The electroshock weapon called the Taser, which is typically used by police when trying to control a fleeing suspect, uses an electrical current that causes neuromuscular incapacitation. In other words, if you’re struck by a Taser, your chances of getting away are null.
There have been plenty of controversies involving the device and law enforcement. The most notorious may be the altercation that led to the phrase “Don’t tase me, bro.”The story of how the Taser got its name, however, is an even wackier yarn.
John H. “Jack” Cover, one of the brains behind the invention, named the Taser. (Cover is also a former chief scientist of North American Aerospace’s Apollo Moon Landing Program.)
As a boy, Cover loved reading a series of young adult novels about a character named Tom Swift. One of the books is called “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle.”
Cover named the electroshock weapon after his childhood literary hero. (Do you know what “laser” stands for? Here’s the answer. What about “LASIK?” Here you go.)
Taser is actually not a word, but an acronym for a fictional weapon:
Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.
Cover added the “A” to Tom Swift’s name. The original character did not have a middle name.
Victor Appleton is the author of the Tom Swift books. But Appleton himself was also a product of the imagination. He was a house pseudonym invented by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging firm. The actual authors consisted of half a dozen ghost writers.
The verb “to tase” was backformed from Taser.
If you think the Taser story is strange, check out what “Yahoo” meant before the Internet company existed, right here.
Can i have one?
Yeah, it is true. I once saw a documentary on police, and being tased was part of the ritual to come into law inforcement ;D
yes it is true my dad is a cop and he had to do it.
lol yahoo means this:
(in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels ) one of a race of brutes, having the form and all the vices of humans, who are subject to the Houyhnhnms.
I believe it. My husband was in Corrections and he had to be sprayed with an even stronger spray, OC, and it was most irritating. Exposure can be determined by various state policies, no doubt.
Yup! They do! I have friends in law enforcement. They have to be tased so they know how it feels. This knowledge (hopefully) will keep them from abusing it and tasing/spraying too many people who may not need it.
Yes, Nathan, the rumor you heard is true. Part of the authorization for the use of these tools in law enforcement is to have them used on oneself before authorization. The reason behind this is to have the law enforcement agency member experience the full effect of the weapon to fully understand its uses.
This also prevents and irresponsible use of these tools; do you want to have a cop use a taser but not know what it’s capable of?
my mom has a taser she just got a new one her older one was little but now this one is as big as 2 hands and yes she uses it …
Don’t tase me bro!
[...] I never knew this! Amplify’d from hotword.dictionary.com via Google Reader [...]
I knew a former police officer and he said that he had to spray pepper spray in his eyes in case criminals used it, so he would know what to expect. I never heard him say anything about if he had to tase himself though. By the way, in Spanish aficionado means fan.
Yes, it’s true. You were told correctly!
to Nathen: It is true. We had a police officer come to our high school health class for ADAP and he showed us videos off of the police website of them being tasered and sprayed with pepper spray.
Nathan, I don’t know if that’s true about tasing or pepper spray, but I think it would be a good idea for waterboarding. If they still think it’s not torture after they experience it, they should be free to do it.
Very interesting! I had no idea its name had such a fantastic origin. That’s almost better than “Sousa”!
Please don’t tase me or anything, but I’m pretty certain the weapon in the photograph there is actually a stun gun, which is sort of like the little brother of the taser.
To use a stun gun you hold it in your hand and poke your intended target with it, so it only has an effective range of an arm’s length (is “gun”, then, a bit of a misnomer?).
What makes the taser much scarier is that it’s more like an an actual gun (or futuristic electric rifle) in that it fires two electrodes through the air at the target, so you can zap someone who’s clear across the room (up to about 30′, I think). Yeek!
Also, whereas a stun gun, I believe, just plain *hurts*, the taser actually disrupts your whole muscular nervous system, which makes it effective even against people who are in a state of increased pain tolerance (i.e.: they’re really drunk).
Here’s a good taser picture:
http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/taser.jpg
Thanks for the great article. I’m embarrassed I hadn’t thought to look the origin up sooner!
