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Axon halts plans to make a drone equipped with a Taser
Most members of the Taser manufacturer's ethics panel resigned over the controversial project.
Dark-alley defense: Tech tools to keep you safe
"One of the best gadgets you can have is a doorstop." Douglas White has been in the personal security business for nearly 30 years. He started training in martial arts 24 years ago, and he's been a bail enforcement agent -- a bounty hunter -- for 13 years. He's done international security tours with Linkin Park and the Stone Temple Pilots, but he's currently prioritizing fatherhood and capturing fugitives from his home base in Connecticut. White can handily navigate a dark alley filled with foes, even when his only weapons are his hands. However, in an ideal scenario, White will always have a tool at his disposal. Not necessarily a weapon -- then again, anything can be weaponized if you try hard enough.
Axon's latest Taser weapon calls police when fired
If you're in a dangerous-enough situation to fire a stun gun, you probably want help as soon as possible. Axon certainly thinks so, at least -- it's launching an upgraded version of the Taser Pulse, the Pulse+, that contacts police when you fire the weapon. Load an app from Noonlight on your phone and the new Taser can dispatch authorities to your location and give you the opportunity to speak to 911 if it's safe. Axon is betting the time savings will be vital in moments when you're either still in danger or are too shaken to make a call.
Axon opens ethics board to guide its use of AI in body cameras
Axon (formerly Taser) is keenly aware of the potential for Orwellian abuses of facial recognition, and it's taking an unusual step to avoid creating that drama with its body cameras and other image recognition systems. The police- and military-focused company has created an AI ethics board that will convene twice per year (on top of regular interactions) to discuss the ramifications of upcoming products. As spokesperson Steve Tuttle explained to The Verge, this will ideally establish a set of "AI ethics principles" within police work where certain uses are off-limits.
Axon hopes you'll submit smartphone video as evidence
In theory, handing your smartphone video over to the police if you have evidence of a crime is the right thing to do -- it provides accountability and could be the key to a conviction. However, those contributions are about to enter a gray area. Axon (the brand formerly known as Taser) has confirmed that it's working on a "Public Evidence Product" that would let you submit photos and videos to Evidence.com, its cloud platform normally used for police footage. That doesn't sound so bad on the surface, but the handling and potential motivations are raising concerns that this amounts to excessive privatization of the justice system.
Sensor turns on a cop's body camera when their gun is pulled
Years after high-profile police shootings pressured departments across the country to adopt body cameras, results have been mixed. The increased accountability expected from their rollout has been marred with technical malfunctions or absent footage when officers fail to turn on their devices. Stun gun maker TASER wants to change this with a simple sensor that automatically turns on body cameras when an officer's gun leaves its holster.
SDPD finds that body cameras reduce misconduct and force complaints
According to an internal report released to the public this week, the San Diego Police Department has seen a significant drop in allegations against officers for both misconduct and overall use-of-force in the three years since the department adopted mandatory body-worn cameras (BWCs).
Taser bought two computer vision AI companies
Law enforcement agencies across the country are adopting body-worn cameras as a means both of increasing their transparency with the public and generating actionable feedback to improve officer performance. Problem is, all these body cams produce terabytes of data daily, far more than many departments can effectively handle. That's why Taser (yes those guys, they make body cameras too) announced on Thursday that it has acquired a pair of companies that specialize in computer- and machine-vision to create the "Axon AI" group. Together, they'll develop a platform that can efficiently parse this flood of data in real time.
Feds investigate police body cam footage in New Mexico
The US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into claims that the Albuquerque Police Department edited and deleted footage from officers' body cameras in an effort to remove scenes that might damage the department's reputation. New Mexico In Depth reports federal officials have received "several requests" for a criminal investigation, according to a spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office in Albuquerque.
New York lawsuit aims to apply the Second Amendment to Tasers
The Firearms Policy Foundation and Matthew Avitabile are suing New York state over a regulation that outlaws the possession of electronic weapons including stun guns and Tasers. Avitabile happens to be the mayor of Middleburgh, New York, and he wants to buy a Taser or stun gun for his home, according to court documents filed over the weekend. His lawyers argue that the New York ban on owning stun guns is unconstitutional, violating the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Taser's smallest weapon ever is for civilians, not cops
Although Taser is mostly known for supplying weapons to law enforcement officers, the company also focuses on people who are interested in self-defense products. With this in mind, Taser's introduced the Pulse, a small and lightweight weapon designed for the personal protection of every-day civilians. Pulse, which Taser says is its smallest weapon ever, can be easily carried around in a handbag or concealed on someone's back, measuring a mere 5.24 inches long by 4.5 inches tall and weighing roughly half a pound.
New LAPD Tasers will trigger body cameras before every shot
Remember those 7,000 body cameras that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti promised to buy for local police officers this year? Well, now the LAPD has ordered more than 3,000 Tasers that can activate them automatically as soon as the safety is flicked off. The police department has opted for the Taser X26P, a "smart" weapon unveiled two years ago, to refresh 2,270 of its older stun guns. A second order will introduce a further 860, all of which are designed to work in parallel with Taser's AXON body cameras. As Reuters reports, later this year the LAPD will be able to pair the two over Bluetooth so that, in theory, there's a video recording every time an officer fires a Taser. The weapon itself can also record important information about each incident, such as the date, time and duration of each shock. As tensions grow around officer misconduct in the US, it's hoped the tools will provide greater transparency and accountability, in particular as evidence in court.
Watch a man get stunned by the Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone (stun copter!)
