If we go back to the late 1800’s we will see that this is when the first electric cattle prod was used. It used a very large battery and worked very well for directing cattle. This idea was simple and it had a lot of potential for development. Maybe it was just a couple of cowboys that were fooling around and zapping each other, or maybe it was just a stroke of genius, but someone got the idea that electricity could be used to get people to comply with orders.

In the 1920’s someone created a device for law enforcement that was based on this idea. However, it was very inconvenient and dangerous. It was a glove that could be worn by an officer and all they would have to do is grab the suspect in order to stun them. It had many wires connected to it that ran to a one pound battery that was to be strapped to the waist. Needless to say, it was never used by any law enforcement.

During the race riots of the 1960’s the police started to use cattle prods on people. They would zap people who were trying to start fights or pushing through barriers. It seemed to work pretty well, but the cattle prod would only deliver localized pain. Police needed something more powerful.

As the 1960’s turned into the 1970’s, the stun gun started to take its shape. A man named Jack Cover developed the first model of what would later become a TASER. Over the decades both the TASER and other stun guns evolved into sleeker models with higher charges of electricity. Now, people and law enforcers have convenient, non-lethal weapons for self defense and subduing criminals.

It happened at about 4 a.m. in Troy, New York when police saw a man driving a rental truck with the back ramp down which was causing sparks to fly along the road. Kenneth M. Tyree was driving the big rental truck when police tried to get him to pull over. Allegedly, Tyree drove away, creating a car chase that lasted about 11 minutes from Troy to Menands, which is Tyree’s home town.

During the chase Tyree reportedly rammed into another police car and eventually crashed the truck into a yard near an Inn. Police then used a TASER on Tyree and took him into custody. Police stated that Tyree was not injured.

Tyree was charged with many different offenses including drunken driving, fleeing police, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, and driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Also, he was on parole for burglary and he was already wanted for violating his parole.

Many people could have gotten injured, or worse, because of Tyree’s drunken driving. Luckily, the police had a TASER and were able to get him off of the road and off of the streets without anyone getting hurt or killed.

Officers were first called about 7:30 a.m. by a neighbor who stated that a naked man had been hitting a house with a stick. The man then chased the neighbor while wielding the unidentified stick. Police spent a fruitless half hour trying to locate the man. Then, at 8:45 a.m., DeBoise’ mother called authorities to say that her son had been lying naked on the grass all day, then spent the night outside. She further stated that he had also held her hostage inside the house for over 90 minutes.

Although some of his relatives stated the man was posed no threat and was not behaving in an unruly manner. Officers at the scene disagreed, saying that he became combative when they tried to handcuff him. After TASERs were used a second time, the man “started fighting again,” according to Officer Tracy Panus. She stated that officers were finally able to subdue the man using only their hands. “He wasn’t injured. He had no scratches, bruises, nothing like that.” She further stated that, “It doesn’t appear the officers did anything wrong. This guy comes out and he’s naked. We don’t know if he’s on any type of drugs.”

Relatives believe TASERs were not necessary and that they proved lethal. Nevertheless, DeBoise’ cousin, Airest Wilson, acknowledged that the man was not behaving normally, besides wandering around outside while naked.

Some time later, officers loaded him into an ambulance. Then, several minutes after being in the ambulance, he went limp. At Christian Hospital DeBoise was pronounced dead. More than an hour had passed after police were called to the scene.

A cousin of the deceased, upset about the death, believes police officers used excessive force and that DeBoise posed no threat to anyone.

Dr. Mary Case, St. Louis County Medical examiner, stated that although toxicology tests were pending, the autopsy did not find a cause of death. Case believes the circumstances exclude the possibility that TASERs interfered with his heart rhythm. “Because the TASER was over and he’s still combative, that tells me he’s conscious and breathing and there’s no cardiac arrhythmia,” she said.

According to Dr. Case, while medications may play a key role, psychotic patients who are in an agitated state “have been known to die for unexplained reasons.”

In any case, Officer Panus, who believes officers will be exonerated, said that police investigative agency will be doing a routine “use of force” review.

An overview of the report looks like this:

• Most of the incidents during which TASER Guns were used took place in houses or apartments.
• Police used TASER Guns in cases involving suspects who were actively resisting arrest or threatening and assaulting officers, as well threatening or assaulting as other citizens in the area.

In 2000, shortly after TASER Guns were originally issued to Ottawa police, the officers responded to a call about a highly combative male at an apartment. When they arrived, police faced a “very aggressive, very large six-foot-four, 250-pound male” who was “not interested in verbal communications.” He threatened officers by saying, “I’m going to punch your f—king lights out.” Officers used TASERs to subdue him.

