In 2017, British police expect to receive the , a new version of the electroshock weapon that can fire two shots instead of one. Critics demand that all tasers be withdrawn, because of concerns over safety and abuse. Why is a device aimed at reducing deaths so controversial?
Tasers were invented for the best of motives. Patrick Smith, CEO of Taser International in Phoenix, Arizona, was inspired to develop a less-lethal alternative to firearms when two high-school acquaintances were killed in a shooting.
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A standard taser fires two barbed darts trailing wires, creating a circuit across the target鈥檚 body. It then delivers a 50,000-volt electric shock for 5 seconds, aimed at incapacitating the target. Further 5-second shocks can be delivered by pulling the trigger again.
Tasers are intended for use against people who are armed with knives, clubs or other weapons. The risk is that if both darts do not make good contact 鈥� which 鈥� the taser has no effect, putting the officer who fired it in danger.
The X2鈥檚 second shot offers a much greater chance of making good contact, especially given that it has a 鈥渃ross-connect鈥� feature: if only one dart from the first shot and one from the second make contact, a shock can still be delivered.
In theory, then, the Taser X2 should mean a greater chance of a suspect being subdued without police resorting to deadly force and firearms, as well as lowering the risk to officers.
Questionable uses
In practice, tasers have been used inappropriately. In one case, . , have been targeted. And they are sometimes used in error: a because police somehow mistook his white stick for a samurai sword.
There is also a continuing debate over exactly how harmless tasers are. Some studies suggest they are safer than batons and fists, while other evidence links them to heart attacks 鈥� something that is . But in 2009, Taser International issued safety advice .
In spite of objections, tasers continue to proliferate. The X2 is just a stepping stone; Taser鈥檚 XREP projectile, fired from a shotgun, failed to catch on, but the company is now looking at so that police can deploy them from a greater distance.
Such developments will be popular with police forces and may even save police lives. But simply providing better ways of zapping people without looking at wider issues is dangerously shortsighted.
