Taser Deaths and Death by Taser

October 16, 2009

Taser International the makers of Taser Guns

Filed under: Taser News — Tags: , , , , , , , , — brian @ 6:51 pm

Taser International, Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is an American developer, manufacturer, and distributor of TASER electroshock guns, a handheld less-lethal weapon designed to incapacitate a single person from a distance. The company is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. Taser is the most common brand of electroshock gun.

History of the company

The company was founded in September 1993 (under the name ICER Corporation) by brothers Rick and Tom Smith. The Smith brothers were upset when two friends were shot and killed in a traffic altercation in Scottsdale, Arizona. As part of earlier research, Rick Smith contacted John H. “Jack” Cover, the original inventor of the TASER system, to work on a non-firearm weapon using compressed air (or nitrogen) propulsion system. In October 1993, they signed an agreement whereby Mr. Cover licensed his technology to the company while also joining the corporation as an employee. The company name was then changed to AIR TASER, Inc.  The word “TASER” is the acronym of the fictional weapon “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”.

In June 1994, a non-firearm version of the TASER was developed, allowing it to bypass federal and state laws that only apply to firearms, and a tracking system (the “anti-felon identification” or “AFID” system) was created. This enables the weapon to disperse confetti with serial numbers when fired and links the specific weapon to the scene where fired.

In 1998, the company adopted its current name to emphasize the company’s international expansion. In the same year, the company began marketing the weapon to law enforcement agencies and police departments, in addition to public consumers who had bought tasers for personal self-protection in prior years.

In 2001, Taser International developed its “Advanced Taser Electro-Muscular Disruption” system. In May 2001, they filed for an initial public offering and began trading NASDAQ under the stock symbol TASR. In May 2003, the company released its new Taser X26 model.

Rick Smith is the current chief executive officer, director; Tom Smith is Chairman of the Board; Jas Dhillon is Chief Strategy Officer.

Building architecture

The headquarter building has biometric access control via iris scan. The facility is keyless, has fiber optic data networks, and motion sensing light switches. It received “Best New Office Building in the State of Arizona” award by the Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine, Real Estate & Development Awards on February 7th, 2006.

Products

The company manufactures various TASER products and accessories for 4 markets: Law Enforcement; Consumers; Professional Security; and Military. Sample products includes,

  • AXON is a networkable computer-controlled TASER with audio-video recording.
  • X26 and M26 are electronic control devices. They use replaceable cartridges containing compressed nitrogen for propulsion.
  • XREP is a wireless Taser fired from a 12 gauge shotgun: see Electroshock weapon, Wireless long-range electric shock weapon.
  • C2 is a self-defense electronic control device for consumers.
  • Shockwave is a system that simultaneously deploys six TASER cartridges.
  • TASER X3 is a electronic controlled device that will be launched July 27, 2009

Technology

TASER devices use a replaceable cartridge containing compressed nitrogen to deploy two small probes that are attached to the handheld device with insulated conductive wires. The devices transmit controlled pulses of electricity that are designed to stimulate skeletal muscles of the human body without affecting the heart or other vital organs. The pulses affect the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system and cause incapacitation. The electricity from a device will transmit through clothing up to one inch per probe or two inches cumulative. Generally, currents approaching 100 mA are lethal if they pass through sensitive portions of the body. The TASER device transmits between 2.1 to 3.9 mA of current.

Military use

The TASER is largely unregulated and has never been studied for safety or effectiveness by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But for years the Defense Department has studied TASERs as part of military research into weapons designed to be effective without being deadly. Examples of use includes: 12th Security Forces Squadron training to improve the number of options for police; the U.S. military police to help keep order in Iraq; and robots. The company has affiliation with the the Defense Technical Information Center.

Issues

According to Taser International, as of October 9, 2007, the company has not lost any product liability lawsuits:

This lawsuit represents the fifty-ninth (59th) wrongful death or injury lawsuit that has been dismissed or judgment entered in favor of TASER International. This number includes a small number of police officer training injury lawsuits that were settled and dismissed in cases where the settlement economics to TASER International were significantly less than the cost of litigation. TASER International has not lost any product liability lawsuit.

