[Peace-discuss] Engineer/electrician/medical advice needed....

[msimon at uiuc.edu]

At the town meeting on tasers it was clear that we who oppose taser use need a better grasp on the human effects of receiving the electrical charge emitted by the taser gun.  It is evident by the police department's cloaking of taser-related deaths (those not caused by direct electricution which no one is claiming to occur, but by pre-existing health problems aggravated by tasers), that they are certainly not a reliable source of balanced scientific findings.  

The following are data for a JAYCOR taser.  Anyone that can from learned experience answer questions as to the strength of the charge please respond.  As not someone with technical knowledge, my translation of some of this data may be flawed.  I can scan the actual information sheets I've got and email it to those able to help us out.

Taser:
Rep Rate (Hz) - 11.1
Effective Pulsewidth (uSeconds) - 5.4
Load (ohm) - 2000
Peak POwer (kWatts) - 33.6
Average Power (W) - 2.0
Pulse Energy (Joules) - .18 
Peak Current (Amps) - 5.8
RMS Current (mA) - 45
Shock duration - "controlled by the operator"

Please note also that this information is solely what is provided by the company.  Further data from more objective sources is LACKING.  

One study (Murray and Resnick, 1997) however found that the peak AMPERAGE on a JAYCORE taser was not 5.8 as the company claims, but rather closer to 8! 

Thank you.
Mike Simon