Yesterday, the San Francisco Police Commission rejected the Chief’s request to arm his force with Tasers. The Commission was worried about the lethality of the world’s most famous non-lethal weapon. While ambulance chasers lawyers have shadowed Taser International since the company began, the company has fended them off. Aside from a loss in Arizona back in ’08—where the judge ruled that Taser was 15 percent responsible for a civilian’s death—Taser has prevailed in court. In fact, the company recently “celebrated” the 100th failed attempt to tag them with a wrongful death lawsuit. After The City by the Bay decided to keep Tasers out of law enforcement’s arsenal, I contacted the company for a statement. And a statement I received, courtesy Steve Tuttle, Vice President of Communications:
Typically we don’t comment on any order until a Purchase Order is in hand. However, I will make an exception to provide you a statement that will hopefully help you out:
“We remain ready to provide further background information to shed light upon the success that more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide have had with our life saving technology. The process for getting acceptance by these thousands of agencies has often proven arduous. We’ve overcome objections with science, cost/benefit models, safety studies, facts, and patience. Accordingly, we will continue to work in partnership with law enforcement and stand behind our safety, effectiveness and accountability. TASER will continue to work with the city of San Francisco if requested.”
Don’t hold your breath, Steve. Meanwhile, here’s his employer’s chart on the “expected injuries” per 1,000 “exposures.” Oh, so that’s what you call it . . .
