taser voltage can exceed specifications

A new study has found that the type of Taser stun gun used most by police officers can fire more electricity than the company says is possible, which the study's authors say raises the risk of cardiac arrest as much as 50 percent in some people.

The study, led by a Montreal biomedical engineer and a U.S. defense contractor at the request of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., also concluded that even stun guns firing at expected electrical levels carry some risk of inducing a heart attack, depending on the circumstances.

The researchers' analysis contradicts Taser's position that electric shocks from the weapons cannot kill. The study said the results raise questions about quality control in the stun gun's manufacturing and decline in performance over time.

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[RugMeister]

If cops haven't yet been killed by Tasers, it's because they get a physical exam before they become cops, and they're all in great shape. But most of the people who are getting tazed are members of the public who are in completely unknown states of health.

[junkymagi]

0:40... "it is running at 100 percent so we do not recommend testing"??

Seriously? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

The only two reasons to insist on not testing is either they are idiots or they know that something will show up in testing.

4 out of 44 went up to 50% over spec? That's 9%. How many thousands are in use? That's a lot of deaths waiting to happen.

2:04 "not relevant from a medical safety perspecetive"

Another stupid quote from idiots. Of course the amount is relevant...

[prescient8]

@RugMeister - so the police shouldn't fire tasers at unhealthy criminals and troublemakers, way to go lol

[TyrantsAREhere]

4 police carrying tasers were shot by 1 man with a pistol while drinking coffee in front of their laptops at a coffee shop yesterday. 4 police couldnt have tasered 1 man? theyve been so useful in the past. Sounds like we need to get cops off laptops and out of coffee shops for their safety, and get rid of their guns and tasers, since it's proven now they render useless.

[RugMeister]

Some of the cops using tasers are definitely sadomasochistic. Watch this...

v=XrK-6hIepuU

[rodericksilva]

Real experts will tell you that the danger level in electricity starts at around 5 Amps. The X-26 puts out 0.0021 Amps. There is no danger. No cops have ever been killed and every cop that carries a Taser has been "hit" with a Taser.

No one is investigating the hundreds of thousands (maybe in the millions by now) of incidents where people would have beeen hit with an Asp or a "night stick" PR-24 and had major injuries?

The Taser saves lives and injuries.

[Clothos60]

Tasers are not meant to replace guns. Tasers are meant to replace the physical struggle to subdue a suspect in which an officer could be injured. A taser has a limited range (about 10 ft for first shot) and is therefore no replacement for a gun.

Furthermore, police are trained to fire at the biggest part of the target, the torso, and not to play a sideshow hero and try to "wing" someone. In Canada, police don't pull a gun unless the situation is deadly serious.

[democracyisdead]

tasers are meant to replace guns. Do people that get tasered, deserve to be shot? Or, are cops sadomasacistic?

[PrinceWingDog]

oh so what if they are dangerous they are funny as hell to watch someone get hit by one