On June 6, 2008, the company lost its first product-liability suit. A San Jose, California, jury said Taser had failed to warn police in Salinas, California, that prolonged exposure to electric shock from the device could cause a risk of cardiac arrest, attributing the death to inadequate training by the company.

In late January 2008, the public safety committee of the 39th Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons launched an investigation into their use, after the death of Robert Dziekanski. Additionally, the Braidwood Inquiry is a public inquiry being conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, examining the safety of Tasers and this particular death. The inquiry is a two-stage investigation being conducted by the Court of Appeal of British Columbia and a retired Yukon Territories Justice.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation commissioned National Technology Systems (NTS) to conduct a series of tests finding that some TASER X26 Stun Guns manufactured before 2005 “deliver a higher level of electricity than the manufacturer promises”. The company’s partial reponse was,

The results from the testing are generally consistent with the specifications provided by TASER International and which would be expected from such tests. TASER acknowledges that there are four data that appear to be outliers — instances where current increased as resistance increased which would not be expected based on the laws of physics. TASER International intends to contact NTS to suggest that the tests be repeated to verify the results.

Taser Safety

Filed under: Taser News — Tags: , , , , , — brian @ 6:30 pm

Taser International has admitted in a training bulletin that repeated blasts of a taser can “impair breathing and respiration“. Also, on Taser’s website it is stated that, for a subject in a state known as “excited delirium” (a controversial term in itself), repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to “significant and potentially fatal health risks“. In such a state, physical restraint by the police coupled with the exertion by the subject are considered likely to result in death or more injuries. Critics alleged that electroshock devices can damage delicate electrical equipment such as pacemakers, but tests conducted by the Cleveland Clinic found that Tasers did not interfere with pacemakers and implantable defibrillators.

It is assumed that tasers as well as all other high voltage stun devices can cause cardiac arrhythmia in susceptible subjects, possibly leading to heart attack or death in minutes by ventricular fibrillation (which leads to cardiac arrest and if not treated immediately to sudden death). People susceptible to this outcome are sometimes healthy and unaware of their susceptibility.

Critics argue that although the medical conditions or illegal drug-taking among some of the casualties may have been the proximate cause of death, the electric blast of the taser can significantly heighten such risk for subjects in an at-risk category. This suggests that tasers and other electroshock weapons would be dangerous to use on people with certain medical conditions and yet, since police officers will typically not know about a person’s medical history or possible drug use, this entails a risk of death with virtually any suspect.

While they are not technically considered lethal, some authorities and non-governmental organizations question both the degree of safety presented by the weapon and the ethical implications of using a weapon that some, such as sections of Amnesty International, allege is inhumane. As a consequence, Amnesty International Canada and other civil liberties organizations have argued that a moratorium should be placed on taser use until research can determine a way for them to be safely used. Amnesty International has documented over 245 deaths that occurred after the use of tasers. Police sources question whether the taser was the actual cause of death in those cases, as many of the deaths occurred in people with serious medical conditions and/or severe drug intoxication, often to the point of excited delirium.

Critics of taser use, however, argue that “excited delirium” is not a valid medical term and is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.  Tasers are often used as an alternative to talking and waiting for a suspect to comply, striking the suspect with a baton or shooting them with firearms. Only the later two of which have a much higher chance of serious injury and death than the taser, even using the highest estimates of possible taser-related deaths. The term “less-lethal” is being used more frequently when referring to weapons such as tasers because many experts feel that no device meant to subdue a person can be completely safe. The less-lethal category also includes devices such as pepper spray, tear gas, and batons. One problem when comparing the Taser to other forms of force is that no precise statistics are kept in the U.S. on policing related deaths or the use of excessive force. In 2001, the New York Times reported that the U.S. government is unable or unwilling to collect statistics showing the precise number of people killed by the police or the prevalence of the use of excessive force. There has been one case report in the medical literature of a person suffering spinal fractures after being shocked by a taser. The U.N. has declared: “TASER electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill.”

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