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Flashback: TASER launches new headcam for police – with ‘privacy mode’ | All officers need Tasers, police associations say | TASER bracelets considered for airline passengers | ‘Peel and Stick’ Tasers Electrify Riot Control | Tasers: the next generation

David Hambling, Wired.com
July 9, 2009

Controversial electroshock weaponeer Taser International is quickly building up it arsenal. But the results from the safety and field tests of that new gear – well, that’s coming along much more slowly.

The firm recently made available a shocking XREP shotgun projectile. It also introduced a new specialist shotgun (pictured) optimized for the XREP and other ‘”less lethal” rounds. And then there’s the ghastly teaser campaign for the company’s forthcoming “X3.”

Danger Room looked at XREP –- eXtended Range Electronic Projectile -– before its big launch last year. The original work was carried out for the Marine Corps, which was looking for a less-lethal weapon for clearing buildings. XREP packages a complete Taser system including power supply in a 12-gauge shotgun round with a range of 100 feet. On striking, it inflicts a 20-second Taser shock cycle via some clever electrodes, immobilizing the target.

Taser has announced two versions of XREP. There’s a finned round for standard shotguns, and a rifled version for the Taser X12 Less Lethal Shotgun, made by Mossberg. The X12 is customised for low-velocity rounds (like bean bags and XREP) and rifled for greater accuracy. The bright yellow color warns users that it is less-lethal only and the weapon will not accept standard shotgun rounds.

The example in the picture has an X26 Taser mounted under the barrel. While the XREP projectile is not as dangerous at close range as other less lethal shotgun rounds that rely on impact force, it’s not recommended at very close quarters, so the X26 can fill the gap. (”Bean bag” rounds, shotgun rounds typically consisting of a canvas bag of shot used to subdue suspects, have been known to break ribs and cause other injuries including liver trauma, abdominal wall penetration, and internal bleeding leading to death.)

After the launch last year the XREP went into field trials; Taser International have not yet shared the results of these trials. The first things any purchaser is likely to ask are “Does it work?” and “Is it safe?” …Taser International have not yet responded to a request for information on this. We don’t even know if the XREP was ever actually used in an actual arrest.

The X3 is due to be launched at Taser’s annual conference on July 27th. The company is drip-feeding information about the new weapon, with a X3 special web site revealing one new feature a day in a kind of slow-motion strip-tease.

The X3 has its own Facebook page and, worst of all, it Twitters. Presumably the agency were briefed to come up with something cute and non-threatening. Evidently they decided that the X3’s image should come across less as Arnold Schwarzenegger and more as Paris Hilton, judging from these tweets:

“Check out my color screen. Like a Tele-Tubby … only a little more intense!”

“Just out of the solar radiation box. Tanning bed for TASER’s… 3 months of Arizona summer sun radiation. Check that one off!”

“Never thought I’d get so excited about the feel of a safety switch. But wait until you feel it – smooooooth.”

It’s not the feel of the safety switch you need to worry about so much as the feel of getting zapped by one. The most concrete piece of information we have from the press release that the X3 has something called “Rotational Pulse Drive” which allows it to simultaneously incapacitate multiple targets, making it more effective… but of course being able to shock several people at once also gives more potential for abuse. Stories, and videos, of Taser abuse are legion — from the “Don’t Tase me, bro” incident at a John Kerry event to an officer Tasering a 72-year old great-grandmother.

One of Taser International’s repsonses to the abuse problem has been the introduction of Axon, a wearable video camera system which will record a cop’s every move and word. Given that the X3 includes a color screen (as well as it’s own GUI, apparently a first for a handheld weapon) then something like Axon may be included as standard.

This is supported by a comment by Rick Smith, Taser International’s CEO in a press release, saying that it offers “exponentially increased capabilities, including vastly enhanced data, networking, and communication functionality as well as enhanced safety features.”

This should help settle disagreements about tasering incidents, if the footage is made available. However, as the comments made by Danger Room readers in the two incidents mentioned above show, even when you have a video available there can be radically different views on whether Taser use was necessary or appropriate. Expect more videos and more arguments in future.

