Following the release of the Rand Corp. report commissioned by the NYPD, much attention has been given to Tasers, the ballistic electrode-firing weapons meant as a less violent alternative than gunfire when dealing with life-threatening situations. Immediately, there are concerns the police will use Tasers as compliance tools. Just this past week, a Brooklyn man died after being shot with a Taser by a Long Island cop while trying to swallow a bag of cocaine.......

The RAND Corporation issued the findings of a report that commissioned by the NYPD in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting. Among the recommendations were that the NYPD should incorporate more realistic scenarios into its firearm training and increase the number of non-lethal weapons carried by personnel on the street. The report, started in January 2007, focuses on preventing incidents similar to the Bell shooting, where police officers fired 50 times. RAND identified what......

The New York Police Department intends to begin arming sergeants with Taser stun guns, which shoot a pair of electrodes at an intended target and disburses a disabling electric charge. The expressed purpose of the move is to try to prevent life-ending incidents where police are forced to shoot non-compliant citizens with bullets. Tasers have been available to NYPD sergeants since 1984, but their bulky design required that the non-lethal weapons be stored in the......