BY GEORGE NAVA TRUE II
YOU’VE probably seen it in action in some Hollywood movies. When policemen want to subdue fleeing or potentially dangerous individuals, they use a Taser.
The Taser is a stun gun that fires two prongs or dart-like electrodes that shock people with 50,000 volts of electricity. Professor Dennis J. Kenney of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan said the five-second shock or cycle is painful and strong enough to paralyze or immobilize a person. The weapon is effective when the darts stick to light clothing.
Stun guns have been used for years by law enforcement personnel to subdue violent individuals who resist arrest without harming them. Kenney said that Tasers have a range of about 10 feet.
To protect the elderly from bad elements, one company even created a Taser-like device that zaps attackers with a million volts of electricity. This device is intended to protect old people who are strolling. It looks like an ordinary cane and can support a 250-pound person. The cane has a flashlight and has to be charged for six hours to work.
Bolts of electricity
The person behind this invention is John “Jack” Higson Cover Jr., a nuclear physicist and NASA researcher. Cover was born in New York City and was a test pilot during World War II. He began work on the Taser in 1969 and completed it in 1974 when he was 54 years old. The weapon is named after Cover’s childhood hero Tom Swift.
Swift is the main character of a series of juvenile science fiction novels published in 1910. The book that inspired Cover was “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle.”
In that adventure, Swift travels to Africa to rescue friends who have been captured by members of a fearsome tribe. Along the way, he uses what looks like a contemporary rifle to stop a whale, elephants, and rhinoceroses. The electric rifle fires bolts of electricity that can penetrate walls and illuminate the Dark Continent.
After reading this, Cover invented the stun gun and formed Taser Systems Inc. in 1970. The name Taser is short for Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.
Safe design
Initially, the Taser was not popular with law enforcement personnel since it used gunpowder to launch the darts. That changed in 1993 when brothers Rick and Thomas Smith came up with a safer design while working with Cover.
The modern Taser was developed in response to the death of two high school friends of Taser International CEO Patrick Smith. The two were shot dead by a licensed gun owner who lost his temper.
This led authorities to consider using non-lethal means to subdue persons of interest. In most cases, the Taser has made this possible and allowed police to keep a safe distance away from suspects.
Limited options
Before that, Kenny said police officers had limited options when dealing with people who resisted arrest. The former relied on verbal commands, hand-to-hand combat, or firearms.
But the Taser’s image as a non-lethal weapon has been questioned in recent years because of several deaths associated with its use, according to Christopher Mele and Johnny Diaz of the New York Times. In the United States alone, the Times reported that at least 500 people have died since 2001. Amnesty International attributed these deaths to the use of stun guns. It added that 90 percent of those who died were unarmed.
Contributing factor
While stun guns were not directly linked to most deaths, authorities said the former was a contributing factor. Kristina Roth, senior program officer for criminal justice programs at Amnesty International USA, said stun guns can cause adverse effects that can’t be reversed. A 2012 study in the journal Circulation said that the shock caused by a Taser can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death.
Others point out that many things can go wrong with Tasers. While they can disable an uncooperative person, the device can also make things worse. This is true in people who are angry, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or have a mental illness. In these cases, Tasers may not work and might escalate the situation, according to Joel Feinman, the chief public defender in Pima County in Arizona.
A 2019 investigative report by American Public Media that examined 3,000 fatal police shootings between 2015 and 2017 found that in 258 cases, a Taser failed to subdue someone. This forced the police to shoot and kill that person.
Risks involved
Robert J. Louden, professor emeritus of criminal justice and homeland security at Georgian Court University in New Jersey, said a person’s height and weight can also determine how resistant he is to a Taser. Experts added that the device won’t work on someone high on mind-altering drugs like PCP or angel dust,
Despite these criticisms, Axon Enterprise (formerly known as Taser International) continues to make the most popular brand of stun gun. While admitting that the use of Tasers carries certain risks, it stressed that the weapon is safer than police batons, fists, or firearms.
As of 2020, the company has sold about 700,000 Tasers worldwide. It added that the device has saved more than 234,000 people from death or serious injury. This was affirmed by the Canadian Police Research Centre which said that the use of Tasers has resulted in fewer injuries than the use of batons or empty hand techniques.
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National Press Club and Philippine Dental Association awardee George N. True II has written two bestsellers based on his popular column that has been running for almost 40 years. For questions about health, email georgenavatrue@yahoo.com./PN
