ABSTRACT
The history of conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) or Tasers used in law enforcement dates back to the 1970s. Jack Cover invented the technology as an alternative use of force in response to civil unrest (antiwar and civil rights demonstrations) in the late 1960s. Cover’s device was the first of its kind to use electrical energy with launchable probes to incapacitate an aggressor. It was released to the public in 1975 as the Taser Public Defender, model TF-1 (sold under the company name Taser Systems Inc., later Tasertron). The device looked and functioned like a flashlight and was intentionally designed not to look like a firearm. The term Taser was derived from “Thomas A. Swift’s electric rifle,” a phrase borrowed from Cover’s favorite childhood book. The Taser
The Taser in Seattle 224 Birth and Evolution of Modern CEW (Taser) Forensics 225 Investigation of CEW/Taser Incidents 226 Stun Devices 227 How Conducted Electrical Weapons (CEWs) Work 228 Determination of Taser X26 CEW Function 230 Testing the Power Output of CEWs 233 Download of the CEW Firing Data 234 Taser CAM 235 Taser X26 Generations 236
New Models 237 Forensic Analysis of CEWs 238 Probe-Knot Junction Analysis 239 The Probe Side of the PKJ 243 CEW Cartridge Analysis 245 CEW Wire Analysis 248 Probe Impact and Trace Evidence 251 Crime Scene Investigation 254 Evidence Collection 255 Conclusion 257 References 259
Public Defender was deployed in a limited capacity due to its configuration. The Public Defender deployed its probes out of a replaceable cartridge with gunpowder, and the device was thus listed by the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. federal organization that regulates firearms) in the category of “any other weapon” (AOW) in May 1976 [1, 2].
