City of Fife, Washington State - Assistant Chief Mark Mears stated, "When the department found out there was an alternative to tasers, we felt that we had a responsibility to our citizens and police officers to take a look at it. Having reviewed the features and capabilities of the S-200 as well as having several officers attend Stinger's training, we concluded that the S-200 is utilizing state of the art technology for Electronic Control Devices. We liked the fact that the Stinger puts less [reportedly 75% less] electrical current into the body than the taser. Not only does the S-200 meet our requirements, it also is a great economic decision for our tax payers. We therefore, decided to take advantage of Stinger's trade in our taser program and will be sending them back our existing units." [LINK]
My summary would be that the X26 tasers 'suck'; and Stinger Systems 'suck 75% less' (the reported reduction in electrical current as compared to the X26 taser). The 75% reduction in waveform current would make a huge change in the actual level of safety when one considers the shape of the bell curve.
Stinger Systems is also better in another way - they do not make false claims of safety even in spite of their improved safety margin.
Police departments may wish to consider that there may be a liability issue if you choose to purchase tasers when a safer alternative exists. Something to think about...
Disclaimer - I'm not a fan of Stinger Systems, but they're a step in the right direction.
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