Posted by Steve Tuttle
We have with us today a very special guest blogger. Andrew Hinz, Director of Technical Programs for TASER International and liasion to the medical community, is here to walk us through a few of the most recent studies conducted involving TASER devices.
Today, TASER brand electronic control devices (ECDs) are used by more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies in more than 45 countries worldwide. During the past decade, more than 1.5 million people have been hit with a TASER brand ECD, including an estimated 760,000 people in actual arrest proceedings by law enforcement. While a completely accurate number is hard to come by, it further is estimated that more than 50,000 people have avoided injury or had their lives saved because a TASER brand ECD was available and used by law enforcement.
Despite the broad acceptance and amazing success of the TASER ECDs in reducing injuries and violence, there are still a number of critics and skeptics who are willing to ignore the data, ignore the scientific studies and ignore anecdotal evidence while calling for a moratorium on the use of TASER devices by law enforcement. Most commonly, these naysayers inaccurately site a “lack of independent” scientific and medical studies into the safety of TASER technology and TASER ECDs. Read more…
Posted by Steve Tuttle
The sale of TASER electronic control devices (ECDs) to the public is perhaps one of the most often misunderstood aspects of TASER International’s sales. Because of our success and visibility in the law enforcement market, many people believe that we hadn’t started selling TASER devices to the public until the launch of the TASER C2 in 2007. The truth is that our company was founded selling ECDs to the public.
Back in the beginning (1994), our very first sales were to consumers via direct orders, gun stores, catalogs and the Sharper Image. What you got back then was our first model, called the AIR TASER™ Model 34000. It looked something like this (again, back in 1994).
Read more…
Posted by Steve Tuttle
TASER International is the market leader in advanced electronic control devices (aka ECDs). In the United States and Canada alone there are approximately 19,000 state/provincial, local and federal law enforcement agencies. And as of December 31, 2008, TASER International has sold approximately 390,000 TASER brand ECDs to more than 13,900 of those law enforcement agencies.
Perhaps the most telling statistic: more than 5,200 agencies of the 13,900 deploying TASER devices have made the decision to fully deploy these ECDs. This full deployment means that 5,200 agencies have provided TASER ECDs to all of their patrol officers.
This sea change in law enforcement is not unique to North America, as TASER devices are sold in more than 40 countries.
Read more…
