When Tasers Fail

May 9, 2019

Investigation: Tasers are less reliable than their maker has claimed. The results can be deadly

Tasers have become an essential tool for police, but how effective are they? An APM Reports investigation finds that officers in some big cities rated Tasers as unreliable up to 40 percent of the time, and in three large departments, newer models were less effective than older ones. In 258 cases over three years, a Taser failed to subdue someone who was then shot and killed by police.

May 9, 2019

Data: Tased, then shot

As part of an investigation into Taser effectiveness, APM Reports compiled a database of fatal police shootings that involved a Taser between 2015 and 2017. We reviewed nearly 3,000 shootings nationwide and found 258 in which a Taser had failed to subdue someone before the police shot and killed them. In more than a third of those incidents, the suspect became more aggressive after a Taser was used, indicating that it may have escalated the situation.

May 9, 2019

How we did it: Methods used to test the relationship between Taser model and effectiveness

Data from three big police departments — and various statistical analyses — allowed us to compare newer and older models.

May 14, 2020

Los Angeles: Why does LAPD keep buying Tasers that don't work like they should?

Cops bought thousands of new Tasers that their data showed were less effective than old ones.

November 1, 2019

Taser maker settles lawsuit with cop who claimed the weapon was underpowered

It's a small amount of money for a former Houston officer, though a rare settlement for Axon, which faces a similar claim in New Orleans.

May 16, 2019

Texas: New devices lead to police shootings

Police officers nationwide use Tasers as a less lethal alternative to guns. The idea is to be able to stop someone – usually an unarmed but violent person.

May 15, 2019

New York: Numbers show cops' Tasers are less effective, and the consequences can be deadly

It is unclear why newer Tasers are producing lower performance numbers.

March 17, 2020

Vermont police shooting was preventable, report finds

A state commission spent two years investigating the 2016 death of Phil Grenon, who was killed by officers after a Taser failed to subdue him.