The order is the first for the Hawai'i County Police Department, which in March said it was awaiting budget approval by the county to purchase them.

Tasers have been used on Maui since 2004 and on O'ahu since November, The Advertiser previously reported.

Maui Police Chief Thomas Phillips said in March that the nonlethal weapons have helped reduce injuries and lawsuits.

Kaua'i County had also said earlier it was awaiting budget approval from the county to purchase Tasers, but no announcement on an order for them was made today.

Advertiser archives show Honolulu police used Tasers 20 times from November 2006 to March 26. Tasers were first used in Honolulu in 2004 through a pilot program financed by the federal government. The department halted the use of the devices in March 2005 to create a policy governing their use. That policy was adopted last year and officers began using Tasers in November. During the pilot program, Tasers were used 66 times.

Big Island police ordered Taser International's X26 model, the same that the Honolulu Police Department uses. According to Taser, the X26 delivers a 20,000- to 50,000-volt electrical signal transmitted through wires to probes that make contact with a person's body or clothing, resulting in an immediate loss of all neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action for the duration of the impulse.