TASER Electronic Control Device Information

Read the Police Executive Research Foundation (PERF) guidelines for TASER usage here.

Read the Columbia Police Department's policy on TASER usage here.

View six month's data on Columbia Police Department TASER usage here.

Information about the TASER X26 ECD

What is a TASER?

A TASER is an Electronic Control Device.  It can be used to quickly incapacitate dangerous, combative or high-risk subjects who pose a risk to themselves, innocent citizens, or police officers. 

The Columbia Police Department’s policy on Electronic Control Devices (ECD’s) states that the use of an ECD is appropriate when a person is an immediate threat to him or herself, an officer, or others, or when a person is actively resisting an officer by means other than fleeing.  The police department’s newest revision of its ECD policy went into effect on May 26, 2010.  The department has revised many policies recently, due to the addition of an Accreditation Manager. The Accreditation Manager is a police officer whose job it is to re-write the department’s policies and procedures, to bring them up to date, to employ “best practices,” and to prepare the department for accreditation by CALEA (the Commission for Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies).

87 Columbia Police officers are equipped with the TASER model X26.

How does an ECD work?

The Columbia Police Department equips its officers with the TASER X26.  It utilizes compressed nitrogen to project two small probes a distance of 25 feet at a speed of more than 160 feet per second. These probes are connected to the TASER system by insulated wire. An electrical signal is transmitted through the wires to where the probes make contact with the body or clothing, resulting in an immediate loss of the person’s neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action for the duration of the impulse, while allowing an instant recovery once the cycle ceases. This effect temporarily overrides the nervous system, taking over muscular control. It can temporarily debilitate dangerous or combative individuals with minimal risk of injury.

Is the TASER safe?

Independent medical and scientific experts have determined TASER devices to be a safer use-of-force option compared to traditional use-of-force tools.

Dr. Richard Luceri, a cardiac rhythm specialist and member of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for TASER International has stated that there are very wide safety margins where the TASER is concerned.  To induce fibrillation (irregular contractions of the muscle fibers) in the human heart, the TASER devices would have to produce 28 times more energy than they do. 

A US Department of Justice study conducted by Wake Forest University School of Medicine showed that 99.75% of 1,201 suspects who encountered a TASER ECD as a means of force received only bruises and scrapes or were uninjured. More than 300 studies, abstracts, research, and safety studies have been done on ECD’s.  TASER ECD’s have been safely deployed around the world more than 1.7 million times.

How TASER Technology Works

TASER ECDs use a replaceable cartridge containing compressed nitrogen to deploy two small probes that are attached to the handheld TASER unit with insulated conductive wires.

TASER ECDs transmit controlled pulses of electricity that are carefully designed to stimulate skeletal muscles of the human body without affecting the heart or other vital organs. The pulses affect the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system and cause incapacitation.   Other methods of gaining control often rely on pain-compliance, which can be defeated by mental focus, or drug or alcohol intoxication.

The electricity from a TASER ECD will transmit through clothing up to one inch per probe.

The TASER ECD’s store complete data, including whether the safety is on or off at a given time, if the trigger is pressed, if an “arc display” is done, and if the cartridge is deployed (probe deployment).  The TASER ECD’s also store every pulse emitted and can determine if the charge was delivered to the suspect, if the probes completely missed and fired into the air, if both probes didn’t make contact, and even if the wires broke or some other factor interrupted the charge being delivered.  The TASER ECD’s store the time, date, and duration of all deployments.

TASER technology can truly immobilize a suspect who can overcome pain, whereas other use-of-force tools rely upon pain compliance. The TASER system doesn't use pain compliance, but immediately stops any coordinated action by the suspect only while the TASER system's current is flowing. Recovery is instantaneous, so the TASER system only provides a window of opportunity to temporarily stop someone's dangerous actions.

What about the electrical current and high voltage?

Contrary to popular belief, electrical voltage does not pose significant risk to humans. Harm from electricity is a result of amperage, or amps. A TASER ECD transmits less than one amp of current (between 2.1 to 3.9 milliamps) — less than the amperage found in a standard Christmas tree bulb and much less than the 16 amps in a 110-volt wall outlet.   Suspects recover immediately, because electricity cannot be stored in the human body.  The heart and other vital organs are not affected.  The TASER ECD causes a suspect to be unable to perform coordinated movements.

While the TASER ECD produces 50,000 volts to create a spark that will transmit electricity through 2 inches of clothing, this is not the voltage that enters the body.

When compared to a static shock from a doorknob (35,000 to 100,000 volts) or a Van de Graff Generator, a common display in science museums which makes your hair stand on end (1,000,000 to 20,000,000 volts), 400 volts with extremely low current is equally as harmless.

What does TASER International recommend for “use-of-force” guidelines?

More than 15,000 law enforcement agencies world-wide deploy TASER ECD’s with 86 percent of these agencies adopting use-of-force policies allowing for the use of a TASER ECD in circumstances similar to when pepper spray can be deployed. The Columbia Police Department’s policy regarding ECD’s is much more restrictive. 

TASER ECD’s do not replace firearms and are designed for use in dangerous incidents to prevent the situation from developing to the point where lethal force would be authorized.