Tasers: Are These Police Tools Effective and Are They Dangerous?

A discharge, also known as a “cycle,” can last five seconds. The shock can cause pain that has been described as excruciating.

As Dennis J. Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, put it, “Your muscles freeze up, and down you go.”

The makers of the Taser came up with the product name as an acronym loosely derived from a 1911 book, “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle,” Professor Kenney said.

How do they work?

The device can be used from a distance or in “drive mode,” in which the charge is driven directly into a person’s body at close range, said Robert J. Louden, a professor emeritus of criminal justice and homeland security at Georgian Court University in New Jersey.

When a Taser is fired from a distance, prongs or darts connected by wires are discharged at a person. In those cases, Tasers have a reliable range of about 10 feet, Professor Kenney said, but beyond that, their effectiveness in hitting a target becomes spotty.

Are they deadly?

At least 500 people in the United States have died since 2001 after being shocked with stun guns during an arrest or while in jail, according to a 2012 statement by Amnesty International, which supports stricter limits on the use of Tasers.

The largest number of deaths were in California (92), Florida (65) and Texas (37).

In a 2008 review of hundreds of deaths after stun gun use, Amnesty International found that 90 percent of those who died were unarmed. Most of the deaths were attributed to causes unrelated to stun gun use, but medical examiners listed the devices as a contributing factor in more than 60 deaths, Amnesty International said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/police-tasers.html