Tasers Zap Safety Concerns!

Deaths and Injuries Related to Use of Tasers.


The intended purpose of Tasers is to overcome the use of lethal force such as guns. 

The actual deployment of Tasers by police in the years since Tasers came into widespread use 

is claimed to have resulted in more than 180 deaths as of 2006. It still isnt clear whether the 

Taser was directly responsible for the cause of death.

 Several legislators in the U.S. have filed bills clamping down on them and requesting more studies on their effects.Despite the growing controversy, a study funded by the U.S Justice Department  asserted that the majority of people tasered from July 2005 to June 2007 suffered no injury. A study led by William Bozeman of near1,000 persons subjected to Taser use concluded that 99.7% of the subjects had either minor injuries, such as scrapes and bruises, or none at all; while three persons suffered injuries severe enough to need hospital admission, and two other subjects died. Their autopsy reports indicated Tasers are clearly safer than alternate force options available to law enforcement officers AND neither death was related to the use of a Taser.

The head of the U.S. southern regional office of Amnesty International, Jared Feuer, reported that 277 people in the United States have died after being shocked by a Taser between June 2001 and October 2007, which has already been documented. He also noted that about 80% of those on whom a Taser was used by U.S. police were unarmed.
A spokesperson for Taser International asserted that if a person dies from a "tasering" it is instantaneous and not days later. Taser International announced that it is "transmitting over 60 legal demand letters requiring correction of... false and misleading headlines."

Risk of Fire Injury

Tasers have been found to ignite flammable materials.For this reason Tasers come with express instructions not to use them where flammable liquids or fumes may be present, such as filling stations and methamphetamine labs.
An evaluative study carried out by the British Home Office investigated the potential for Tasers to ignite CS Gas. Seven trials were conducted, in which CS gas canisters containing methyl isobutyl ketone(a solvent in all CS sprays used by the United Kingdom police) were sprayed over mannequins wearing street clothing. The Tasers were then fired at the mannequins. In two of the seven trials, "the flames produced were severe and engulfed the top half of the mannequin, including the head". This poses a particular problem for law enforcement, as some police departments approve the use of CS before the use of a Taser.

Source:taser wiki