Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Axon Enterprise, Inc. (AXON), formerly Taser Intl. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (672)	3/14/2005 8:50:15 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to 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."