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The art and science of de-escalation will take time, training and practice to master. Read up on applicable skills here.

When a suspect is hit with Taser fire, the Taser darts embed themselves into the suspect's skin. Fifty thousand volts of electrical impulses are sent from the Taser, through the wires and darts and into the target. The pulses sent through the wires are designed to mimic electrical impulses sent by the brain that control muscle movement. These Taser impulses cause the affected muscles to contract nineteen times per second. This causes the recipient to lose control of their muscle function during the duration of the stun, which usually lasts around five seconds. As a result, many people will appear to tense their muscles and then fall to the ground when shot by a Taser.

In a job where every second makes a difference, you need to be sure your police duty belt is set up for maximum efficiency.

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In the early days of Taser adoption by law enforcement, departments seeking to use them had to initiate comprehensive written policies and extensive training programs for the new weapons. In addition, officers had to be certified, indicating that they knew when and how to use the device properly. As part of this training, some officers would submit to being tased in order to understand firsthand how the devices affected the human body.

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In the 1976 classic Clint Eastwood movie “The Enforcer,” kidnappers shoot a Taser-type device at the city's mayor, incapacitating him. Upon seeing the weapon, one of the bad guys remarked, “Man, that looks like something out of a James Bond movie.” This was the first nationwide public introduction and simulated demonstration of how a Taser works.

As they trained with Tasers, officers learned to aim for the lower torso and avoid the head, neck, chest and groin areas. After all, firing a Taser causes two metal darts to penetrate a person's skin, and caution should be used to hit less sensitive areas.

When Tasers were first introduced, many police departments carried mace or pepper spray which were delivered via a flammable base substance. These base substances later had to be replaced with non-flammable alternatives. This change helped prevent an instance in which an officer might use pepper spray on a person to gain compliance, then resort to using a Taser whose electrical charge might spark and ignite the flammable spray.

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In addition to using the Taser to propel electrified darts, it may also be used in the “drive stun” mode. This is when the unit is not loaded with darts, but instead uses two electronic probes attached to the front of the Taser. The drive stun mode is not as disabling and relies on a pain compliance response as opposed to causing muscle spasms. Because of the close proximity to the subject, additional caution must be used. Therefore, the drive stun mode should be limited to brief applications in which pain compliance would reasonably be expected to achieve control.

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While Tasers have been proven to work as an excellent nonlethal option for law enforcement, the human error element persists. Tasers are, after all, patterned after handguns. They are carried on an officers' duty belt in a holster, and are fired by pulling a trigger­­ — all the same as a firearm. Tasers are often colored bright yellow and weigh less, but mistakes happen out in the field. It's always a terrible situation when an officer intends to fire their Taser but accidentally discharges their firearm. In these instances, the suspect becomes injured (or worse), and the officer is immediately devastated.

Between 1976 and 1995, the weapon's darts were propelled by a charge of gunpowder, meaning stun guns fit the technical definition of a firearm. However, in 1993, the company Taser International was formed in Arizona, and by 1997 the weapon's propellant was switched to compressed nitrogen. This change in propellant removed its classification as a firearm.

How can a person receive fifty thousand volts of electricity and survive? As any electrician will confirm, it's not the volts that are dangerous, but the amps. A few bulbs on a Christmas tree may use one amp of electricity, but a Taser uses less than two hundredths of one amp, making the volume of electricity too weak to affect the central nervous system or heart.

Other considerations include persons who, by their location, may cause additional harm to themselves. Examples include tasing a person on an elevated platform where a fall could cause serious injury, such as a suspect in a tree, on a ladder, on a staircase or on a boat dock. Tasing a person behind the wheel of a running car may cause a crash; officers need to be cognizant of this as well.

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Most police officers who carry Tasers keep them on the side of their duty belts opposite their firearm. Many police departments require this configuration in their departmental policies (be sure to read more on how to set up a police duty belt). Recently, some officers have started wearing their stun guns on the front of their outer vest carrier. The thought behind separating the two weapons is that officers will be much less likely to draw the wrong weapon by mistake, accidentally using deadly force when they intend to use the Taser's less-than-lethal force (though unfortunately, this separation has not been entirely successful).