Maybe that’s why they like to dish it out at the slightest, least-tenable opportunity. They should be certified more often — MUCH more often.
i heard that if you get tase with the bigger taser,it will leave you on the ground for a hour and you have to use the bathroom before you get tase
Wow, this is realy in formative.
@ Nathan:
It’s optional to get tased, you can turn the offer down.
That is totally, 100% true. Police officers do need to be tased and pepper sprayed during training.
yes as strange as it sounds its true. i didnt believe it at first either till my cousin was getting trained to be a policeman. He got pepperspayed the first then tased a week later.
That sounds reasonable Nathan, because I think the police need to know the possible reaction in a person and what´s better that yourself.
I heard that some people get adiction to be “Tasered”
@ Nathan – it wouldn’t kill them if it is something they have to train on before being allowed to use it. The military police practice with it and have to be tased or pepper sprayed to get thru their training. I was in the Marine Corps and trained some with the MP’s – we did both. Both are incredibly painful, but they get thru it….I think it would be a great idea for the civilian police to understand how it works and what the suspect is going thru before being allowed to use it.
Nathan, what you heard about taser’s and mace is correct. I am an Indiana State Police Officer and I do wield both a taser and mace: both of which I had to have used on me first. The state requires this in order for the officers to better judge the effectiveness of the weapons, plus help judge when to use them. I must say, getting tased was the worse physical pain I have ever felt in my life, but well worth the help that it has given me when subduing a suspect whom is resisting arrest.
My brother told me that the taser is based on the phaser from Star Wars.
interesting story but if you have more interesting let me know so that I can it.
Great idea to have these hot-words, very interesting… What’s even more interesting is the Government’s infiltration into OUR local county law-enforcement agencies. Just search for the “riot police at the G20″ and you’ll note that the majority of “peace officers,” were in fact not peaceful at all. You’ll also note that they more like MILITARY special OPs agents; body armor, gas masks, COVERED badge numbers, which is ILLEGAL btw. Anyhow… you bet your arse that the TASER (lethal in some cases) is nothing more than another toy that will be used against US, the citizens for any peaceful dissent.
_”Free speech” zones??? HAHA, you’ve got to be kidding me; since when is “free” speech able to be CONTAINED? Who designates these “zones,” certainly NOT US the tax paying citizenry. WHO allowed the police to use DRACONIAN ELECTROCUTION SHOCK devices? Certainly NOT the citizens… Please search out those videos and you’ll see an increasingly disturbing trend of the militarization of OUR police force; remember, WE THE CITIZENS PAY THEIR SALARY! They are supposed to work for US, but that’s currently not the case so it seems… Search these terms for more military designed weapons that are currently being used against citizens, which then allows for the MILITARY to pay private weapons contractors to make these and even more invasive and dangerous weapons to then use in WAR TIME. That’s what the big game is about, military adoption for HUGE financial contracts… and WHO PAYS… YOU the VOTER!
LRAD, G20, Council on Foreign relations, Bilderberg Group, Bohemian Grove, Carlyle Group, Trilateral Commission… the list of “secret” private organizations is ever increasing, ask yourself WHY? Just a friendly cabal of very wealthy/powerful people “hangin out” just like the avg guy/gal at the bar… No sir, these people don’t talk about Lebron James and who won what game over beer and pizza. They are talking about managing YOU their “serfs,” I’m sorry I mean “working class citizen…” You’ve been warned, carry on citizen…
Usually the pepper spray is required in order to build a defence against getting pepper sprayed by someone they are trying to catch and losing that person for it. The taser is not the same case, sinc eyou can’t build an immunity to something like that by taking repeated zaps from it. It would probably have the opposite effect.
Actually a peace officer does have to get tased and pepper spraid for them to be able to use it. I am going through the academy and we will get peppered spraid and tased.
I’m not sure about the taser being used on police. I would believe it though, because I have a buddy in the local police program and he had to get maced.
