Recent News

Virginia DOC Suspends Use of Ultron Stun Gun
Recently, a newspaper article reported that the Virginia Department of Corrections has suspended the use of the
Ultron brand of stun guns after a recent autopsy was completed on a man who died after being hit with an Ultron.
This is almost certainly due to pressure from organizations such as Amnesty International that have actively
opposed stun guns along with most other less-lethal weapons. In fact, Amnesty International Regional Director Jodi
Longo stated, "it is of grave concern that Mr. Angelone (Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections) allowed
the use of this weapon to continue for 10 months after it was implicated in the death of an inmate."
However, if you investigate the facts of this case, there is no link by any medical authority between the Ultron stun
gun and the in-custody death of Lawrence Frazier, 50, in June of 2000. The state medical examiner's office
concluded that Frazier died of natural causes. Certainly, no reason to suspend a valuable tool of corrections
officers. More recently, an autopsy of Frazier found that he "died of cardiac arrhythmia due to the stress of being
restrained after the use of the Ultron." Amnesty International has attempted to misconstrue this statement to imply
the Ultron played a causal role in the death of Mr. Frazier. However, no such causality is implied. Mr. Frazier died of
cardiac arrhythmia due to the stress of being restrained (along with other health complications) -- the fact this
happened after the use of a less-lethal weapon does not imply and certainly does not prove any causal relationship.
In fact, Mr. Frazier was an insulin dependent diabetic and had been suffering from disorientation and seizures for
hours prior to the extended altercation. Sometime after being restrained in a 4 point restraint (face up), he lapsed
into a coma and died several days later. Diabetic coma is a well proven phenomenon wherein someone suffering
from severe diabetes can fall into a coma. Conversely, there is no mechanism known or postulated by a reasonable
medical authority on how a stun gun would cause someone to fall into a coma. I could understand Amnesty's linking
the death to the stun gun if the subject had gone into ventricular fibrillation and died during the application of the
stun gun. But this did not happen. In fact, it has never happened. Amnesty has chosen to ignore the obvious cause
of the death for political reasons and postulate a new cause with no basis in fact or science. This is not responsible
behavior for any organization, especially one with the political clout of Amnesty International.
Fortunately, many other human rights organizations have a more rational policy, and can see that less-lethal
weapons clearly can reduce injuries and save lives. For example, several leading mental health advocacy groups in
Canada have endorsed the use of less-lethal weapons like the ADVANCED TASER because of their ability to help
law enforcement and correctional officers do their jobs with lower risk of injury or death to both the officer and the
subjects he must deal with.
This is where I think it's really important to set the right expectations of "less-lethal" weapons -- hence the name.
Any use of force involves stress. In custody deaths will continue to occur due to the stress involved in physical
confrontations and forcible restraint. The use of a less-lethal weapon in the process will not prevent individuals who

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Recent News

are in the process of over-stressing their health from doing so. Over-expectations by management can lead to
overreactions and assumptions of causality where none exist. Even if it were the case that a stun gun, or a
conducted energy weapon causes a death, the safety must be considered in light of alternatives. Blunt force
techniques and traditional force tactics have a known injury and fatality rate which is greater than that of stun guns
or conducted energy weapons, even under the most adverse assumptions. We need to set realistic expectations so
that we don't overreact when adversity occurs.
While I can understand the Virginia Department of Corrections taking the time to carefully evaluate the results, the
undue pressure from Amnesty International, based on inaccuracies and half-truths, is irresponsible and places
officers at unnecessary risk by removing valuable tools from their tool kits. I hope the Virginia Department of
Corrections will be able to evaluate this incident from a scientific and medical viewpoint and make a rational
decision regarding their force options without ill informed pressure from overzealous political concerns.
I have linked two recent newspaper articles for additional information on this incident.
Virginia Article | Connecticut Article
I welcome any comments or questions on this situation to Rick@TASER.com and wish both Stun Tech and the
Virginia D.O.C. the best in working through this situation.
-Rick Smith
CEO, TASER International
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