EDITORIAL: tasers and public safety

December 13, 2008
Kingston Whig-Standard

Police departments across Canada, including the RCMP, are pulling older Tasers from service after concerns were raised about their safety in a CBC investigative report. The study found that four out of 44 of the X26 model stun guns fired charges significantly higher than what the company's specifications indicate. The medical analysis accompanying the findings suggests that these higher charges could increase the chance of inducing cardiac arrest by up to 50%.

Following the CBC report, a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said they had instructed all police services in the province "to test their X26 models to ensure they're functioning correctly."

But here in Kingston, Police Chief Stephen Tanner has decided not to follow the ministry directive, even though all 34 of the force's Tasers are X26s. Tanner said nothing in the ministry instructions specifically calls for the weapons to be "electrically tested." He also told the Whig-Standard that he doesn't want to leave his officers without access to the Tasers.

"The risk would be much greater in not having those weapons on the street, either for the officers not to have them to protect themselves or to have that alternative level of force available to them," Tanner said.

Tasers are highly controversial. Since 2001, more than 400 people in Canada and the U. S. have died after being shocked by the weapons, which are considered a less deadly alternative to handguns. Kingston police used Tasers five times this year, without any reported problems.

Arizona-based Taser International is denying any irregularities with the X26 and disputes the CBC findings. It says the study was flawed because the weapons under scrutiny hadn't been test-fired first, as they recommend.

But National Technical Systems, the Californiabased engineering firm that conducted the tests for the CBC, confirmed that one of the X26 Tasers did emit a higher-than-expected charge on a second firing.

Tanner said his officers always pre-test. But that provides no assurance that a safe level of current is being discharged.

Tanner's decision is hardly reassuring for Kingstonians.

The main issue, after all, is not officer safety but public safety.

It's as though someone had discovered that the 9-mm handguns used by Kingston police were leaving wounds indicative of much larger-calibre pistols -yet retesting or reassessment isn't necessary.

No one wants Kingston police officers to be denied the proper equipment to do their job. However, if they have 34 Tasers that were used only five times all year, wouldn't it be possible to take a certain number out of use to be tested on a rotating basis?

This is an urgent matter of public safety. If Tanner doubts the potential health risks, he should call Pierre Savard, the University of Montreal biomedical engineer who has written an analysis on the health risks posed by Tasers. Savard told the Arizona Republic newspaper this week that the weapons can accelerate some people's heart rates to dangerous levels. "As a scientist," he concluded, "the risk is not zero."

And that, we hasten to add, is his assessment of Tasers that fire at properly calibrated levels.

Chief Tanner must change his position and begin testing of his force's stun guns.

Canadian police pull old tasers off streets

December 12, 2008
by Ronald J. Hansen and Robert Anglen, The Arizona Republic

Police departments across Canada, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, are pulling older Taser stun guns off the streets following a new study that found the weapons can deliver more power than the manufacturer says is possible.

Police departments in the United States, however, appear to have taken no similar action.

Taser International responded to the study, commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., with e-mails to police departments claiming the research is flawed.

"It is unfortunate that false allegations based on scientifically flawed data can create such uncertainty," Steve Tuttle, a Taser vice president, told The Arizona Republic. Taser also said researchers redid the test after the company pointed out errors.

However, Taser's assertions about specific data flaws contradict company documents and a letter from one of its top scientists. An audio recording also shows Taser was told that no retest took place.

"No, we never did (a retest). Absolutely not," said reporter Frederic Zalac of the CBC, which commissioned the study by a U.S. defense contractor and a Montreal biomedical engineer. "It is completely untrue."

The study, released last week, found that four of 44 stun guns of the X26 model used most by police departments fired jolts that were 47 percent to 58 percent higher than the manufacturer's specifications. The four high-firing weapons were sold to two police departments in 2004.

An accompanying medical analysis concluded that the higher jolts pose as much as a 50 percent risk of inducing cardiac arrest in some people and that stun guns firing at expected electrical levels pose some risk.

Taser maintains that shocks from its stun guns can't kill.

The president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, based in Washington, D.C., said Thursday that he was not aware of the study. Police officials with Valley departments, where most officers are armed with Tasers, have said they will evaluate it.

Canadian authorities are not waiting. Calling it a matter of national safety, the ministers of public safety for the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec in the past week ordered Tasers manufactured before 2006 to be recalled for testing and recalibration, if necessary.

