Police first began using Tasers as a way to take down suspected criminals without resorting to guns. But as controvery mounted over the years as to whether Tasers might actually be deadly, police and advocates looked for an alternative.
It looks like they might have found it, in the so-called "Dazer Laser," developed by Mercerville, N.J.-based Laser Energetics.
It's no secret that Tasers hurt. A lot. But their greatest advantage has always been that they're not lethal. The Dazer Laser doesn't physically harm you, but it does temporarily impair vision, and may also cause nausea.
This device looks like gun, but instead of bullets, it shoots out a bright green laser beam. The flash temporarily blinds someone, and creates confusion, disorientation and even nausea. The Dazer Laser is powerful enough to blast through eyelids and work more than a mile away, but does not cause permanent damage.
A study from an independent organization, Nevyas Eye Associates and the Delaware Valley Laser Surgery Institute, says the Dazer Laser is safe to human eyes as close as six feet away.
But I'm a little suspicious about how meaningful that study really is. The groups behind the study are both legitimate, but they only tested the Dazer Laser on ten people. Medical tests typically have dozens, if not hundreds, of test subjects, and polling companies that measure public opinion on political issues usually get well over 1,000 responses.
Why only test it on 10 people, when the safety implications are so high? I sent off an email to the company asking just that, and I'll update this post as soon as they get back to me.
So what do you think? Is the Dazer Laser a safe alternative to the Taser, or should police look for something else?
Tags: Crime, Emergency Response, Inventions, Safety and Prevention, Weapons
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