• The reports, which provide only a brief description of pertinent events, revealed that 65 males and 13 females “were involved in TASER incidents.” In 37 reports gender was not noted.

Ottawa was the first municipality in Ontario to purchase and use TASERs. It has managed to avoid controversy by restrained use of the device in spite of having armed their “front-line officers” with the leading-edge technology.

The Ottawa department’s 32-member tactical squad was the only unit armed with TASERs up until fall of 2007. Then, in October, front-line supervisors were also equipped with TASERs which are capable of downing someone using a pulsing current that effectively jams the nervous system. One method the Ottawa force employs to manage its TASER usage is the Use of Force reporting forms. In that way, the force effectively tracks the types of incidents which precipitate TASER deployment and tailors its training to provide earlier interventions thereby reducing the need for the level of force TASERs provide.

In most cases, the officer made TASER use decisions once the subject was within about three meters. However, in at least 46 cases, subjects had approached to a distance of less than two meters.

In some cases TASERs were not effective. On one occasion an adult male swung a refrigerator and blocked the probes. In another case, the TASER was ineffective because of the baggy clothes worn by the suspect.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a nationwide agency, issued a recommendation that each branch of law enforcement direct that it secure medical attention for anyone who has been TASERed and also to include more information on its various reporting forms.

On average, Ottawa has about 14 TASER incidents annually. By contrast, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, where front-line officers are also TASER-equipped, the incident level is much higher. Between January and October of 2007 TASERs were used 88 times in Edmonton alone!

Many people are so busy with life in today’s break-neck pace that they often make the mistaken assumption that self-defense products for women aren’t really needed. That they’re all simply plugged with hype and sensationalized stories created in the minds of aggressive marketers who are all just vying for increased sales. This really couldn’t be further from the truth!

If you’re about to or have already sent your daughter off to college, are you aware of these startling facts and statistics?

• 1 out of 4 women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.

• 1 out of 8 women will be raped while in college.

• 84% of female rape victims knew their assailant.

• 57% of rapes occur on a date.

• 75% of male college students and 55% of female college students involved in a date rape incident had been using drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack.

• In approximately 90% of domestic violence incidents, women are the targets.

Those facts are quite startling aren’t they? Each one practically shouts out a resounding “YES!” to the question, “Do women really need self-defense products?” Any woman does, especially the female college student. There are a multitude of self-defense products on the market today that are positively affordable enough, as well as easy enough to carry and use, that every college-aged women can be prepared to defend herself. It’s just not feasible for each and every woman in the world to become proficient in a given martial arts form in order to defend herself, but anyone can confidently carry a self-defense weapon.

Admittedly, during their college years, most women have reached a stage in life when appearing stylish and trendy are of utmost importance as they strive to exert their independence and attempt to fit into the crowd. Luckily, manufacturers of self-defense products have listened to the needs and desires of women of all ages and created innovative products like lipstick stun guns and cell phone stun guns that fit the bill.

At first glance, the lipstick stun gun looks exactly like the average lipstick tube and comes in an array of trendy colors. Don’t be fooled by this sleek tube’s style and beauty, though. These far from harmless incognito stun guns not only pack an element of surprise, but also deliver a 350,000 volt shock to any attacker who needs further encouragement that you are not the right person to be messed with.

If the lipstick look isn’t your thing, don’t worry. Manufacturers capitalized on the trend of everyone owning a cell phone when they designed the smart looking cell phone stun gun. Talk about a great idea! Next time you’re out in public, take note of how many people are walking around with a cell phone placed firmly in their grip. That’s exactly how this neat little self-defense product is able to carry out such a major element of surprise for any unsuspecting attacker. When the assailant gets too close, a stun button can be pushed to deliver 800,000+ volts thereby allowing safe flight from the scene.

Whatever your lifestyle or needs, be assured that self-defense products for women ARE very much needed and with so many choices, colors, and models available today no woman should leave herself unprotected.

Consider these staggering statistics relating to crimes committed against senior citizens in the United States alone:

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that crime against senior citizens was actually lower than a previous analysis in 1997. However, seniors experience a higher rate of purse snatching and larceny.

• Approximately one in five personal crimes against seniors involves theft.

• Seniors are also are more vulnerable to property crimes, including vehicle theft and burglary.

• In addition, roughly 92 percent of crimes against those aged 65 and over are property crimes.

