Tasers Target Violent Suspects

More and more police departments are using the Taser to immobilize aggressive suspects. Globally, upwards of 4,000 departments use the weapon, which sends out a five-second pulse of electricity that immediately leaves the body, says Taser International’s Steve Tuttle.

However, about a third of Taser applications require more than a single cycle to let officers handcuff a suspect.

In the United States, the Orange County, Fla., sheriff’s office says that since Tasers were introduced at his agency in 2000, the use of deadly force has been slashed by 78 percent, and injuries to officers have fallen by 80 percent.

Fairview Township (Pennsylvania) Police Chief Eric Bistline says his department used its two Tasers four times in 2003; the suspects surrendered in three of the cases when they were informed of what the guns could do.

When a Taser stun gun was used in June by a Fairview Township officer, it immobilized a man who was brandishing a knife who refused to stop when warned. Once the gun’s hook-like probes attached onto the victim’s skin, 50,000 volts of electricity caused him to fall to his knees and be handcuffed, says Bistline.

Meanwhile, Newberry Township (Pennsylvania) Police Chief David Duffy says his agency is expecting to purchase a Taser in 2004 and have officers trained by April.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the York Dispatch (02/16/04); Czech, Ted.