TASER
TASER International’s new X3 TASER is a three-shot TASER pistol. That means that officers can now engage up to three subjects without reloading. The cartridges can be fired in order, or the user can choose which cartridge to trigger out of the three. This gives the user the ability to load the X3 with both short range and long range cartridges and choose the cartridge type needed for each confrontation.
Another cool feature of the X3’s new cartridge design is its ability to show the electricity arcing across the front of the TASER while it is loaded and the safety is off. This is designed to gain compliance by warning the subject that he or she is about to get zapped.
The X3 also records three types of data. It keeps an event log that shows when the weapon was activated (safety off), if it was arced, and if it was fired. It keeps a pulse log. And it keeps an engineering log that records system performance parameters and reveals malfunctions and maintenance problems.
All of this data can be uploaded to TASER International’s new Evidence.com so that supervisors and project managers can analyze TASER use and discover any problems. This aspect of Evidence.com is free to agencies that purchase the X3.
Melanie Basich is senior editor of Police magazine.
