| Type | Public (NASDAQ: TASR) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Key people | Patrick W. Smith, co-founder, CEO. Thomas P. Smith, co-founder, President. |
| Products | Electroshock guns |
| Revenue | $102 million USD (2009) |
| Website | www.taser.com |
Taser International, Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is a developer, manufacturer, and distributor of the Taser less-lethal[1] electroshock guns in the United States. It is based at Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Taser is the most common brand of electroshock gun.
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The company was founded in 1991 (under the name Air Taser) by brothers Rick and Tom Smith. The Smiths were upset when two of Rick's former teammates in high school were murdered in a road rage incident in a resort parking lot in Scottsdale. In 1993, they began working with Jack Cover on a non-lethal weapon; eventually Cover first developed an early version of the Taser.
Taser takes its name after a fictional weapon: Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle.[2]
In June 1994, a non-firearm version of the Taser was developed, allowing it to bypass federal and state laws that only apply to firearms, and a tracking system (the "anti-felon identification" or "AFID" system) was created. This enables the Taser to disperse confetti with serial numbers when it is fired and links the specific Taser to the scene where it is used.
In 1998, the company adopted its current name, intending to emphasize the company's international expansion. In the same year, the company began marketing the weapon to law enforcement agencies and police departments, in addition to the private buyers who had bought Tasers for personal self-protection in prior years.
In 2001, Taser International developed its "Advanced Taser Electro-Muscular Disruption" system. In May 2001, they filed for an initial public offering and began trading NASDAQ under the stock symbol TASR. In May 2003, the company released its new Taser X26 model.
According to Taser International, the company has not lost any product liability lawsuits:
This lawsuit represents the fifty-ninth (59th) wrongful death or injury lawsuit that has been dismissed or judgment entered in favor of TASER International. This number includes a small number of police officer training injury lawsuits that were settled and dismissed in cases where the settlement economics to TASER International were significantly less than the cost of litigation. TASER International has not lost any product liability lawsuit.[3]
However, on June 6, 2008, the company lost its first product-liability suit.[4]
In late January 2008, the public safety committee of the current Canadian House of Commons launched an investigation into their use, after the death of Robert Dziekanski.[5] The British Columbia government's Braidwood Inquiry is also currently underway.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has recently conducted a test, and found that TASER X26 Stun Guns manufactured before 2005 have a faulty fail-safe system.
Taser's namesake product is a handheld electroshock weapon designed to incapacitate a single person from a distance.
XREP (EXtended Range Electro-Muscular Projectile) is a wireless Taser round that can be fired from a 12 gauge shotgun.[6]
Protector is a monthly service that helps parents monitor cell-phone use of children and young adults. Protector gives tools to parents to help protect their children against dangerous behaviors such as texting while driving and sexting while protecting their child's privacy with their TrustShield technology. Based on the information on their website, TrustShield allows parents and children to agree on what level of privacy will be enforced and then is clearly communicated by all parties, including the child. Although monitoring of a minors activities is legal in almost all states for children under the age of 18, critics of child monitoring and spyware technologies designed to be installed without the child's knowledge say that it invades a child's privacy and freedom. Protector is due to ship in the summer of 2010.[7]
The AXON On-Officer Video System captures videos of critical situations from the officer's perspective. With a push of a button on the ComHub worn on the chest, the AXON goes into "Live" mode and also retrieves the previous 30 seconds of buffered video. This ensures that not only are situations captured after the activation of the AXON, but also the events leading up to the cause of the activation. With video recordings of exactly why necessary force was used, officers are able to justify their actions in the court of law and in the eyes of the public.
The EVIDENCE.COM site is a cloud-based evidence warehouse, offering digital storage in a highly secure, easily accessible environment. With EVIDENCE.COM services, both agencies and legal professionals may quickly access key evidence data without the difficult and sometimes-impossible inventory searches common to yesterday's storage methods. EVIDENCE.COM services provide a full featured system designed around easy-to-use dashboards and intuitive video features. Police agencies across the US have changed the way officers report incidents to include video evidence. EVIDENCE.COM has made the reporting process much easier, which allows the officers to spend more time in the field and less time in the building compiling reports.