Are Tasers Really Non-Lethal?

Since September 1999 there have been 167 deaths were a Taser was involved. This begs the question. Are Tasers really a non-lethal alternative to fire arms? If you were to take the time to look into each case you would see that the there is no definitive answer. In 27 cases, medical examiners said Tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in someone's death. In 35 cases, coroners and other officials reported the stun gun was not a factor.

In those cases where the Taser was listed as a cause of death it was not listed as the primary cause. In fact in most cases the Taser simply could not be ruled out as a cause of death. Generally the causes of death were cited as drug usage and pre-existing medical conditions unknown to the police officers. The manufacturers of this "weapon" were required to conduct extensive research prior to releasing the equipment to the law enforcement and military communities. The critics of the Taser argue that there have been more and more deaths where a Taser was involved. This is true, but what they are ignoring is that more and more law enforcement agencies have adopted it as a viable non-lethal alternative to fire arms. It is common sense then that the more law enforcement agencies that use it that the number of deaths were a Taser was involved would increase as well. Of course the fact remains that the Taser has been directly attributed to the death of anyone.

I do believe that more training is needed in the use of the "weapon" though. There have cases where the elderly and juveniles have been tased simply for not adhering to verbal orders. While I understand that officer safety is a priority I do not see how a senior citizen or a small child who passively resists orders warrants the use of a Taser. Unfortunately I see it as a case of; we have a new toy so let's use it. All this does is to continue to cause unnecessary attention to the valid uses of the "weapon." The bottom line is that the Taser is an excellent tool to have if used properly. It has been proven to more effective than pepper spray and should continue to be used.