# Why don't most police departments use tasers often? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459 "2016-08-30T03:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/21 "2016-08-30T18:03:13Z")
> [@ultimate11](#): > > Now I wonder if a taser is just a useless device? Why do you lurch between extremes? A taser is not a magic bullet, but neither is it “useless.” It’s like everything else in this world: It has a specific purpose, it has its capabilities, and it also has its limitations. The biggest advantage is that it gives police the option of escalating force incrementally. It allows them to have a step in between “fistfight” and “firearm.” And there really aren’t that many less-lethal options out there to pick from. There are times it is appropriate to use, and there are times it is not appropriate, and there are risks involved. That’s not “useless,” that’s just life. ---
**Author:** ![ultimate11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/49beb7/32.png) [@ultimate11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultimate11)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/22 "2016-08-30T18:03:56Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > Nah, don’t be so hard on yourself. I guess. I just hate the constant crime reports on the media, and so does my family. (And how I managed to survive the mid 1990s in the south side (at Bridgeport) is a miracle- especially that heat wave in 1995). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/23 "2016-08-30T18:27:26Z")
> [@ultimate11](#): > > I guess. I just hate the constant crime reports on the media If it’s any consolation, crime rates are at historic lows nationwide. The 24 hour and sensationalized news cycle means it’s reported on significantly more. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/24 "2016-08-30T18:49:40Z")
A taser is just a weapon like any other weapon - it has its useful aspects and its dangers. There is a time to use it, and a time not to. Just like guns. If you don’t like crime stats, being able to taser someone is not the answer; the solutions are far more complex and take a long time to work. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/25 "2016-08-30T19:05:32Z")
Police officers are not allowed to carry a taser until they have been tased themselves. It’s very painful. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/26 "2016-08-30T19:23:58Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Police officers are not allowed to carry a taser until they have been tased themselves. It’s very painful. Not universally true. Each state has different training requirements. ETA: there is no real training value to being tased beyond “Now you know how it feels.” OC spray is different. Chances are a police officer is going to be exposed at some point during a dangerous situation either accidentally or through secondary exposure. It’s important to know you can fight through the pain of exposure. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/27 "2016-08-30T23:36:49Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Police officers are not allowed to carry a taser until they have been tased themselves. This is false. We’re here to fight ignorance, not expand it. As **Loach** has posted, every state and/or agency has it’s own policy. In Wisconsin we do not have to take a hit. I’ve taken the hit, but won’t again. I’ve been hit several times with OC in training, and even fully qualified with my service pistol after a full blast from Fox Labs shit. But I can fight through OC. I hate being Tased. > [@ultimate11](#): > > but a knife attack shouldn’t involve a gun. I knew it. I just knew it! I knew this is where this thread was going. I called it first. Every so often we have to have one where someone who doesn’t know WTF they’re talking about it going to tell us how it’s done. [Loach can have this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAncUrPPXao) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/28 "2016-08-31T01:44:11Z")
OK, OK, in some places they do. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/29 "2016-08-31T12:49:29Z")
> [@ultimate11](#): > > Now I could understand when a perp has a gun, that a taser would be highly ineffective, and that shooting the perp would be more acceptable in that situation, but a knife attack shouldn’t involve a gun. That statement is incorrect. Horribly so. As soon as the perp pulls a knife, all bets are off. Lethal force is now being used, and lethal force is the only correct response. It is the top of the pyramid in the use-of-force continuum; there’s no place else to go. What most folks don’t realize is that someone with a knife can injure or kill an officer before the firearm can be brought into play. It all has to do with reaction timing, and then the time necessary to draw and fire. [Great explanation here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_KJ1R2PCMM) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/30 "2016-08-31T20:48:46Z")
When a person pulls a knife and is advancing and possibly holding it in the really correct way, Run like hell. Knife throwing is a very rare art that few bad people master. While running and screaming, work on getting your gun out and mentally ready to turn and fill the bad person, who is after you with the knife, with bullets until they stand no more. Then a couple more times before approaching them to handcuff the body. Next: Call S. O. or friend to bring change of underwear. Never call your supervisor to do this. Note, no gender specific pronouns used in this thread, false assumptions will get you dead. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/31 "2016-08-31T22:28:37Z")
What about Taser Shotgun shells? How effective have they been. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459/32 "2016-08-31T23:46:38Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Tasers often don’t work. Loose clothing, thick clothing bad luck will render them ineffective. Knives always work. Here in Minnesota, in the winter, people are often wearing several layers of thick clothing. Police officers have told me that this can cause tasers to be ineffective/less effective. They have also said that ‘people who choose to fight with a armed police officer are often high on booze or drugs’. And thus the taser doesn’t have much effect on them. (Nor does pepper spray/tear gas type sprays.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-most-police-departments-use-tasers-often/764459.md?page=1)