The name TASER was inspired by science fiction novels that Jack Cover read as a child. It stands for “Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle” after the novel “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle.”

Deliberate sabotage or vandalism can cause high expenses. For instance, product damage accounts for 34% of the returns resulting from packing. This is a point of revenue loss that e-commerce businesses can not ignore.  Moreover, substituting a damaged product with a new one can lead to as many as 17 times more expenses than the cost of shipping the product in the first place, highlighting the apparent money loss.

Undertaking comprehensive security measures such as Fire Watch Guard Security during critical times could also reduce the risks, which will be a plus for your business regarding insurance coverage.

When was the TASERfirst used by police

As the number of thefts and break-ins continue to increase, it is apparent that effective loss prevention policies in companies should be put in place, and security workplaces should be taken seriously. According to Statistics Canada, in 2022, the shoplifting rate had a sharp increase of 31% compared to the year before.

This article explains the major causes of business profit loss and the importance of loss prevention strategies for profit-making businesses.

The Irvine Police Department posted a picture of the Cybertruck on social media then immediately went to war in the comments.

While a simplistic design (two prongs attached to a long barrel), it served its purpose of delivering an electric shock through a cow’s hide to motivate it through a chute. Unlike stun guns, cattle prods are not designed to incapacitate an individual or animal, simply deliver a painful shock to a localized area. On the other hand, stun guns are usually designed to deliver even larger voltages in order to overwhelm the body’s nervous system.

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Smith and his brother, Tom, then formed Air TASER, Inc. in 1993, basing the company out of Scottsdale, Arizona. The company initially sold their TASERs to the general public after settling a court battle with Tasertron, which claimed to have the exclusive right to sell TASERs to law enforcement. The settlement keeping Air TASER out of the law enforcement market ended Tasertron’s exclusive rights in 1998, and the Smith brothers’ business began to take off with more and more police departments across the United States arming their officers with TASERs and similar devices. Specifically, between the years 2000 and 2013, the number of law enforcement organizations using TASERs jumped from 500 to approximately 17,000.

The sustainability and profitability of any business can be ensured only if loss prevention is done correctly. Through the implementation of efficient loss prevention strategies, businesses can secure their assets and minimize financial losses, which in turn helps to maintain a better reputation among customers and within the market. Nonetheless, comprehensive security and risk management is a measure that requires professional assistance. This is where G Force Security fills in the gap. G Force Security has a proven history of providing security services tailored to the client’s needs and modern loss prevention solutions. G Force Security guarantees your business will be well prepared for any security issue. By teaming up with G Force Security Services, you not only protect your business but also demonstrate your dedication to the high-quality standard of asset protection and profit safeguarding.

The figures serve not only as a source of urgency to adopt security measures and loss prevention methods but also to protect business assets and ensure the smooth running of business operations. Appropriate security measures like strengthened physical security, advanced surveillance, wide-ranging training of staff on security protocols, and restricted access are the basis. It works not only as an external protection measure but also tackles internal risk factors like employee theft and fraud that can harm your business if not controlled.

Early use of an electronic control device, like the TASER, by law enforcement occurred in the 1960s when American police officers used electric cattle prods to disperse Civil Rights activists. As for the earliest cattle prods, this came about when inventor John Burton of Wichita, Kansas received a patent (US427549 A) in the late 1800s for such a device.

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Implementing security measures like CCTV in businesses is not only a preventive measure against theft but also for protecting human lives. The surveillance systems, including cameras and others, help control and lower workplace accidents.

So who invented the TASER, specifically? NASA researcher Jack Cover was among the numerous other inventors who developed forms of these type of (usually) nonlethal electric weapons. (See: Can Stun Guns Cause Cardiac Arrest). Cover, determined to create a weapon that officers could use in situations such as plane hijackings where firing a gun could potentially be a bad idea, took inspiration from a newspaper article about a man surviving a run-in with an electric fence. “When he read what had happened, he knew an electric current could be used without danger,” his wife said after Cover’s death.

