TASER Sales Increase Worldwide

According to Taser International, Inc., out of Scottsdale, Arizona, roughly 345,000 Tasers have been purchased on the worldwide market. Some of this growth is directly related to the fact that police departments around the country, as well as overseas, are adding Tasers to their arsenals. The most recent municipality to add Tasers is the New York Police Department.

A study conducted by RAND Corporation found that several deaths could have been averted had police officers used non-lethal weapons instead of conventional firearms. While the study admitted that there was limited information to draw on, indications were that Tasers could save lives.

The New York Police department accounts for about 500 of the Tasers sold. They fire barbed probes (up to 35 feet in the police model) attached to an insulated wire. The darts deliver an incapacitating high voltage shock which subdues the recipient long enough for law enforcement officials to subdue him or her and for the private citizen to escape or call for help.

Ideally, non-lethal force is used well before a situation escalates dangerously. The best case scenarios interrupt events in time to prevent assaults or deaths. In New York officers must deal with about 80,000 situations involving suspects who are on drugs or who are mentally disturbed and on whom the use of firearms would be irresponsible.