and get NMI. He wouldn't have been able to make the shot because of the offset angles [with a] previous version of TASER. But with [TASER] 10, being able to create your own probe spread, the 40-foot effective range — that's what made the difference in this situation."
Lt. Bellamy agreed. "There is no such thing as a routine call," she said. "So, by venturing outside of static drills you prepare your officers for that unpredictability... the emotional gravity of calls such as that."
She also emphasized the full spectrum of skills on display: "Our officers, they encounter a worst day scenario, involving an armed individual, but now he has a hostage who's a child. They communicated with each other. They communicated with the subject as well, and using those de-escalation skills, asking him several times to drop the knife, communicating what they wanted him to do. When that subject didn't comply, then they did what they had to do, and they transitioned to less than lethal options when needed. That's exactly what we prepare them for in our training. I think that goes back to just the countless hours that are spent practicing and going over some unpredictable, high-stress situations they can encounter.”
That night in Germantown, two lives were saved. Maybe more.
"Not only did those officers possibly save two lives, but it also saved the emotional trauma if those officers had to take that life," Kunkle said. "This weapon allowed that not to happen."
And the body-worn camera footage? Bellamy said it offers the public more transparency into what officers face: "A lot of times, you know, community members want to know, why do you carry a TASER? Why do you need that? In what instance would you use that in? I think that, seeing it being demonstrated, in that manner of saving a child's life, saving that subject's life — minimizing any injuries to our officers — that's pretty significant."
Preparedness doesn’t eliminate danger. But when training is real, technology is trusted, and officers stay grounded in their mission—the outcome could be a life saved.