The video clearly demonstrates that the victim aimed a pistol at the officers responding to a 911 call for domestic abuse and terroristic threats. It captures the officer’s conversation with the man’s wife who made the 911 call and let officers into the house. Officer Davis then ordered the victim to drop the gun at least nine times, commands which were ignored, before shooting him.

The use of TASER technology in this tragic incident provided investigators with irrefutable evidence of what actually transpired at the scene. Prosecutor Shue credits TASER AXON and EVIDENCE.com for quickly and definitively resolving any doubts regarding the officer’s actions. He says “Clearly this technology is not just a step forward it is a quantum leap as far as an investigative tool.”

The 2009 ASIS conference held in southern California for the professional security industry kicked off this week with a press conference held by Rick Smith, CEO and Founder of TASER International, announcing the debut partner of our “TASER Certified” program.  The president of the world’s largest security firm, Wackenhut/G4S, joined Rick in explaining the value of the designation to the corporate community.  Uniformed security officers of Wackenhut displayed their TASER® X26™ devices proudly on their belts after having volunteered to experience its effect the night before. 

Key issues such as executive protection, plant security, and responses to workplace violence are better served by security companies with the TASER Certified status because they subscribe to a time-tested training curriculum, expert deployment support, and the assurance that the supplier – TASER International – will extend its legal dominance to the civilian community if needed.

When walking the massive 800,000 square feet of exhibit area, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the extensive and elaborate booth displays from vendors offering video technologies, security services, and a variety of high-end detection equipment.  The TASER booth was one of the largest in recent years and was packed with new technologies now available to professional security firms and corporate security teams.  We’ve met with representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, fertilizer plant operators, hospital staff, military branches, and security firms from dozens of foreign countries; the furthest hailed from Nigeria.  TASER International has clearly been embraced by the security industry and we stand ready to serve…again.

Sheriff Scott receives one of the departments X3 devices from Tom Smith

Exciting news today out of Ft. Meyers, Florida. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office became the first agency to receive their order for the new multi-shot TASER® X3™, the latest in handheld electronic control device (ECD) technology.

TASER chairman and co-founder, Tom Smith, was on hand today at a press event in Ft. Meyers to personally deliver the first five X3 ECDs sold to Sheriff Mike Scott in front of a packed room of media and curious onlookers.

We’ve told you a lot about the X3 here, beginning with the teaser campaign, through the unveiling at the July TASER Conference, the designated Facebook persona page, and now the first sale. It’s always exciting to see hard work and innovation pay off.

The sale is a result of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office being able to test and evaluate the X3. They quickly considered it an important asset for use in their law enforcement and correctional settings.

We congratulate the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on being a leader in law enforcement technology. We look forward to more law enforcement agencies joining their ranks soon!

Read about today’s press event in the:

WINK News here

News-Press here

Naples News here

Phoenix Business Journal here

C2 Colors

Hey TASER® Blog fans- we have a very special opportunity for you! It’s our way of saying thank-you for your continuing interest in our product, company, and the people behind it all.

Starting a blog has been a new and exciting project for TASER International, a foray into the world of social media- and it’s been the dedicated blog fans like you that have made it so rewarding. So, we would like to give you a little something extra for your support.

By using this link , you will receive an extra two-pack of cartridges and a free target with your purchase of a TASER C2.

Happy Shopping!

According to Wikipedia, “suicide by cop is a suicide method in which a suicidal deliberately acts in a threatening way, with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer, such as being shot to death.” Tragically, those officers that are placed in those situations not only face media and public scrutiny, internal investigations, self-doubt, but they have to live the rest of their lives with the fact that they were involved in an incident where a life was taken to no fault of their own.

The main mission that co-founders Rick and Tom Smith had when starting TASER International in 1993 was to find a safer response to resistance. This mission is accomplished each time we read of similar lives saved by the use of a TASER ECD. To shed a little light on “who” we are, our staff at “Team TASER” is highly motivated and driven by these stories. Although we aren’t walking the beat or putting on a badge to protect and serve, it still makes us feel like we are, albeit a small, but important contributing cog in the law enforcement world. It’s a story like this that helps feel like we’re doing our part to make the world a little bit safer and doing our part to protect life.

We are human at TASER International. We read the controversial stories and sometimes you can feel overwhelmed that so many of the life-saving events are simply not covered or reported in any large extent despite thousands of lives that have been positively affected by the use of a TASER ECD. However, we as a company continue to produce products that help deter incidents that end in any death or serious injury, which allows us to continue to fulfill our number one mission: Protect life.

Although our technology is not a replacement for deadly force, we do know our TASER technology has been invaluable in more than 800,000 field use in situations — including the prevention of suicide by cop. It’s a good reminder today to see the positive impacts this technology makes each day at nearly 14,500 law enforcement agencies  in more than 40 countries.

I am continually amazed at the support and confidence TASER employees show in their willingness to take a hit; in this case for the purpose of producing a video that highlights one of the key features of the new X3 – multiple shots.  (All three women were volunteers – and no, this isn’t some part of the TASER new employee orientation!)

The TASER X3 video is making the rounds on the Internet including on Popular Science and PoliceOne’s BluTube.

An extended version of the video that contains interviews with the TASER employees can be found on YouTube.

Take a look for yourself; it is impressive.  One device; three subjects; and no reloading.

The official unveiling date is July 27 when we will publicly present the X3 at our annual TASER Conference in Fountain Hills, Ariz.