"It is just to be secure, safe," said Mario Vaillancourt, spokesman for the public-safety minister in Quebec. "We want to be sure that all Tasers are safe in the province."

The order applies to Tasers being used by police officers, corrections officers and transit police. It is unknown how many Tasers could be recalled for testing.

"All impacted organizations are currently doing an inventory to determine exact numbers of devices that will require mandatory outside testing," British Columbia Public Safety Minister John van Dongen said in a written statement.

Van Dongen said his office will work with police departments to establish a standard for regular calibration of all Tasers used in the province.

Similar moves have been announced by the Mounties and police departments in Nova Scotia and Winnipeg.

For its part, Taser considers the CBC testing troublesome and wrong.

"Taser International stands behind the quality and safety of its products and is providing full cooperation and all information necessary to allay any concerns," said Tuttle, the Taser vice president.

"Taser International welcomes proper testing of its devices and has provided its factory test protocols to test laboratories in Canada so police agencies can avoid the scientific errors made by the CBC."

Taser officials have not yet addressed the issues related to the study's medical claims or issues the study raised about quality control in manufacturing or whether the stun guns' performance declines over time.

Tuttle on Thursday declined to comment on documents and a recording that contradict Taser's challenges to the study.

In an e-mail to police and others, Taser said that researchers failed to conduct a "spark test" to warm up the stun guns, which the company said is critical to getting a reliable shock reading. The company also said researchers measured the shocks using the wrong resistance level to calculate the impact of shocks on the human body.

Resistance, measured in ohms, refers to an object's ability to withstand an electrical charge. The higher the resistance level, the less effect the charge will have.

Magne Nerheim, Taser's vice president of research and development, said the study measured the Taser shocks at 250 ohms instead of the necessary 600 ohms, leading to false measurements.

However, in a May 21 letter to Canadian police officers who were testing two Taser stun guns involved in a death, Nerheim advised them to use a 250-ohm resistance.

The letter accompanied a step-by-step guide for hooking up the equipment and included an arrow pointing to an image of a 250-ohm resistor.

The testing protocol from Taser does not mention the spark test.

Taser also maintained in its e-mail to police that the CBC rested the guns after consulting with Taser. "The four devices were retested using the recommended spark test," resulting in current levels within the manufacturer's specifications, the e-mail said.

Zalac, of the CBC, said this didn't happen and supplied an audio recording of a Dec. 3 telephone conversation with a Taser representative. In it, Zalac says that no Tasers were retested using Taser's recommended spark test. Zalac tells the Taser official that one Taser was tested twice and that the results were the same, with the gun producing higher shocks than the manufacturer specified.

Tasers are in use by more than 12,000 police agencies across the United States, and police credit the stun gun with reducing officer and suspect injuries. More than 400 people in the United States and Canada have died after police Taser strikes since 2001.

Pierre Savard, a University of Montreal biomedical engineer who co-authored the Canadian report with two Americans, defended their work and the response by police in his country.

"It's a responsible reaction. It's the right thing to do," Savard said. "There's a need to know more about Tasers."

Savard said no spark test was done last summer by National Technical Systems, a California-based engineering firm that measured the electrical output for the X26 stun guns.

Instead, NTS technicians noticed unusually high electrical output from two guns and fired them again seconds after the first shot, he said.

One of the guns that was fired a second time still registered an output level that was beyond what Taser expected and could pose nearly a 50 percent risk of cardiac arrest, Savard said. Four of the Tasers in the study would not fire or could not maintain a charge.

In pointing to the safety of its products, Taser has cited an international guideline that helps doctors assess the risk of heart troubles.

But the guideline Taser referred to changed in 2007 and "very significantly" understates the risk electricity can pose to humans, Savard said.

Savard said the rule is imperfect but is widely considered more accurate than the 1987 rule used by Taser.

Taser test may spark civil suit - Dziekanski stun gun should be subpoenaed: Lawyer

December 12, 2008
Nelson Bennett, Richmond News

An independent test that has resulted in two dozen Tasers being taken out of service by the RCMP could open the door to a civil suit against its manufacturer, confirms the lawyer representing the mother of Robert Dziekanski. "I believe it was an X26," said Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer representing Dziekanski's mother. "As to when it was produced, I don't know. The weapon should have been seized at the time and it should have been subjected to testing. We don't know any of that because the police are saying it's still ongoing."

Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant, died after he was Tasered by Richmond RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport in October last year. The official cause of death has yet to be determined.

The incident, which was captured on videotape, has sparked a criminal investigation and a public inquiry.

The RCMP and other police forces have assured the public that the Tasers they use are tested routinely to make sure they work right. But when CBC and Radio Canada commissioned an American lab to test 44 X26 Tasers, National Technical Systems found three did not fire and four produced more of an electrical charge than the manufacturer claims they can produce.

In some cases, the current was up to 50 per cent stronger than specified. All four of the Tasers that malfunctioned were manufactured before 2005.

The tests raise a number of questions: Was the Taser used on Dziekanski the same model as those which have proven faulty? If so, will it be tested to determine whether it was malfunctioning? And if it was faulty, could the manufacturer be held liable for Dziekanski's death?

RCMP Sgt. Tim Shields will not say what model of Taser was used on Dziekanski or when the device was acquired. That information is in the hands of the Crown.

Richmond RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Nycki Basra insists the Tasers used by the RCMP are tested regularly and questions the CBC-commissioned tests. "They are routinely calibrated," Basra said. She added the RCMP has asked to see the details of the test results from CBC.

This week the RCMP pulled 24 X26 Tasers from service across Canada for testing, and Solicitor-General John van Dongen has ordered B.C.'s municipal police forces to pull all Tasers acquired before Jan. 1, 2006 out of service.

If Dziekanski's mother decides to sue in civil court, the weapon could be subpoenaed for testing. "If, in the event there's been a civil action, when civil action commences, then we can get an order to have that examined also by an expert," Kosteckyj said. "Now, that presumes it hasn't been tampered with."

If the Taser was found to have produced more of a charge than it is supposed to, that could form grounds for a wrongful death suit against the manufacturer.

But as Kosteckyj points out, any settlement that might result would be nothing like those awarded in the U.S. The wrongful death statutes in B.C. do not allow judges to award punitive damages, Kosteckyj said.

Taser International disputes CBC/Radio-Canada testing as 'flawed'

December 10, 2008
CBC News

Taser International is responding to moves by several Canadian police agencies to pull some stun guns off the streets for testing following a recent CBC/Radio-Canada investigation into the devices, saying the U.S. laboratory tests commissioned by the CBC and Radio-Canada are "flawed."

Three of the X26 Tasers tested by U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems as part of a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation into the devices. (CBC) In written releases to news agencies, the Arizona-based company says the CBC investigation made scientific errors by failing to spark-test the weapons before firing them, which the company recommends to police officers.

However, Taser International's testing protocol used by CBC doesn't call for a spark test before conducting measurements. In addition, the CBC test found some units still delivering higher current after the equivalent of a spark test.

Taser International is also criticizing the CBC tests over the way the tests replicated electricity moving through a human body, which is measured in ohms.

The CBC tests followed the company's protocol and written instructions from Max Nerham, Taser International's vice-president of research and development. Nerheim advised using a resistance of 250 ohms when testing the Taser. After seeing the CBC test results, the company is saying that resistance should have been 600 ohms.

Statement by Taser International spokesman Peter Holran:
"It is regrettable that false allegations based on scientifically flawed data can create such uncertainty. Taser International stands behind the quality and safety of its products and is prepared to provide the assistance and information necessary to allay any concerns.

Taser International welcomes proper testing of its devices and has provided its factory test protocols to test laboratories in Canada so police agencies can avoid the scientific errors made by the CBC. Using proper test protocols will ensure that going forward decisions are not based on scientifically flawed data such as was presented in the CBC report.

According to the data provided by CBC from its test, ALL 41 Taser devices tested produced energy outputs consistent with the expected outputs published by Taser International. It also is apparent from the data that four devices each produced what can only be explained as an anomaly in peak current during one of six firings — the first firing of each device tested at 250 ohms — most likely the result of the testers failing to spark test the Taser device before the test — a requirement made to all officers and agencies in the training as a check for proper function and to condition electronic components."

The tests, conducted by the U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems, found about 10 per cent produced more electrical current than the weapon's specifications. The malfunctioning Tasers were manufactured before 2005.

This week, municipal police forces in B.C. joined the RCMP in suspending the use of all Tasers bought before Jan. 1, 2006.

Solicitor General John van Dongen said Tuesday the weapons will be tested to ensure that the electrical currents generated are consistent with the manufacturer's specifications.