• Compared to other age groups, persons age 65 and older face male offenders about 79 percent of the time, usually strangers over the age of 30.

Today 1 in 8 Americans are aged 65 or older and among those 85 and older there are 43 men for every 100 women. And while for some people, taking a self-defense class that teaches physical tactics to use to defend oneself during an attack is plausible, for others it’s just not practical. As we age, among other things we naturally lose speed, strength, agility, stamina, hearing, and quite sadly are left physically defenseless by the chronic degenerative diseases that afflict the aging American population.

Rather than making our parents and grandparents, the very people we owe so much to and who deserve the utmost respect, feel even more unsure of themselves by pointing out their failing physical prowess in fending off a burglar or other criminal attack, we should instead be empowering them with the easy-to-use self-defense tools that are readily available today.

Self-defense experts and law enforcement officials give their top recommendation to the Taser C2 model stun gun, the most effective product for home protection on the market today and the only product that allows the homeowner the ability to maintain a safe 15 foot distance from his or her attacker or act as a close-range contact stun gun. Unlike conventional weapons, a Taser is effective when fired anywhere on an attacker’s body and is able to penetrate multiple layers of clothing.

For less than the cost of a Starbucks latte, your senior relative, friend, or neighbor could relax in the safety of knowing that he or she stood a chance should some criminal decide to launch an attack on their home.

The results were a drop in earnings and damaged employee morale caused by massive layoffs after orders fell drastically. Amazingly, however, the company has experienced a drastic turnaround in recent quarters that executives credit to product-design changes, concentrated efforts in consumer education and a focus on breaking into key law enforcement and military markets at home and internationally.

In addition to attempting to reach professional markets, Taser has renewed its efforts to reach the average everyday consumer to develop an expanding market base. To answer the average customer’s desires, the company completely redesigned their consumer stun gun product. These redesigns, which were first introduced to the market last summer, have fueled Taser’s recent growth with sales growth at about 47 percent and profit more than doubling during the first quarter of 2008.

The company’s founders, brothers Rick and Tom Smith, started the company under the name Air Taser Inc. in 1993 with a product tailored toward the consumer. An interesting side note, considering the recent revival that their company has been fueled by the very source of their beginnings in the first place.

However, aside from the redesign of consumer products to attract greater sales, Taser maintains only 20 percent of the US law enforcement market and less than 5 percent in foreign markets. In order to penetrate more of those markets, the company formed an advisory group made up of former military, Secret Service, and law enforcement personnel to spur expansion into both governmental and military agencies.

To this end, Taser developed several new products specifically for their law enforcement and military market customers. One such product was the Taser X26, its newest law enforcement model, which shoots two darts connected by thin wires to a distance of up to 35 feet. This new gun emits up to 50,000 volts of electricity through the darts with some models available equipped with audio and video. Resulting sales of the X26 model went up 61 percent to $61.6 million in 2007.

But with the military and law enforcement markets clearly under control with such enormous growth, Taser once again turned its focus to the consumer market. In 2007, the company rolled out its Taser C2 model with much fanfare at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show.

When considering redesign of the C2, Taser completely revamped the gun’s physical appearance to less closely resemble a handgun. The new device looks like a trendy and colorful electric razor and at a much smaller size that easily fits inside any handbag. Taser also took the safety concerns of its critics into account and now ships them to customers in inactive mode. This ensures extra security by requiring new users to complete a background check online or by phone before the stun gun can be activated.

While critics may argue that Taser’s continued success remains to be seen, adaptability within their market and continued commitment to public safety ensure that they continue to be the most recognizable name in personal safety devices worldwide.

Naturally, by their very design, stun batons have particular benefits over the use of a traditional stun gun. Stun guns inherently suffer range issues with traditional models being limited to use only when the attacker is in close proximity. In some situations if you are near enough to use a stun gun, your attacker is close enough to disarm you or otherwise cause harm. Stun batons, on the other hand, have a greatly increased range in which they can be discharged and because of this have an extended reach. This allows you to distance yourself from your attacker much more than when wielding a traditional stun gun. These long reaching self-defense weapons can be fired more than once.

The word “baton” naturally brings to mind a visual image of a cumbersome and difficult to conceal hulk of a weapon. However, some newer stun baton models have been developed to be telescopic as a way around the bulk problem. The telescopic stun baton, when not in use, is approximately the size of a common household flashlight. In fact, some have a flashlight mounted on top to conveniently serve a dual purpose. When collapsed and not in use, most telescopic stun batons are merely a foot long but can be quickly extended to a full length of about 20 inches in an attack situation. This added length easily puts enough space between you and your attacker, while still delivering a disarming stun that allows ample time for escape. The entire metal arm of the stun baton is electrified, which means that an attacker who is also brazen enough to grab for the baton will receive a surprising stun.

