ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine the myth that the use of projectile electric-shock weapons, such as TASER, is a ‘nicer’ and ‘safer’ form of force than other ‘less lethal’ options. After outlining this myth, often espoused by officers and others, I draw on the voices of some of those who have been subjected to or affected by TASER. Far from seeing it as a nicer weapon, their concerns include the pain and fear experienced, the unpredictability of the weapon, psychological symptoms experienced after use, concerns that it is used more frequently on Black people and those experiencing mental health crisis, doubts about whether its use was necessary or appropriate,; and humiliation and loss of control. In the final section, I move beyond debates around the so-called ‘empirical reality’ of the weapon. Drawing on concepts from Science and Technology Studies, such as Law's notion of heterogeneous engineering, I look at the tactics that work to establish the myth of electric-shock weapons as a nicer form of force, in the face of concerns about the pain, fear, and loss of control they engender.