"We are establishing a provincial standard for both testing and calibration so that we know that all of the equipment that's in service meets the required specifications," he said.

Van Dongen said the government has taken the action in the interest of public and officer safety.

Other police forces make similar moves

Meanwhile, other police jurisdictions across the country are also planning to test the older Tasers in the wake of the CBC/Radio-Canada investigation. Ottawa police are removing some of their Tasers from service and testing others.

The Ottawa police tactical and explosives unit has 32 Tasers, nine of which were manufactured before 2005, confirmed Staff Sgt. Mike Maloney, who is in charge of the unit. All nine older Tasers will be retired and replaced with newer devices.

The rest, all newer units, will be re-tested, even though they met standards in earlier tests, Maloney said. "We're just going to make sure we have the data to show that, yes, these Tasers are working properly."

The Winnipeg Police Service is also planning to remove older Tasers from service.

Police will decide in due course whether older X26 models of the stun guns will be tested and returned to service or new equipment will replace the old ones, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.

Of 191 Tasers in the Winnipeg police arsenal, 41 have serial numbers indicating they are older X26 models — made before 2005.

On Wednesday, Nova Scotia's justice department ordered police forces in the province to stop using the older Tasers.

Quebec was the first province to respond to the CBC/Radio-Canada testing.

On Dec. 5, the day after the test results were made public, Quebec's public security minister immediately ordered all police departments to take Tasers older than 2005 off the streets.

Police use of Tasers has generated intense public concern after Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died at Vancouver International Airport more than a year ago. An RCMP officer hit him with a Taser shortly before his death.

The Braidwood Inquiry, which has been looking at the use of Tasers and circumstances surrounding Dziekanski's death, will continue to examine the use of the weapons by municipal police, SkyTrain police, sheriffs and corrections officials in the second phase of the public hearing.

Statement by Taser International spokesman Peter Holran:

"It is regrettable that false allegations based on scientifically flawed data can create such uncertainty. Taser International stands behind the quality and safety of its products and is prepared to provide the assistance and information necessary to allay any concerns.

Taser International welcomes proper testing of its devices and has provided its factory test protocols to test laboratories in Canada so police agencies can avoid the scientific errors made by the CBC. Using proper test protocols will ensure that going forward decisions are not based on scientifically flawed data such as was presented in the CBC report.

According to the data provided by CBC from its test, ALL 41 Taser devices tested produced energy outputs consistent with the expected outputs published by Taser International. It also is apparent from the data that four devices each produced what can only be explained as an anomaly in peak current during one of six firings — the first firing of each device tested at 250 ohms — most likely the result of the testers failing to spark test the Taser device before the test — a requirement made to all officers and agencies in the training as a check for proper function and to condition electronic components."

Winnipeg police pull some tasers out of service over concerns about bigger jolts

December 10, 2008
The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG — Winnipeg police have become the latest law enforcement agency to pull some of its Tasers out of service over concerns they may give a bigger jolt of electricity than specified by the manufacturer.

In a news release, Winnipeg police say recent tests conducted by National Technical Systems determined that a number of devices manufactured before 2005 may conduct a higher electrical current than first thought.

The review applies to all X26 models acquired before 2005.

Law enforcement officials in British Columbia are also pulling those same models out of use.

In Fredericton, N.B., officials say they will test the models that they have, but won't pull them out of service.

RCMP to test some Tasers after CBC investigation

December 9, 2008
CBC News

The RCMP says it is pulling some of its Tasers for testing after a CBC News and Radio-Canada investigation found some of the stun guns deliver a higher level of electricity than the manufacturer promises.

Three of the X26 Tasers tested by U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems as part of a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation into the devices. (CBC)
In a release issued Monday, the RCMP said it will remove 24 units for analysis.

"Given concerns raised by recent CBC/Radio Canada broadcasts, the RCMP has undertaken a review of its national inventory of Conducted Energy Weapons (CEWs) and has identified 24 Taser Model X-26 units acquired by the RCMP prior to January 1st, 2006," the release said.

"It has directed that these units be removed from service and undergo testing."

In a series of CBC-commissioned tests on 41 stun guns, four of the units delivered significantly more current than Taser International says is possible. In some cases, the current was up to 50 per cent stronger than specified on the devices.

The four abnormal X26 model Tasers were manufactured before 2005, prompting some scientists to suggest police should stop using any older versions of the stun guns until they can be tested.

