TASER® Blog

This morning reports came in about an important TASER® X26 deployment use in Waikato, New Zealand. Police officers in Waikato effectively used the threat of a TASER X26 deployment to end a standoff with a dangerous and unpredictable suspect who had kept them at bay for three hours, brandishing sticks and threatening officers and bystanders.

The suspect, a 36 year-old half-naked male had previously threatened a jogger and was in the midst of being questioned by a plainclothes detective when he abruptly drove off in his car, dragging the officer questioning him nearly 65 feet. The suspect then abandoned the vehicle as police chased him to the Waikato River’s edge. Three hours into the standoff, the commanding officer decided that a TASER device was the best tool to end the situation safely and effectively. Although Waikato officers do not carry TASER devices, the decision was made to fly in a TASER-trained officer from Auckland.

However, just the mere threat of the TASER induced the man to cooperate. This story illustrates just what a powerful and effective tool the TASER device can be for law enforcement — even when it’s not actually deployed. Had the officers not had a TASER at their disposal (New Zealand has only had TASER devices for the past couple of years), then officers may have had to resort to lethal force. Because the officers had access to the TASER device, the situation was resolved without any weapons being deployed, the suspect was taken into custody without injury, and the officers went home safely.