Tasers

[sgtmac_46]

All OC sprays as of late are NOT flammable. Maybe the old stuff was, but not anything an officer carries today is.

Sorry to contradict you but that's DANGEROUSLY inaccurate.....ALL fogger based OC's will flame without exception.

Streams will put out flame, but firing a fogger across a flame source will turn it in to a flame thrower......regardless of brand.

 

[sgtmac_46]

While I tend to carry whatever I can carry. I think I would just replace my OC with the Taser and not worry about it.

That's great, but keep in mind that the Taser is contraindicated in situations where flammable materials are nearby......such as meth labs, gas station parking lots, situations where suspects have doused themselves in flammable materials.

A Joplin cop was killed and another seriously injured a couple years back when a suicidal suspect turned on all the gas in his house before their arrival. They struggled with him as he tried to reenter the residence and Tasered him to prevent him from going back inside......igniting the gas that had built up in the house, killing the suspect and one officer and seriously injuring the other.

http://www.policespecial.com/inthelineofduty/2004/04-120-Nielson.htm

The Taser is a wonderful device and has it's uses.....but I haven't removed my OC Spray and Baton from my belt just yet as they each fulfill roles the others don't.

 

[sgtmac_46]

To date, Taser International has only lost one lawsuit where the Taser was held to be the cause of death; in most, if not all, cases of deaths following a Taser hit there have been complicating factors like high levels of narcotics in the blood stream.

Update on that case....it looks like they are likely to win that one on appeal.

 

[kyosa]

The Taser is a very usefull tool but only one of many tools that officers have. Never become over-dependant on any one tool. I've run into situations where the Taser could not be deployed and other tactics had to be used. When I have used the Taser it has been 100% effective. I just completed my 3rd Taser instructors course this past week. 21 years as a law enforcement officer and the Taser is the single best tool or item that has come out since I started in law enforcement. Thats crazy when you think about it-when I started with my department in 1987 we didn't have fax machines or computers or pepper spray. We had to drive an hour and a half to serve paperwork, now we just fax it! We had to deal with violent persons with empty hands tactics unless they had a weapon. Most people know enough about the Taser that when it is drawn they don't want any part of it and will comply with your orders. It has really changed the nature of law enforcement and how we do business.

 

[ben]

Although it's rare, a Taser can also be ineffective if the target is enraged.

Here's an example where the target only responded to the Taser after the fourth time he was stunned. The first time he simply pulled one of the probes out of his arm and kept coming.

http://thedailytimes.com/article/20080505/NEWS/228557898

I've also heard of this being possible after a sufficient amount of training in internal arts but I don't have a link for that.

 

[kyosa]

Although it's rare, a Taser can also be ineffective if the target is enraged.

Here's an example where the target only responded to the Taser after the fourth time he was stunned. The first time he simply pulled one of the probes out of his arm and kept coming.

http://thedailytimes.com/article/20080505/NEWS/228557898

I've also heard of this being possible after a sufficient amount of training in internal arts but I don't have a link for that.

A couple things to note on this. The darts do sometimes fall out or the wires break when the suspect hits the ground which means he doesn't feel any effect. The drive stun doesn't cause NMI or neuro-muscular incapacitation and only causes pain, therefore a focused combative person, very drunk and/or drugged up persons or emotionally disturbed persons can and frequently do fight through the effects. The beauty of the Taser is that for the first time LE officers have a tool that doesn't only rely on pain compliance. Pepper spray, flash bangs, joint locks, pressure points etc. all rely on pain to gain compliance. When you get NMI or neuro muscular incapacitation it doesn't matter how much pain they can fight through-it creates a body lock and generally drops em to the ground.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Although it's rare, a Taser can also be ineffective if the target is enraged.

Here's an example where the target only responded to the Taser after the fourth time he was stunned. The first time he simply pulled one of the probes out of his arm and kept coming.

http://thedailytimes.com/article/20080505/NEWS/228557898

I've also heard of this being possible after a sufficient amount of training in internal arts but I don't have a link for that.

Those situations result from insufficient spread between the darts, one dart hits or similar failures.

The fact is that a human being cannot 'will' himself to overcome the Taser wave when a sufficiently large area of muscle mass is being stimulated.

Now if an insufficiently small amount of skeletal muscle is effected, it's merely pain, and can be overcome with sufficient self control.