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Tasers are an important part of any police officer's toolkit, but there's a lot of confusion about what a Taser is, what it does, how it should be used and in which situations. In this guide, we lay out everything a police officer needs to know about carrying and using a Taser.

Next, the officer should move the safety lever to its “fire” position. Most Tasers have red-dot laser sights and flashlights that come on automatically when the safety lever is switched to fire. Before firing, the officer should loudly announce three times, “Taser, Taser, Taser,” before deploying the darts; this warning notifies the subject and other officers of the impending use of the weapon. The trigger pull shoots the darts and releases a five-second burst of energy. The officer can then reactivate and deliver repeated shocks if necessary. Once the subject is tased and subsequently secured by police, medical attention should be provided to address any wounds caused by the darts.

While these are actual examples of Taser policies, every officer must follow their departments' written guidelines and procedures.

While stun gun technology continues to improve, the Taser is not a new invention. Mr. Jack Cover, an aerospace engineer, came up with the idea for this nonlethal weapon for use in law enforcement in the 1960s. It came as a response to new challenges law enforcement faced, including airplane hijackings.

When appropriate, an officer will draw their Taser from its holster in much the same manner as they would draw their firearm. Time permitting, the officer should clearly state their intention to tase the offender if they do not stop the dangerous behavior. The officer must be within the weapon's range, which is determined by the length of wire within the weapon (this distance is usually about twenty-one feet).

Here are a few excerpts covering when to use a Taser from the policies of several of the largest U.S. metropolitan police departments.

Jack Cover named his invention using an acronym from his favorite childhood science fiction novel “Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle,” or “T.S.E.R.” The ”A” was later added, turning the acronym into the word TASER.

Overall, the Taser has proven to be a safe, less-than-lethal weapon for police officers. While the track record hasn't always been perfect, Tasers have been used for many years and are credited with saving hundreds of thousands of lives in the line of duty.

It should be noted that while “Taser” is the brand name of this category of weapons, they have actually had several technical names. Both Electronic Control Devices (ECD) and Conducted Energy Devices (CED) found their way into many departmental policies. As of 2019, Taser Inc. now refers to their weapon as a Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW).

One new Taser mode features something called a “warning-arc.” This model can produce an impressive audible and visual electric arc across the front of the weapon while the unit is loaded and ready to fire. This display acts as a deterrent, often increasing voluntary surrender and de-escalation (check out our guide to law enforcement de-escalation for more information).

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Over 19% of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement agencies have received Tasers. Police departments have embraced the idea of having a less-than-lethal option, and Tasers have become a popular alternative to the potential use of deadly force.

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Perhaps more important than how to use the weapon is the question of under which circumstances a person should be tased. Departmental guidelines must answer this question, and officers should commit their department's policy to memory. The use of a Taser is often a split-second decision, and each officer must be confident they are acting within departmental guidelines and procedures.

Both civilians and police departments embraced the idea of a nonlethal tool to stop violent criminals. The civilian models, still known as stun guns, were mainly direct contact units where two electrodes had to be pressed against the target. Most of these were simple pain-compliance devices and did not have the pulse technology of Tasers.

Departments' written policies also had to address special and specific considerations regarding stun guns. Many of these included:

The weapon can be described as a futuristic-looking, high-impact polymer gun that shoots two metal darts into a targeted person. The end of each dart has a barbed point, and the darts remain connected to the weapon by using two thin wires that uncoil upon firing. The wires then carry an electrical charge from the gun that floods the target's body with rapid pulses that cause uncontrollable muscle contractions.

One possible improvement to prevent these types of scenarios might include adding a distinctive buzzing sound when the Taser's safety is switched off. Officers could subsequently be trained to listen for the unit's warning sound before firing. Absent the weapon's audible warning sound, officers would likely realize they may be holding the wrong weapon, preventing a tragic incidence of human error.