CBC/Radio Canada broadcast the test results on Dec. 4.

Upon learning about the CBC investigation in early November, the RCMP says it pulled a random sample of 30 of the force's Tasers for independent testing at MPB Technologies Electronic Centre.

The 30 Tasers included 15 M26 units and 15 X26 units. The RCMP said preliminary results showed all units tested within the manufacturer's specifications and accepted variance limits of plus or minus 15 per cent.

"Although we are awaiting a final report, the RCMP can confirm that all our CEW units tested were within the manufacturer's specifications," the release said.

In light of CBC's investigation, however, the RCMP said it is pulling an additional 24 X26 units for testing, all of which were acquired before the beginning of 2006.

May deteriorate with age: engineer
"The steps taken by the RCMP to remove some CEWs from service and to conduct tests is part of our ongoing effort to ensure our policies and practices continue to be appropriate and are based on the best available information," the release said.

The RCMP does not know how long it will take to test the 24 units, Sgt. Greg Cox told CBC News Tuesday.

Nearly all stun guns, also known as conductive energy weapons, used by police forces are manufactured by Arizona-based Taser International Inc. The devices are intended to incapacitate people with an electric shock.

Pierre Savard, a biomedical engineer at the University of Montreal who designed the technical procedure for the CBC's testing, said the cause of the increased current could have been either due to faulty quality control during the stun guns' manufacturing or electrical components that deteriorate with age.

In a written response to the results of CBC's investigation, Taser International's vice-president of research and development, Magne Nerheim, called the four malfunctioning Tasers an anomaly — one that could be explained if the weapons are not spark tested on a regular basis.

All Tasers tested as part of the CBC investigation were provided by seven police departments in the U.S. and analyzed by the U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems.

The CBC showed the results to several electrical engineers as a peer review of the analysis. They agreed that at the very least, the Tasers made before 2005 should not be used again until they are tested and proved reliable.

Quebec pulls older Tasers off streets, orders tests

December 5, 2008
CBC News

Quebec has ordered the mandatory testing of all stun guns manufactured prior to 2005, following reports that some discharge more electric current than its maker Taser International has acknowledged.

Quebec justice minister Jacques Dupuis announced Friday the province was pulling older weapons off the streets to test them, after an investigation by CBC and Radio-Canada found some Taser weapons tested in a random sampling emitted more electric current than manufacturing standards.

The tests, conducted by the U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems, used 41 X26 model Tasers from seven police departments in that country. Each weapon was fired six times.

Of the 41 stun guns tested, 10 per cent, or four of the weapons, delivered higher electrical currents than the manufacturer says is possible, some as much as 50 per cent higher than what Taser International promised.

The malfunctioning stun guns were manufactured prior to 2005.

Quebec's tests will also include a random sample of more recent stun gun models, Dupuis said, adding that Tasers use is still limited in the province. There are only 167 Tasers in use among Quebec's police forces, compared to 2,839 for the RCMP across the country, he said.

The province will also look at whether police forces are correctly using the weapons, Premier Jean Charest said.

The move is encouraging but a moratorium on the weapons shouldn't be ruled out, said Marvin Rotrand, a Montreal city councillor. "The broader questions are still on the table about whether we should be using this instrument at all," said Rotrand.

The councillor has been lobbying for a ban on Tasers for years, especially following the 2007 death of a Montreal man who was shocked six times by police while being arrested. Quilem Régistre's autopsy revealed he received 50,000 volts in six hits.

More than 20 people have died in Canada after being stunned by a Taser.

New study fuels debate on Taser safety - 9% of stun guns in study gave more powerful jolt

December 5, 2008
Ronald J. Hansen and Robert Anglen, The Arizona Republic

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.

Taser International Inc., based in Scottsdale, called the study flawed. "Regardless of whether or not the anomaly (high-firing guns) is accurate, it has no bearing on safety," Taser Vice President Steve Tuttle said.

The study, which authors say tested more Tasers than any previous independent review, examined 44 stun guns being used today by U.S. law-enforcement agencies. It found that four would not fire at all or fired improperly and that four others produced from 47 to 58 percent more power than the manufacturer specified.

Researchers said the fact that 9 percent of the guns tested abnormally high was significant enough to recommend a freeze in using X26 stun guns made before 2005. They also recommended more electrical tests on Tasers now in use by Canadian and U.S. law enforcement.