Stolen products cost businesses money and hinder profit. Developing efficient loss prevention strategies can preserve profitability and stimulate business expansion. Investing in robust security devices like CCTV surveillance, access control, and professional security ensures the safe delivery of merchandise to retail displays.

An employee of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department posted cringe and lied about it. Repeatedly. It was enough to get him fired.

For example, in 2020 in Ontario, there were 22 occupational health and safety incidents in the construction industry. By focusing on loss prevention, businesses can protect their workforce and attract more employees, increasing productivity and revenue.

Effective loss prevention strategies that emphasize the security of products and property can decrease losses and save the business from a lot of trouble. Furthermore, this can improve the customers’ satisfaction.

In the end, the issue is seemingly not so much with the ECDs themselves, but potential over use of them in situations that might not warrant it. Each police department in the United States creates its own policies regarding TASERs and other ECDs, though there is an effort to establish national guidelines for their use. Towards this end, The Police Chief magazine conducted a study at the Orlando Police Department in 2010 in response to a public demand for stricter policies regarding the use of TASERs. The study concluded that requiring police officers to only use TASERs in situations where a suspect offered active resistance as opposed to passive resistance marginally increased injury rates to officers, but decreased injury to suspects. They also noted that suspect resistance also decreased when ECDs were not used.

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A strategic loss prevention plan for businesses must include early detection of threats and preventing extensive losses before they escalate. Proactive Loss Prevention systems are designed to instantly identify and fix problems instead of using reactive measures and initiating the possibility of business disruption and financial issues.

Businesses from different industries are exposed to different issues that can lead to a decrease in profit. Through the knowledge of these shared causes and statistics, businesses can adequately develop strategies to reduce exposure.

Flexibility while running security operations is essential for modern business. Through Flexible Patrol Options, the security system offers businesses a choice between live onsite and remote offsite guards. This way, it becomes possible to secure a business cheaply and effectively. This adaptability of security is at the center of meeting the needs of the growing threats or business expansion.

Business loss prevention helps to save a company’s money spent on buying stock, equipment, and technology. Reliable Event Security powerfully facilitate the protection of valuable assets in cases of a high-profile event or launch, where the probability of theft or vandalism is drastically higher.

Loss prevention is a crucial part of business operations that helps a lot by providing tangible benefits such as satisfied customers and lowered theft and damage to stocks. These strategies play a major role in the complete security plans designed to reduce the losses incurred by the business. In the following section, we will discuss how loss prevention measures can benefit your company.

Moreover, RCC, the Retail Council of Canada, further mentioned that some members even experienced a 300% rise in thefts as compared to 2020, which adds up to a total of $5 billion a year in losses. In addition, there were 6,983 more break-and-enter crimes than in the previous year, representing a 5.55% increase over the past year.

One such agency that purchased TASERs was the Los Angeles Police Department. LAPD officers famously used a TASER in an effort to subdue Rodney King in 1991, but the device had little effect. That failure inspired Patrick “Rick” Smith to work with Cover to change the TASER so that the darts fired via compressed air rather than gunpowder, among other improvements. That simple change meant their stun guns could more easily be sold to the general public.

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Cover patented the design for a device that he named the TASER in 1974. The TASER was similar to other stun guns invented during the 1960s and 1970s; it delivered an electric current via a pair of electrodes connected to the gun by wires and that were shot at an assailant. However, because TASERs used gunpowder to fire the projectiles, the United States government classified them as firearms, which severely limited the sale of the device, with just a select number of police departments trying it out. Cover then founded TASER Systems to sell his invention to law enforcement, though the company filed bankruptcy and was sold to an investor who changed the name to Tasertron.

Shoplifting and employee theft are two of the leading causes of theft and a great challenge. Retailers, on average, have 61.7 billion dollars in shrinkage annually. Theft by employees makes up approximately 30% of these losses. Besides, the construction industry is very vulnerable, with 21% of sites being victims of equipment theft every week while only 25% can be recovered. Hence, it is important to implement stringent security measures to contain this problem.

