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Technology Stocks : Axon Enterprise, Inc. (AXON), formerly Taser Intl.
AXON 594.20+5.5%Dec 19 4:00 PM EST

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To: John Carragher who wrote (672)3/14/2005 8:50:15 AM
From: John Carragher  Read Replies (1) of 974
 
3/14/05

Georgia department calls Tasers a terrific tool
By ANNA JOLLY, Staff Writer
PLATTSBURGH — The growing Gwinnett County Police Department in Georgia has used Tasers for three years and will equip more officers with the devices.

"I don’t think there is a more effective intermediate tool for police officers to use," said Gwinnett County Police Chief Charles Walters.

The department has about 600 officers; of those, 150 patrol officers are trained to carry Tasers, which deliver a 50,000-volt shock that temporally paralyzes suspects.

"We’re going to keep adding them until all the patrol officers have them," Walters said.

Officers complete eight hours of training and are all shocked with the guns before being authorized to use the non-lethal weapon on anyone else.

At a cost of $900 apiece, Walters sees Tasers as an investment in the safety of his officers and the public.

"A lot of agencies down here have them," said the Taser proponent. "We were by no means the first."

In three years, Tasers have been used about 25 times by Gwinnett County Police.

No one has been injured by Tasers in Walters’s jurisdiction.

But the weapons have become more controversial since Gwinnett County started buying them.

Several people in Georgia have died after being shocked with the guns, but none of the fatalities have been directly attributed to Tasers, Walters said.

A bill recently introduced before the Georgia Legislature, which would have banned Tasers in the state, was soundly defeated.

"I would recommend it (Tasers) to any police agency in the United States," Walters said. "When they are used correctly, they are safe for the officers and the people they’re arresting."
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