You're gonna want to steer clear of this CUPID. The Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone, or "stun copter," can deliver 80,000 volts of pure projectile terror directly into the skin of an ill-intentioned hoodlum. This is serious business for Chaotic Moon, the folks behind SharkPunch and the Pizza Hut touch table. The Austin-based design studio created the flying machine as a tech demo, but CUPID could be quickly brought to production whenever a personal security or law enforcement client sees fit. This prototype unit is based on a Tarot Hexacopter, originally designed to carry a digital SLR for video and aerial photo shoots. With a Phazzer Dragon on board, however, a few modifications made this an entirely different beast.
Taser's on-officer cameras catch you in the act, right to remain silent imperative
Taser International has released an update to its on-officer system, the AXON Flex. The new rig provides law enforcement officials with body-mounted cameras that capture video evidence "from the officer's perspective." These recording devices can be affixed to the hat, collar, shoulder or on specially designed Oakley shades and are ruggedized to IPX2 standards. That's all well and good, but what really gives this setup nerd-cred is what can be done with the captured video. Through a partnership with evidence.com, the Flex system can send footage to a "military grade" cloud-based storage system for safe keeping; there is also an on-site storage option for IT-savvy forces. As if that weren't enough, Taser and Looxcie have co-developed a smartphone app -- available for iOS or Android -- that will allow officers to review captured clips and add GPS coordinates, notes or timestamps. The system's goal is to protect officers from "false claims, enhance public trust [and] decrease litigation." AXON Flex is set to be released in Q1 and will have a base price of around $700. Don't tase film me, bro.
BodyGuard stun-glove leaps out of comic books, into the arms of LA Sheriff's Department
What's better than a seasoned crime fighter? How about a seasoned crime fighter packing a 300,000-volt punch? A new prototype stun-glove is poised to make such Robocop-inspired dreams a reality, integrating a non-lethal taser, LED flashlight, and laser guided video camera into a fetching piece of futuristic armor. Activated by pulling out a grenade-like pin and palming an embedded finger pad, the Armstar BodyGuard 9XI-HD01 sparks a loud and visible arc of electricity between its wrist-mounted taser spikes, a sight that inventor David Brown hopes will encourage would-be crooks to surrender. The gauntlet's hard plastic shell is even roomy enough to add GPS equipment, biometrics, chemical sensors, or other embedded additions, as needed. The first batch of pre-production superhero gloves will hit the streets of LA later this year for testing and evaluation. Need more? Check out the via to see Kevin Costner (what field of dreams did he walk out of?) take the edge off this shocker in a surprisingly dull video.
Robot camel jockeys found packing illegal stun guns, Dubai police say 'Don't tase them bro!'
It's been awhile since we've talked about the remote controlled robot jockeys used in Arabian camel racing, but a recent scandal that has rocked the camel-racing world compels us to revisit the topic. The Dubai police discovered that some shady characters have been selling robot jockeys equipped with stun guns to "encourage" camels to run faster. We're pretty sure that the animals don't need any more incentive to run -- they already have a robot whipping them -- and it's good to see that the powers-that-be agree with us, as the two men selling the machines were arrested. Now that our dromedary friends need no longer fear being tased in the name of sport, we only have to worry about over-zealous peace officers using them on all of us. [Image Credit: ZDNet]
Crapgadget CES, round two: TASER C2 now in pretty colors
The most disturbing part... are the smiles.
Axon head-mounted camera records what police see when they keep an eye on Mayberry
Taser International, not content with zapping people with electricity, now wants you to be able to capture the action on video -- hands-free. Similar to the helmet cam used on television sports, the Axon system includes a Linux-powered tablet PC, an eye-level HeadCam that records audio and video (using IR in low-light), and a corresponding account on Evidence.com, an online, real time app for accessing and analyzing the data -- sure to become law enforcement's third favorite web portal (after Sprint's GPS data dispersal site and Garfield Minus Garfield). The system -- which will cost $5,700 per officer every three years -- made news recently when a Fort Smith, Arkansas officer was cleared of any wrongdoing in the death of a man who had threatened his wife with a handgun. The policeman was wearing an Axon camera at the time, which the county prosecutor said that the video allowed him to "observe what happened with complete objectivity." Currently officers in San Jose are using the system as part of a free trial, with other departments around the country expected to get in on the action in the near future. And who knows? At the very least we can hope that some hilarious law enforcement hijinks finds its way to YouTube. Get a closer look in the gallery below. %Gallery-81149%
Taser International's six-shot Shockwave demonstration
If you're looking to incapacitate with electricity, Taser International is your go-to source. And while single-shot (or even triple shot) weapons have their place, what do you do when faced with a whole crowd of no-goodniks? For instance, take that Travis County, Texas constable who zapped a 72 year old woman this spring (she dared him, remember). What if he was confronted by a whole van full of Ragin' Grannies? That, dear readers, is what Shockwave is for. Each module holds six Tazers seated in a twenty-degree arc, and multiple units can either be stacked horizontally or daisy chained for simultaneous deployment. The unit is activated by a push-button control box that allows the operator to stand up to 100 meters away, and the maximum range is 25 feet. Never before has electrocution been this easy. Video after the break.[Via Defense Tech]
TASER X3 video hands-on: watch out, baddies
Like most rational human beings, we have a healthy fear of guns. We've never shot a man in Reno (just to watch him die), and we're even unlikely to tase a bro in Atlantic City, just to observe him become temporarily incapacitated. Still, the appeal of a "non-lethal" deterrent is understandable (and certainly preferable to the alternative variety), and TASER has made some big additions to its new TASER X3 triple-shot weapon -- things that serve to make it safer for parties on both sides of the barrel. Check out a video of us handling (and firing!) this beast after the break, along with a few tidbits we picked up from the TASER folks that should provide a small amount of comfort for the TASER-averse.