Source | See Also under Tasers: Mounties discussed Tasing Dziekanski prior to altercation | UK Police watchdog to investigate Taser arrest, beating posted on YouTube | Judge: B.C. taser probe can rule on Mountie misconduct issue | New video shows officer shove, then taser 72-year-old great grandmother | Mounties want to bar Taser inquiry from finding misconduct | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | RCMP halts use of malfunctioning Tasers after B.C. decision | Taser inquiry into Dziekanski’s death hears last witness | Dziekanski’s death following Taser jolts no coincidence: expert | Dziekanski ‘would not have died’ if spared Taser, expert tells inquiry | TASER’s medical expert says weapon didn’t cause Dziekanski’s death | RCMP didn’t tell pathologist Dziekanski suffered multiple TASER stuns, inquiry hears | RCMP spokesman told to hold off correcting false details of Dziekanski incident, inquiry hears | RCMP ’sorry’ for errors in taser briefings | MPs grill top Mountie on tasers | RCMP shocked 16 people five times or more last year | RCMP still uses Tasers too often, watchdog finds | RCMP credibility battered by TASER inquiry | Quebec orders police to turn in Tasers | RCMP softened Taser-use restrictions | RCMP supervising officer contradicts earlier testimony in Dziekanski inquiry | Boys, 15, Tasered by police, stats show | Toronto police used Tasers 367 times in 2008: statistics | Stun gun shock to head may cause seizures, doctors warn | TASER launches new headcam for police – with ‘privacy mode’ | TASERed immigrant ‘had the stapler open… he was in a combative stance’ | Dziekanski’s ‘combative behaviour’ justified Taser jolt: Mountie | Witness alters story but maintains Dziekanski attempted to staple RCMP | Airport refused help from Polish-speaking employee before Taser death | Dziekanski didn’t wield stapler before RCMP fired Taser, inquiry hears | Selkirk teen sues RCMP over stun gun allegations | Ban stun gun use on young people, Ontario child advocate urges | Emergency call taken out of context: airport Taser death witness | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | U.S. study raises more questions about TASER safety | Second phase of Taser inquiry begins in Vancouver | RCMP watchdog launches new Taser probe around deaths | Police forces withhold information on Taser use from public: audit | US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons | No charges to be laid against RCMP officers in airport Taser death | RCMP to face no charges in case of TASERed Polish immigrant: Report | Taser International disputes CBC/Radio-Canada testing as ‘flawed’ | Red Deer man shot by Taser had pre-existing heart condition: doctor | Cops Taser Drowned Dad’s Distraught Son | Amnesty urges moratorium on Taser use after CBC/Radio-Canada probe | Some tested Tasers fire stronger current than company says: CBC/Radio-Canada probe | RCMP Investigates, Clears Self of Wrongdoing in Case of TASERed Inuvik Girl | US Cops Tase 54 Year Old Woman For Sitting In Wrong Seat At Football Game | Prison service ices TASER pilot project | B.C. man dies after Taser used during Calgary arrest | Mountie involved in fatal crash was supervisor at time of airport Taser death | Drug abuser executed by TASER blasts – TASER toll stands at 25 | Mountie arrested in fatal crash present at airport Taser death | Inquiry into Vancouver airport Taser death put off 2nd time | Tasers being used for pain compliance during interrogation, suit alleges | Family sues police claiming Taser raid on autistic son in own bedroom | Naked Langley, B.C., robbery suspect dies after Taser jolt | Tasering of mom with baby ‘necessary’ in order to take child, police say | Brampton man is 23rd Canadian TASER death; police duly investigate themselves | RCMP didn’t study Taser use enough: Report | Probe into tasering of teenaged girl reopened | Police Taser and abuse suspect, lie on stand, man still convicted | RCMP should end use of Tasers: Zaccardelli | Police delay report on Taser until 2009 | Mounties pinned me down in cell and tasered me, Manitoba girl says | 21st Canadian TASER death occurs in Winnipeg alleyway | RCMP e-mails throw Dziekanski Taser probe into question, critics say | TASER bracelets considered for airline passengers | Taser use could put police under fire | Inquiry says ‘insidious’ TASERs being used as tool of convenience, should be reclassified, restricted under criminal code | Man dies in custody after Taser incident involving Ontario police | Ban Tasers if RCMP doesn’t curb use by year’s end: Commons committee | One-third of people shot by Taser need medical attention: probe | RCMP firing Tasers multiple times at subjects, probe reveals | U.S. jury shocks Taser, investors, with rare loss in court | Youth Worker Subjected to Warrantless Raid on Secret Evidence | Tasering violated suspect’s rights, judge rules | RCMP willing to change Taser policy, inquiry told | Tasers pose risk to heart, MDs testify | ‘Peel and Stick’ Tasers Electrify Riot Control | Canadian police have been brainwashed, Taser inquiry told | Mounties censor Taser report | Taser group’s chair to defend stun guns at public inquiry | RCMP release heavily censored incident report about Dziekanski | Inquiry examining Taser use, Dziekanski’s death begins Monday | Chicago study calls Taser’s safety claims into question | Tasers: the next generation | Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man | Officer injured in Taser demonstration

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 10:27 pm and is filed under accountability, militarization, police. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.