Since the announcement last week, we have been providing daily features and technological advancements of the TASER X3, which will continue until our unveiling on July 27. The TASER X3 has also taken on a persona on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/TASERX3) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/TASERX3) where the device is “sharing” more about its exciting new features. The X3 just may be the first law enforcement weapon to “launch itself” through interactive social media sites. The use of social media is a first for our company and we are giving away some pretty great swag such as TASER® hats, shirts, and tactical bags to those that follow its progress and announcements during July. The TASER X3 is definitely a more hip, media savvy ECD!

For those that need a re-cap of the X3 features revealed in just the first seven days, here they are:

• Rotational Pulse Drive:  Rotate NMI pulses across firing bays to engage multiple targets simultaneously.
• Warning ARC:  Display warning arcs and gain compliance — even while the X3 remains loaded.
• Dual Laser System:  Enhance accuracy with dual lasers indicating top and bottom probe trajectories.
• Environmentally hardened:  X3 survives harsh environments such as dust, water, salt, fog and freezing temperatures.
• Color Display:  Central Information Display provides enhanced icons and data.
• Pulse Calibration System:  Monitors, calibrates, records voltage, and charge for every NMI pulse delivered.
• Cam-Lock Safety:  Reengineered safety interlocking design engages positively to armed or safe position.
• Independent fire control system:  Independent fire control circuitry directs firing sequence preventing static discharge.

I hope you’re saying “Wow!” at this point. The TASER X3 has so many great new features… and there are still 19 days to go until the official unveiling.

By the way… last week I had the opportunity to personally try out the X3. It is one innovative, capable and hi-tech law enforcement tool that promises to revolutionize the future of ECDs. I’m really excited about the launch and the way TASER will once again change the way law enforcement does its job. So excited that I almost want to take another voluntary ECD exposure, just to try out the new rotational pulse drive!

I did say “almost”…

The inner workings of a TASER XREP shell

Yesterday, TASER announced the new handheld multi-shot electronic control device (ECD) called TASER X3™, which will be officially released at the annual TASER Conference on July 27 in Fountain Hills, Ariz. This is the first new handheld ECD since the introduction of the TASER X26 in 2003.

We will be providing 27 features/technological advancements of the TASER X3 over the next 27 days. To follow the X3’s daily technology releases, go to:  www.TASERX3.com or follow on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TASERX3 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TASERX3.

Tuesday, TASER International announced that the TASER® eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP™) shotgun rounds and TASER® X12™ less-lethal shotgun by Mossberg® are now available.

The TASER X12 less-lethal shotgun by Mossberg

The X3 is the culmination of over four years of intense research and development and offers exponentially increased capabilities, including vastly enhanced data, networking, and communication functionality as well as enhanced safety features. TASER has made major investments over the past 24 months to bring a host of new products to market — including the AXON™ Tactical Computer, EVIDENCE.COM™, and the long awaited wireless TASER® XREP™. Our R&D Team has secretly worked on a parallel path to bring the X3 to reality. These innovative developments create an ecosystem of technologies that interface together to provide law enforcement never-before-possible, breakthrough capabilities.

The TASER® product family will provide our customers smarter, safer capabilities to better protect our officers and our communities.

Together, AXON and EVIDENCE.COM will protect truth through an end-to-end integrated solution to capture, store securely, and analyze digital evidence and information in ways that enables tactical and strategic decision making by law enforcement, as well as for legal evidentiary use.  

On its web page, the MPA wrote:

MPA has been an exclusive viewer of the new video product Taser is introducing called AXON. Members of MPA were able to see the functionality of the innovative product months ago and continue to spread the word to other NAPO members.  The benefits are endless, including:

• Protects officers from bogus complaints. 
• Is activated by officer, much in the way officers use voice recording now. 
• New tech culture has many people recording Officer involved incidents from many angles by use of video phones. Big cities having their incidents recorded by many people. Big city PDs state it is stupid of us to not record our own incidents, when people are recording us and who knows what kind of doctoring they are doing to the videos. 
• All the same reasons we use car cameras- better prosecution. Can be used for training and is portable on the officers. You see what the officers sees. 
• Cut down on paperwork. In testing in the UK, reports turned to bullet points stating see video, cutting down about 25% on report writing. 
• Is easy to use and officer never touches video using Taser’s technology and evidence.com 
• Half the price of car camera equipment. 
• Complaints in UK went down to almost zero when they knew they were videoed. 
• Public behaves when they know they are being videoed and officers act more professional. When they don’t behave, it’s on video. 
• Had one officer been wearing the camera in the Madrigal shooting, there would be no lawsuit. 

The Mesa Police Association’s posting of its support on Monday followed a lengthy Arizona Republic article on Sunday that reviewed the new integrated digital multi-media evidence collection, storage and management solution by TASER International.  

The article included an interview with Jim Mann, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police Arizona Labor Council, who said that he generally believes on-officer cameras are a bad idea. The Mesa Police Association interestingly points out that “another organization provides information contrary to our views and have not seen what this technology can do.”

It has been nearly a year since TASER International CEO, Rick Smith first publicly spoke about the concept of an on-officer tactical computer and an on-officer video/audio recording device. Over the past year, we’ve learned how to make this concept a reality by listening to the concerns of our customers and end users. What we also learned is that the difficult task of developing new technologies and systems solutions which will make the prosecution of criminals and the defending of law enforcement officers easier and more efficient is only half the battle. Gaining the trust and acceptance of the very officers for whom AXON and EVIDENCE.COM has been developed to protect is the other half.  

It is expected that some people will have dissenting opinions, even aversions to new technologies simply because they are new. On the other hand, it is extremely heartening to know that there are organizations like the Mesa Police Association which are willing to take the time to be educated, provide valuable feedback, and now embrace technology for what it is — new and innovative.