Tasers and Stun Guns

Those of us who were required to go to graduate school for a few years will remember the research methods classes we had to take. I at least, was taught that although I might have an assumption based on some observation, I still needed to design my research to test whether the assumption was valid or not.

Sunday, March 9, 2008, I read an article in the Idaho State Journal by Dr. George W. Katsillometes, entitled, “THE TRUTH ABOUT TASERS, BRO”. Dr. Katsillometes doesn’t seem to have taken the same research methods class I did. He claims to have done some research for his article, but uses emotionalism to try and convince readers that tasers are so dangerous and life threatening that even the police should not be able to use them.

In one case he points out that tasers convey 50,000 to 1 million volts into the body of the individual being hit by the taser prongs. Now, we all know that 50,000 to a million volts is a lot of volts. Just imagine being hit by that many bullets or being run over by a 50,000 pound truck or a million pound train and you may get the idea that his article was trying to convey.

So, 50,000 to a million volts is pretty bad, right? People who regularly work with electricity tell me that volts don’t mean much until you combine them with watts and amps. Using the 50,000 volts figure, these tasers are also putting out 18 watts and 133 milliamps. Although that is enough to incapacitate an individual it is no where near the deadly charge that Dr. Kasillometes wants us to think it is.

So exactly what does a taser do to someone who has been shot by one? It causes Electro Muscle Disruption (EMD). Basically, it disrupts the central nervous system and all conscious thought is overridden by subconscious thought in order to protect the nervous system from further perceived damage. The individual falls down, is probably panting and shaking uncontrollably allowing police to safely take him or her into custody without any further threat to police, bystanders or the individual.

Dr. Katsillometes also claims that security professionals and martial arts experts have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of these weapons against determined assailants. So, let’s pause here for a minute and think this through. On the one hand he wants us to believe that these weapons are so dangerous that even the police shouldn’t have them and then he says that Security and martial arts experts doubt their effectiveness. Which is it Dr.? Actually, since I taught a self defense class at Texas A&M University I will answer that question from my own experience. I recommended to my students, particularly women, that carrying a stun gun that does not fire prongs with a wire attached, but consists of a hand held device with two metal electrodes that are pushed into an assailant, probably was not normally their best option. My reasoning was that they had to get close to their assailant and that these types of devices had to be continually held against the assailant for several seconds before incapacitation occurred. I was afraid the assailant, who would probably be bigger and stronger would be able to take the stun gun away and then use it to incapacitate his intended victim. Personally, I have always differentiated between stun guns and tasers.

Others who have responded to Dr. Katsillometes's article have mentioned that no wrongful death law suit against taser manufacturers has ever been successful and that most of those deaths were attributed to other causes such as drug use etc.

Although I have never personally used a taser on anyone, several experiences that I had as a volunteer patrolman for the College Station, Texas, Police Department have convinced me that in the hands of officers trained to use them, tasers have made police work safer for the police, the community and the individuals the police have to deal with.If Dr. Katsillometes had done his research properly instead of trying to use emotionalism, I believe he would have come to a similar conclusion.