UNDERSTANDING TASERS

The family of weapons currently manufactured by Axon Incorporated known as the TASERs have been around since the 1980s and have been evolving since then.

The term came from “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle” in the related book, published in 1911, which was a fanciful weapon foreshadowing the “blaster” of contemporary science fiction.

The first model was invented by a NASA engineer, with limited market.  In the 1990s the brand was revitalized, and eventually gave us the models we associate with the “TASER” name today.

Law enforcement was the original user of the TASER, but the many practical limitations on the nature of the devices prevented their widespread use for first responders.  The one those of us in law enforcement were really “waiting for” showed up around 2003 in the form of the Taser X26.

The system in that highly portable weapon produces an effect on the target person that we call “NMI” or “neuro-muscular incapacitation” in which the electrical currents going between the probes painfully lock up the muscles near the skin, stimulating both sensory and motor nerves at the same time.  This drops a person like the proverbial sack of potatoes—after the French Fry cutter.

In most cases, the after effects are merely bad memories and muscle aches—first, the memory of an intense desire to stop the Taser’s buzz, and second, a level of discomfort one would normally associate with over-exertion.

Your typical TASER system has a system body with electronics and a battery, and a cartridge that can be attached to the front and detached when expended—to be replaced by a new one.

When the user launches it by pointing it at a person, the cartridge fires off two “Probe” darts attached to electrical wires.  This is done sometimes with gunpowder but much more often by compressed nitrogen.

When the probes connect in the target person, a current passes between the two points.

The current does not go “through” the body, but between the probes.  Individuals who have pacemakers can still be exposed to a Taser safely.

There have been thousands of deployments of the Taser systems with the subject being fine afterwards, though possibly a new spokesperson for the effectiveness of the Taser.  To my knowledge, Axon has never reached out to these folks for marketing.

The five stages of grief are:  Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance, and the TASER is able to take someone through that entire process in about five seconds, sometimes less.

Law enforcement really can get something with the TASER that is almost “too good to be true,” and that is a weapon that, when used correctly and under the right conditions, can indeed incapacitate someone without significantly injuring them.

It is also possible to stick the weapon into a person and trigger it without the use of the darts.  The localized current delivery will be painful, but not like the effect achieved with the probes.

I was trained on and issued the X-26 not long after it first came out.  When I first heard about it, I didn’t like the thing at all.

For one thing, I thought the idea was to issue it to people in place of a firearm.

Secondly, I just doubted it would be as effective as it was touted to be.  If one was determined enough, I reasoned, one could probably “push through” the pain and keep doing what they intended.

As part of our training, we went through a practical exercise of being exposed to a Taser X-26 by probe deployment, and I will say I repented and was a believer in the effectiveness of the system at that point.

I would go on to see it used successfully many times out on the street.

The X-26 is still in service in some places, but has been succeeded by newer models; the X-26P, which is functionally similar, the X-2, the TASER-7, and most recently the TASER-10.  Each model has brought slightly different features and new capabilities.

With this in mind, let’s do a Reader’s Digest on what these weapons are and are not.

The TASER systems are less-lethal systems.

The founder of Axon (not the original name) wanted to create an option to incapacitate someone without killing them.  That it can do, and usually well.

The electrical current dispensed from the battery will not only deliver pain, but will actually disrupt the functioning of the target’s muscles near where the probes stick.

This combination usually convinces even the most resistant criminal to surrender; even those on drugs, with mental issues, or who who are very strong.

A TASER does not replace a firearm.

Not to say that Axon’s people don’t eventually hope that happens, but the capabilities of the firearm cannot be duplicated by any TASER system now or in the foreseeable future.

TASERs are not for use in a situation when there is an immediate lethal threat in place of a gun.

TASERS are not the cheap “stun guns” one sees advertised.

This is probably the biggest misconception out there.  A twenty-dollar “stun gun” may allow you to zap and hurt someone with the electrical current, but it does not bring the NMI capability that a TASER does with the probe deployment.

This is a combination of the probes, which spread out the current widely through the body, and the way the system delivers the electrical pulses through the target’s body.

The standard law enforcement models of TASERs (the X-26, X-2, 7, and 10) can cost over $1600 apiece, plus the additional cost of accessories such as the essential cartridges.

TASERS are not usable in some situations.

First of all, don’t use one on someone who has doused themselves with a flammable liquid, because you will probably set them on fire; this happens often with people who are extremely disturbed psychologically.

The probes also have limited ranges—usually no more than thirty feet, and for true effectiveness, two have to connect.  Savvy criminals know this, of course.

They will work safely on a target standing in water, though.

Another consideration is what the effect of them being incapacitated will mean in their immediate environment.  They will probably fall. If they are on a roof, a ladder, or something else, the fall could be deadly.

If they are running across a parking lot, they are liable to “eat” the pavement.  I have seen guys hospitalized who took a “TASER Ride” into a curb.

Increasingly, TASERs are intended to be used as a continuum of law enforcement capabilities. Unsurprisingly, much of that is made and sold by Axon.  Axon also sells police body cameras as well as cameras that can mount on the TASER frame itself.

Police TASER systems have memory banks of use that can be downloaded electronically for addition to a police report.

If you have time, it’s worthwhile to go over Axon’s website and understand that the products they sell are showing the direction law enforcement is moving in—not just in terms of Force use, but in terms of record keeping, operations, and equipment in general.

Do TASERS have applications for civilians?

Possibly, but understand the limits.

First of all, here is a link to Axon’s store for civilians, where you can buy systems that are similar to what is sold to law enforcement, but more attuned to civilian needs and certainly more budget friendly.

As an arrest tool, the TASER has some great advantages.  It can immobilize someone and permit them to be handcuffed or otherwise handled despite them being resistant.

Ideally, you have several cops standing by when you deploy the TASER on the subject who can rush in and grab them from the ground once incapacitated.

But… once that switch gets turned off, the target subject is back to having their full capabilities and may be quite angry with you for “lighting them up.”   So now what do you do?

If you are the average Joe or Jane, you don’t want to arrest your attacker—you want to get the heck away from them, and fast.

The second problem is that, as is the case with any other weapon, sometimes it doesn’t work as expected.  A probe may not go into the skin, or one may not hit the person, or perhaps the subject is just too “checked-out” mentally or pharmaceutically to be affected; any of these missteps can make the TASER ineffective.  This is rare—but it can happen.

For that reason, I recommend pepper spray, firearms, and impact tools for personal self defense for the average person.  Do note that two of those three are generally considered lethal weapons and you will have to answer accordingly for using them on someone.

The TASER, as stated, was attractive to cops for its effectiveness despite those strictures.

When we discussed quelling urban unrest in previous Deucings, we covered less-than-lethal devices.  In that respect, the TASER is like any other weapon—it gives you what it is designed to give you, and it is up to you to fit that into your defensive strategy in the best way.

Mark Deuce has had a life-long career in community law enforcement. He is the author of Deuces Wild for TTP.