Pierre Savard, a biomedical engineer in Montreal who co-authored the report with two Chicago doctors, said they may have understated the risk Tasers pose because there is little available research on the effects of the weapon on humans, especially those who have heart disease. Although Savard said he recognizes the value of less-lethal weapons, he added that he is convinced Tasers can kill in some circumstances.

"Scientists who had evaluated the Taser to start with said, 'Well, there's zero probability of death.' I'm sure that's not the case," Savard said in an interview with The Arizona Republic. "I'm 100 percent certain that cardiac diseases increase the risk of death after receiving Taser shock. I think there's enough scientific evidence for that."

It's still unknown if illegal drugs also change the risk factor, Savard added.

Taser officials acknowledged the possibility of a higher-than-normal initial charge in weapons not first given a "spark test" to ensure they are in proper working condition. They insist this does not affect safety and cautioned Canadian Broadcasting in a memo not to use "engineering minutiae to confuse the (public) and create a false sense of controversy."

The study fuels a long-standing debate within medical and law-enforcement circles about the safety of Taser's stun guns.

The safety issue

The guns are used by more than 12,000 police agencies across the country, including every major law-enforcement agency in the Valley. Many authorities credit the weapon with preventing deaths and injuries to officers and suspects.

But since 2001, there have been more than 380 deaths following police Taser strikes in the United States and 26 in Canada. Medical examiners have ruled that a Taser was a cause, contributing factor or could not be ruled out in more than 30 of those deaths.

Taser has challenged those findings and maintains the stun gun is safe.

Taser executives have said for years that the guns could not produce shocks greater than the manufacturer's specifications and that the stun gun would melt before producing high-level shocks. "The device is calibrated such that it cannot output any more power. It's running at 100 percent," Taser Chief Executive Officer Tom Smith testified in May during a British Columbia government inquiry into Taser safety.

The inquiry was spurred by the 2007 death of a Polish citizen at Vancouver International Airport who stopped breathing within moments of being shocked twice by police.

Law-enforcement agencies that use Tasers typically do not conduct their own testing of the gun's discharge or safety but rely instead on the company's testing.

"We do not recommend (agencies') testing the output," Smith said at the hearing.

Valley police agencies contacted Thursday confirmed that they did not conduct any independent electrical tests on the stun gun before arming officers. Both Phoenix and Chandler police departments issued statements saying they were not aware of the study and will review its validity and reliability.

"We are going to take a look at the study and evaluate it," Chandler Detective David Ramer said. "Anytime something like this comes out, we look at it."

The 44 Tasers used in the recent study were obtained from seven undisclosed U.S. police agencies. Canada's national public-television and -radio broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., paid for the study as part of its ongoing investigation of Taser.

CBC hired National Technical Systems, a California-based firm that tests weapons systems for the U.S. military. It found that four of the X26 guns fired more electrical current at their peak than Taser guidelines show is possible for that model. Three other guns didn't fire at all, and one couldn't sustain its current properly. The rest fired within the guidelines.

The tests were based on Taser's own testing protocol and the electrical-load level recommended by Taser. Each stun gun was tested six times and the results were inconsistent, Savard said, raising manufacturing concerns.

"Since 67 percent of the older devices . . . showed this type of problem, this raises the issues of quality control during manufacturing and component aging," Savard wrote in the report.

In other tests at different load levels, Savard said, all of the four Tasers that showed excessive current fired within normal ranges.

All four of those that fired beyond their expected capacity were sold to two police departments in 2004, making them among the oldest tested. That raised questions about how the guns age and how they were made in the first place, Savard said.

Magne Nerheim, Taser's vice president, challenged the study on significant areas. He said researchers failed to spark-test the gun before testing the power, which created exaggerated results "not representative of actual output." He also said the guns were tested using an incorrect resistance level that does not reflect the effect of Taser shocks on a human.

Resistance, measured in ohms, refers to how any object withstands an electrical charge. The higher the resistance level, the less effect the charge will have. Nerheim said if the resistance level had been increased, the guns would not have recorded such powerful shocks.

Nerheim's challenges, however, differ from a protocol that Taser sent this year to Canadian police officers who were testing Tasers used on a suspect who died after being shocked.

The testing protocol, obtained by the CBC, specified using the lower resistance level, the same one NTS followed for its study.

The protocol Taser sent to police also made no mention of conducting a spark test. A spark test is an initial pull of the trigger. "Inside the device, it takes a higher initial voltage to wake up the component that has become inactive from not being regularly operated," Nerheim said.

