Truth About Tasers

A co-founder of Taser International---the company that makes the majority of Tasers in the world---claims that humanitarian concerns drove him to develop the electric-shock device. After two of Rick Smith's friends were shot and killed by police officers in a traffic altercation, he decided there must a technology for subduing wrong-doers without killing them. Though Tasers are now embroiled in controversy, Taser International continues to stand by its product.

History

• The Taser as we know it began in 1967, when NASA scientist Jack Cover developed a device that shot electrically charged darts that "stunned" targets with pain. Cover joined forces with entrepreneurial brothers Rick and Tom Smith and, in 1999, they launched the present-day Taser. It incapacitates targets by shooting them with electricity that causes uncontrollable muscle spasms. Case's original model was a firearm because it used gunpowder. The current model is a "non-lethal weapon" and uses compressed air propulsion.

Features

• An article in the March 2010 issue of The Police Chief Magazine states that Tasers shoot 50,000 volts of electricity. Most Taser systems come in 7 or 11 watt versions, but Police Chief reports that a new model has 26 watts. When fired, Tasers disperse confetti ID tags to help law enforcement trace them. They also have built-in dataports that record the time and date of each trigger-pull.

Benefits

• Tasers allow law enforcement officials to subdue criminals and suspects without shooting bullets and risking the deaths of criminals or innocent bystanders. Steve Palmer, executive director of the Canadian Police Research Centre, tells CBC/Radio-Canada: "We don't speak often enough about the number of lives that have been saved" as a result of Tasers.

Drawbacks

• In a September 2007 statement to the U.S. Justice Department, Amnesty International expressed concern that Tasers were being misused by law enforcement officials, who thus violate international standards that state force should only be used when strictly necessary. The organization had recorded 291 deaths of people who had been struck with police Tasers between June 2001 and Septemeber 2007. Reports indicated that only 25 of those "tased" were armed with any kind of weapon. Coroners didn't attribute the causes of these deaths solely to Tasers, but the electric shocks could aggravate other negative health conditions and contribute to death.

Controversy

• Reports of police officers using Tasers on children have created public outcries. On November 18, 2009, CBS News reported that the mayor of a small town in Arkansas was calling for an investigation of an Arkansas State Police officer who used a Taser on an unruly 11-year-old girl. (The girl suffered no serious injuries.) On April 1, 2010, Indiana police officer Darren Johnson used a Taser on a 10-year-old boy at a day care center, according to CBS News. He was suspended with pay and the incident was being investigated.