Phoenix Police Department Purchases Less-Lethal Weapons
Arizona’s Phoenix Police Department has purchased more than 1,300 Taser X26 conducted energy weapons as an upgrade to their Advanced Taser M26 less-lethal weapons. In addition, the department has now designated the Taser X26 conducted energy weapon as a standard piece of equipment issued to every new recruit along with their sidearm and baton.
“We have seen the benefit of fully deploying the Advanced Taser M26 less-lethal weapons to every patrol officer since the beginning of this year, with a dramatic reduction in the number of firearm shootings in Phoenix,” states Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt. “Further we have decided to upgrade all of our existing Advanced Taser M26 devices to the much smaller Taser X26 less-lethal so that ‘full time carry’ by every patrol officer will become a reality. The decreased size of the Taser X26 device greatly enhances the ease of putting it on the officer’s belt so that it’s readily available when an officer needs it. In addition, we are the first major city police agency to make the Taser X26 less-lethal weapon a part of every new police recruit’s standard issued equipment,” comments Chief Hurtt.
,Since the deployment of the ADVANCED TASER M26 less-lethal weapons from Taser International, Inc., to all patrol officer earlier this year, the Phoenix Police Department significantly reduced the number of officer-involved shootings from 15 to 8 during the first 6 months of this year.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from PRNewswire (10/16/03) .