But Taser is not consistent in its spark-test recommendations. The company tells police to conduct a test every day on the X26, but the operating manual for the consumer model (X26C), which is modeled after the police version, says a test is needed once every six months.

Nerheim stressed that the study concentrated only on the first pulse of the stun gun, which fires 19 electrical pulses per second, and suggested averaging all the pulses over the span of a second would offer a more relevant safety picture.

In any event, he said the first pulse would not reach a person shot with the device's darts. Nerheim didn't address how an overly high initial pulse would affect someone shocked by direct contact with the gun, one of the methods used by police.

Taser officials did not address findings concerning the age of the guns that fired at abnormally high levels.

Design and manufacturing issues have surfaced before on the stun guns.

"Design flaws and manufacturing-process problems" were key elements in a shareholder lawsuit against Taser in 2005. The lawsuit alleged that faulty quality control and unstable circuit boards led to major returns of Tasers, and a former employee testified that "as much as 70 percent of the M26 and X26 (Taser models) tested in-house by Taser were defective."

Taser settled the lawsuit in 2006 for $21 million, but company officials steadfastly denied the accusations, describing the payout as a business move and a way to avoid expensive litigation.

Effects on the heart

The doctors and engineers hired by the CBC to interpret the results determined the higher electrical current was enough to raise the risk of an irregular heartbeat to as much as 50 percent for those with existing heart troubles.

The risk level depends on various factors, including whether the heart lies between the Taser's barbs and how long the shock lasts. The risk would decline if, for example, the Taser's barbs fell off or didn't fully penetrate the skin.

Savard also concluded that multiple shocks from normally working Tasers posed up to a 5 percent risk of ventricular fibrillation, the abnormal heart rhythm associated with a heart attack.

Savard said he is worries that police are given Tasers that are potentially deadly but are told they are totally safe. He suspects such pronouncements have led to a dangerous "drift" in usage of the weapons.

"If you're told there's zero risk . . . you can start using it just to save time because you're tired of talking with the subject," he said.

Click HERE to read the report.

Some tested Tasers fire stronger current than company says: CBC/Radio-Canada probe

December 5, 2008
CBC News

Some Tasers deliver a higher level of electricity than the manufacturer promises, reveals a series of tests on 41 stun guns that was commissioned by CBC News and Radio-Canada.

The abnormal X26 model Tasers were manufactured before 2005, prompting some scientists to suggest police should stop using any older versions of the stun guns until they can be tested.

Of the 41 Tasers tested, four delivered significantly more current than Taser International says is possible. In some cases, the current was up to 50 per cent stronger than specified on the devices.

The tests, conducted by the U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems, used X26 Tasers from seven police departments in that country. Each weapon was fired at least six times.

Arizona-based Taser International makes virtually all the stun guns being used by police forces. The technical term for a stun gun is conductive energy weapon, or CEW. They are intended to incapacitate people with an electric shock.

The RCMP says it has pulled a random sample of some of the forces' Tasers for testing based on the results of the CBC News/Radio-Canada investigation.

"Given that you have raised this issue with us, we are taking steps to take CEWs out of our inventory devices that have deployed across the country, we are gathering up samples from each of our divisions, every province and every territory and we will have them independently tested," RCMP Commissioner William Elliott told CBC News at a recent policing event.

A force communications official, Supt. Tim Cogan, informed CBC News late Thursday that preliminary test results showed the sample of Tasers operated within the manufacturer's specifications.

Cogan said the tests were conducted at an accredited, independent laboratory in Ottawa, but didn't provide details on how many Tasers were tested or which lab conducted the analysis. The RCMP is still awaiting final test results.

"The RCMP recognizes that any use of force, including the CEW, carries risks, both to the public and to the police," Cogan said in a letter to CBC News.

"We do not take the use of force lightly. Ongoing assessment of the tools provided to our members and of the policies that guide their use is essential to mitigate these risks."

Pierre Savard, a biomedical engineer at the University of Montreal, designed the technical procedure for the CBC's testing based on Taser International’s specifications.

Savard told CBC News it is scientifically significant that about nine per cent of the Tasers fired in the tests delivered more current than they are supposed to do, especially since he believes no one is verifying the company’s claims.

"I think it's important because Taser is not subjected to international standards," Savard said. "When you use a cellphone, well, cellphones have to respect a set of standards … for the electric magnetic field that it emits. The Taser, well, nobody knows except Taser International."