The “Use-of-Force Continuum” denotes five levels of suspect resistance: No resistance, Verbal noncompliance, Passive resistance, Active resistance, Aggressive resistance, Deadly-force resistance.

Such a protection mechanism not only minimizes the financial setback but also provides the needed resources for business expansion and development.

Burton’s cattle prod was not the first instance of someone inventing a device to try to, in a non-lethal way, control a living thing with electricity. This first known such device was invented all the way back in 1852 and was an “Electric Whaling Apparatus.” (US Patent 8843) This device was essentially just an electrified version of the harpoon, with hopes of stunning the whale to increase the likelihood of catching it and diminish risk to the whalers. (See: A Real Life White Whale that Destroyed Over 20 Whaling Ships and Survived Encounters with Another 80)

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By introducing the concept of Mobile Patrol Security, the premises can be watched in a real-time manner, early detection of potential threats is made, and the threats can be responded to quickly, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted business operations.

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Melissa writes for the wildly popular interesting fact website TodayIFoundOut.com. To subscribe to Today I Found Out’s “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click here or like them on Facebook here. You can also check ’em out on YouTube here.

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Law enforcement officials from around the world have taken notice and begun to change their policies on the use of ECD’s (Electronic Control Devices, like the TASER). For instance, in September of 2012, the Cincinnati Police Department changed its rules mandating, “Frontal shots are prohibited except in situations of self-defense or defense of another.” Most who have changed their policies are quick to point out that ECDs protect and save countless lives every day. The number of those saved, where police would have normally had to resort to much more deadly force anyway, drastically outweigh any risk associated with using the devices. (Again, for more on this, see the article from our resident medical professional: Can Stun Guns Cause Cardiac Arrest)

Implementing effective loss prevention measures, such as security guards and cameras, enhances customer satisfaction by stopping theft and damage to products and property, increasing consumer confidence and loyalty.

An efficient loss prevention plan for businesses could cause insurance companies to lower premiums since the risks of theft and damage are drastically reduced. So, insurance companies usually charge less to businesses, which are the ones that take a proactive role in securing their operations.

Rapid response is a key component in reducing the consequences of security incidents. Rapid Alarm Response guarantees that all alarms are met with instant actions, thus giving the shortest response time. This fast response ability can be the game changer between a minor incident and a major security event.

Such a rise in TASER usage has led to a fair share of controversy. Despite initial claims of TASER International that the weapons are nonlethal, Amnesty International states that 540 deaths across the United States between 2001 and 2013 can be linked to TASERs. The American Heart Association published an article in its journal Circulation that looked at eight cases of TASER use on suspects and found that TASER usage can result in cardiac arrest in a person. TASER International has argued that the limited number of case studies does not lend itself to the drawing of broad conclusions, though for legal reasons have changed their stance slightly, now warning that their product can cause “heart rate, rhythm capture and cardiac arrest.”

As loss prevention for businesses is a key aspect of business activities, it helps minimize the disruptions that can result from theft, fraud, or other security incidents. These disturbances may result in a change in daily processes and affect the workers’ productivity, which in the future can lead to a loss of output.

The brand image is the number one element of customer trust and overall business success. Business loss protection is an important aspect of the business image, achieved by preventing incidents that can affect the business’s reputation. By having a solid security system, you can protect your business and build a positive reputation for yourself.

Moreover, these techniques carry a high possibility of mistakes and insecurity. Adopting a better inventory management strategy and security solution would help these companies make the process more efficient and less vulnerable to losses.

There are different types of fraud, such as payment fraud in retail and billing fraud in healthcare. Statistics show that businesses lose 5% of their annual income to fraud, so internal control should be rigorous, and audits should be performed regularly.

46% of small-to-medium businesses use the manual method or don’t track inventory at all, resulting in the issue of overstocking and understocking, which is detrimental to their profitability.