Ladies and gents,
As I was perusing Amazon, I wanted to see if they had any of the personal use Tasers. Well, it turns out they do. They're called "TASER C2 - Black Pearl Personal Protector
". They price around $350.oo and are small enough to fit in a map case or combat purse ("handbags" for the ladies). For those of you who haven't seen one of these in action, I've attached a video clip of their infomercial. I know when this first came out there were some in our industry who had their trepidations about this. Once law enforcement began to use this, more and more people began to see the "pro's" of having one of these in their arsenal. Personally, I believe a Taser should be used in accordance with strict "objective reasonableness" standards. There are several consequences for not following these guideline both civil and criminal.
I suspect as more of these "personal use" Tasers are manufactured, we in the security industry are going to see more of them as well. I caution all security managers and project coordinators to consider certain risk assessments before you proceed and buy a few for your agency. If your folks aren't properly trained and selected, you could be faced with some serious problems. We have to caution our people this weapon is a weapon and not a toy. It should also be used as a last resort due to its potential lethality. There have been deaths which some attribute to the Taser, but we won't cover that here as it's a whole other topic.
Now, that I've mentioned the "cons", let's talk about the "pro's". of owning one of these for both personal and professional use. Imagine your wife or other loved one going on a jog when an attacker approaches them with an edged weapon. This weapon is capable of stopping that attacker and buying your wife and significant other some time to escape. On a professional note, a guy in HR called to report a disgruntled former employee still on the grounds swinging a bat and breaking things. You've tried verbal judo along with a show of force with no results. By the way, there was a school shooting about 10 miles away and the cops are tied up. You have to get this resolved soon. I can tell you once a "bad guy" see this being pulled out and being deployed their disposition changes. I imagine mine would too.
I'm no fan of the MP3 version, but I do think some people have taken this the wrong way. Taser incorporated that feature for the consumer I mentioned above who follows an active lifestyle. Many women are abducted or raped by strangers while jogging/walking along isolated paths. I do believe the MP3 feature would take away some situation awareness though.
I plan to post a poll to get your impressions of this product. Please, feel free to share your ideas now.