Savard said the cause of the increased current could be either due to faulty quality control during the stun guns' manufacturing or electrical components that deteriorate with age.

The findings are troubling, since police officers are trained to aim a Taser at the chest, said Savard, who studies heart rhythms and how they are affected by electrical stimulation. "When you combine an increased current intensity with a dart that falls right over the heart for somebody who has cardiovascular disease or other conditions such as using drugs, for example, it can all add up to a fatal issue," Savard said.

Malfunctioning Tasers

Police forces across North America assure people that Tasers are safe. The manufacturer, Taser International, has said its product has a higher safety margin than Tylenol.

Taser International said they couldn’t provide someone for an interview before the CBC published results from the tests.

However, Magne Nerheim, Taser's vice-president of research and development, sent a written response to the results, in which he called the four malfunctioning Tasers an anomaly — one that could be explained if the weapons are not spark tested on a regular basis.

Nerheim also suggested the testing be repeated to verify the results. He made no comment about the age of the Tasers and whether there could be an issue of reliability.

During the tests commissioned by CBC News and Radio-Canada, three of the weapons didn't fire, even with charged battery packs. Those were set aside and not counted in the final results.

But a Taser that doesn't deploy can potentially create a safety issue for a police officer, Savard said. "When we are talking about Tasers that don’t function, I think it is dangerous for the policeman who would try to use the Taser and the individual response can be aggressive," he said.

The CBC showed the results to several electrical engineers as a peer review of the analysis. They agreed that at the very least, the Tasers made before 2005 should not be used again until they are tested and proved reliable.

TASER INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

"TASER International has reviewed the testing results from the National Technology Systems study various TASER X26 electronic control devices as provided by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The results from the testing are generally consistent with the specifications provided by TASER International and which would be expected from such tests.

TASER acknowledges that there are four data that appear to be outliers — instances where current increased as resistance increased which would not be expected based on the laws of physics. TASER International intends to contact NTS to suggest that the tests be repeated to verify the results.

TASER International appreciates the continued interest in TASER technology, and sincerely hope that the CBC report will focus on the proven injury reductions law enforcement experience with this technology rather than using engineering minutiae to confuse the viewer and create a false sense of controversy over a test that confirms the output of TASER X26s are consistent, and well below acceptable safety thresholds."

Concern about older Tasers

December 5, 2008
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA -- A new analysis of Taser stun guns finds some of the police weapons pack more of a shock than the manufacturer promises, raising questions about their safety.

The scientific review commissioned by the CBC and French-language Radio-Canada found four out of 41 guns tested actually discharged more current than Taser International says is possible.

In some of the test firings the guns delivered 50% more current.

The examination was conducted by an American lab, National Technical systems, using X26 model Tasers from seven police departments in the U.S. eager to see how the guns fared. The police services agreed to participate on condition of anonymity.

University of Montreal engineer Pierre Savard, who designed the testing procedure based on Taser International's own guidelines, found the results troubling.

Savard studies heart rhythms and how they are affected by electrical stimulation.

He says since cops are trained to aim the Taser at the chest for the best chance of a hit, the increase in current could be highly dangerous under certain circumstances.

"When you combine an increased current intensity with a dart that falls right over the heart for somebody who has cardio-vascular disease or other conditions, such as using drugs for example, it can all add up to a fatal issue."

EXPERTS AGREE

Two other experts consulted by CBC, engineer Stephane Masse of the Toronto University Health Network, and engineer Roger Barr at Duke University in North Carolina, agreed with Savard's analysis.

The Taser X26 is widely used by the RCMP and many other police forces across North America. The four Tasers that malfunctioned were amongst the oldest, manufactured prior to 2005.

Savard wants police to stop using these older guns altogether until they have been tested to find out why so many stray from the manufacturer's specifications.

In a written response to the CBC, Taser International acknowledges the results show four of the devices are anomalies.

Magne Nerheim, Taser vice-president of research and development, suggests because the unusual behaviour appears in the first moments of firing it is a sign that the guns may not have been spark-tested regularly as Taser recommends to police officers.

But a Taser International testing protocol obtained by CBC makes no mention of a spark test.

Nerheim also says the results aren't "relevant from a medical safety perspective."

More than 20 people in Canada have died after being hit with a Taser.

Taser International insists the devices cannot be blamed for deaths.