Besides their length and optional mounted flashlight, another advantage of stun batons is the fact that most are manufactured with an alarm. With a simple push of the button, stun alarm batons let you alert others in the vicinity to danger. Many times simply sounding an alarm is all that is needed to frighten away an attacker.

If you frequently find yourself in situations that you believe to be dangerous, you should consider investing in your own safety by purchasing a stun baton. Not only will this device give you peace of mind, you will also have invaluable tools readily available for use if you one day find yourself under attack.

Bipolar attacks and psychotic episodes can include:

• Hallucinations – sensory experiences of things that do not exist outside the mind,
• Delusions – a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact, and
• Paranoia – the projection of personal conflicts, which are ascribed to the supposed hostility of others, sometimes progressing to disturbances of consciousness and aggressive acts believed to be performed in self-defense.

Because of their very age, the people who are most commonly come into contact with youth patients suffering from mental illness are their parent(s) or guardian(s) and other close relatives within the home. But what course of action does a parent have when the prescription drugs and therapies prescribed under the care of a licensed medical professional fail to keep a psychotic episode or bipolar attack is imminent? The news media is too often peppered with sensational stories of a mentally ill youth being horribly injured, sometimes even killed, when an alarmed family member has had to resort to calling in law enforcement for assistance. Law enforcement authorities until recently have not received the training that they desperately need to confront and subdue an irrational, mentally ill youth. Many times their arrival on the scene in these types of incidents results in escalation to the point where force, physical and/or weapons, is relied on rather than de-escalation and peaceful resolution.

This is exactly why the debate over when the possession and use of a self-defense device, such as a stun gun, by a family member is ethical and beneficial for potentially saving the victim(s) and the attacking child during such event from a further tragedy. Honestly, just think about it rationally. If your own precious child suddenly became delusional or hallucinatory, wouldn’t you rather quickly and safely use a stun gun to subdue him than have police become involved with a lethal outcome highly probable?

The results of a stun gun’s use on a child in the midst of a mental health-related hallucination or delusion are disorientation and loss of balance. And while very painful, the entire process takes only a few seconds to disable the youth for as long as 30 minutes. Even though the voltage delivered by a stun can be as high as 1,000,000, the amperage is so low that it will not inflict any permanent damage to the person who receives the stun shock. A bullet fired from a weapon can kill, but a parent confidently armed with a stun gun and trained in its proper use can easily save the life of her mentally-troubled child as well as her own life.

The nature of their business and various work environments makes real estate agents much more susceptible to falling victim to random acts of violence than any private citizen who resides alone. Real estate professionals often spend the majority of their days driving clients, many of whom are complete strangers, around for hours looking at properties and homes for sale. By the nature of their sales profession, they willing enter vacant homes to show clients. It’s in this very setting –an empty home with no one else within sight or earshot—that a violent criminal has total freedom to carry out any violent act imaginable. The only thing that law enforcement can do is show up after a crime has been carried out to investigate, which provides very little help the victim.

All realtors should be encouraged to implement the following safety measures, especially when in the field showing properties:

• Always meet a client at your office initially and document your meeting in some manner.
• Schedule meetings in your office when you know coworkers and other clients are likely to be present. If impossible, at very least arrange to meet your clients in a public place such as a coffee shop or restaurant.
• Acquire your client's name and telephone number, and call to confirm that the telephone number is a real working number not a fake.
• Before leaving your workplace to show homes, notify one or more of your colleagues so that they know where you are going. It’s wise to document on paper your planned route for the day.
• Consider driving your car and having the client drive his/her car alone to the property or home being shown. Many realtors prefer to ride together with their clients so that they can talk on the way and establish report, but taking separate cars remains the safest choice.
• If you feel suspicious about a specific client, enlist the help of a friend or colleague along to a showing to go along with you on a showing.
• Lock all car doors immediately after entering your car and again whenever you leave your car unattended.
• Always carry a cell phone at all times. Many cell phones are set up so that by pressing and holding the "9" button a 911 call is automatically placed.
• Carry pepper spray or a stun gun, both of which can help you keep dangerous dogs at bay, as well as, predators posing as clients.

By adhering to these simple safety precautions and possibly even becoming familiar with a few self-defense tactics, every real estate professional can feel secure in expanding their client base.