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TASER guns are the best non-lethal option available to law enforcement agencies. Period.

I chase fugitives, and in my dealings with them, I find that most are non-violent and cooperative once they are tracked down. They realize they are going back to jail, and rather than risk additional charges, they usually surrender.

Our police agencies, however, face very different situations. Law Enforcement is facing an increasing amount of violent offenders from all directions. Police have seen traffic stops go bad, and domestic disputes turn deadly. These situations are indicative of society as a whole, who seems to have lost regard for any kind of authority. American has become a very self-centered and rebellious nation.

An officer never knows at what point something may turn sour and they have to protect the lives of themselves or the lives of innocent bystanders. Once a perpetrator escalates the use of force options above verbal' (note that the responsibility is that of the perp), the officer is compelled to act decisively and quickly.

My options are much the same as that of any sworn officer. I have been trained in tactical communication, use of baton, pepper, handgun and TASER. In my training, I have been hit and kicked in the face, hammer-locked with a police baton, pepper sprayed and TASERed twice. Nothing in the world is like the TASER.

TASER, and the police agencies using TASER, take a ton of flak every year from individuals who do not understand what it is or how it is used.

TASER is absolutely non-lethal to an otherwise healthy individual. Have there been deaths associated with the use of a TASER gun? Yes. But in each and EVERY case, drugs or unusual health problems have been indicated in the extenuating circumstances. So the question comes up: If a TASER could possible be lethal, why use it? The answer is that it is much more effective than pepper spray, less damaging than a collapsible steel baton, and certainly less lethal than handgun ammo. Rather than indict the police for using TASER, what about placing the blame on the criminal who forced the police into a situation where the criminal had to be subdued?

In every TASER situation, the criminal had a chance to not push the issue, to comply with police instruction and to surrender. How do I know this? Because there is a standard operating procedure for law enforcement in this country known as the USE OF FORCE CONTINUUM. Across the country the guidelines are roughly the same:
1. Presence
2. Verbalization
3. Empty

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