This kind of device is already a trademark used for a high-voltage stun gun. You can use it also to a person who has a bad intention to you…
“especially” to some people we called as Rapist. If only I could have
enough money I will buy it…
Nathan, they do that. My boyfriends brother ad to go through with it.
It is true, police have to be tased and pepper sprayed in order to be certified. It is really helpful in court if an officer used deadly force on a person with a can of pepper spray.
it is true nathan. in order to carry one it must be used on you. they have video at my last job showing officers being tased.
I hadn’t heard either story. I certainly did read a study in which a group of French law enforcement officers volunteered for exposure to capsaicin (pepper spray) in order to test an antidote for it.
Tasers have to be safer than most alternatives – restraining agitated prisoners without such aids has a morbidity and possible mortality as well……………
[...] So he named it after the electric rifle, Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle. [...]
Nathan: Yes it’s true my dad is a cop and he had to me tased and sprayed in order to become one.
Trust me….it’s true for both
Cover relayed the story of how the TASER got its name when he demonstrated the product on the television show “That’s Incredible” in the early 1980s.
It’s also worth noting that the stun/shock device shown in the illustration is not a TASER. The TASER is different from stun/shock devices which must be touched to their target. The TASER launches darts at the subject, which then deliver an electric shock through thin wires that connect them back to the TASER. That’s what made the TASER such a big deal, it delivers less-lethal force while providing law enforcement officers safer stand-off distance from violent or armed suspects.
if its true i hope they get gunned in order to use a gun 
lol
sorry I meant to put had to be not had to me.
Interesting! I am grateful my husband (a LEO) has a non-lethal weapon to depend on before reaching for his firearm while on duty. Different police agencies have different policies regarding the LEO’s being tased/peppered. It is usually voluntary to be tased, but they will probably shame you into doing it.
Hey Nathan,
Regarding whether law enforcement officers (LEO) are required to be tased: It depends on the department. In my midwest locale there are severak departments that serve the area – municipal, county, state, and university. I know for a fact that the county sherif’s deputies are required to experience being tased before they will be issued one to use. The municipal cops are given the option, and many of them volunteer to experience it. Regardless of whether they experience it themselves, they do get to see a “live” tasing in class to witness the effects.
This was a great article – very interesting. I can’t wait to pass it along to my LEO friends!
Good article-and actually accurate, unlike most articles on this device.
Nathan, Police officers are required by some departments to be tased in order to carry a Taser, but not all. Where they are not required, it is still strongly recommended.
Ha ha, I can promise you – that is not true.
it’s true. they have to get tased and they have to get sprayed.
I know that here in Connecticut – that is true. One of my good friends made police officer and he has a video of him being both tased and sprayed with the pepper spray.
this is very interesting, and i forget what laser stands for, its like light amplified *something* electromagnetic radiation, or what not lol.
and for Nathan, i don’t think police have to be tased to use it but i believe the pepper spray is so that the know what its like if they accidentally get it in their eyes spraying a culprit, they have to be ale to still arrest him under its effects.
it is true
@nathan
it is true.
it is true my uncle was a police officer
That is absolutely correct. Youtube has many examples of police training videos across the country in which they “Taze” each other as part of their training.
Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle. Who would’ve guessed…
Nathan, I have had friends in law enforcement, and being tased and sprayed are part of their training in Ohio, at least.
That is a stun gun in the photo not a tazer
Nathan, this is true. I have a friend who is a police officer. They are required to go through training and must be subjected to it before they’re even allowed to carry one (at least this is true where I am from.) That goes for both the taser and pepper spray.
Hey Nate, just FYI, being tased or pepper sprayed is totally true in police training. That way they know the extent of pain they’re delivering to a suspect.
I training, before being allowed to use a TASER or pepper spray we are subjected to both.
It’s true as far as I’ve seen. Local police here have to be tased as part of their “check” on the weapon. However, they are tased under controlled conditions where they are prevented from falling face first on concrete. At least they get a feel for what it’s like though!
It is true, I have worked with police and in order to weild a taser they need it have it used on them so they know what it feels like. Same goes with pepper spray. I think, but am not sure, that they do this to not abuse the power of using it. So they know what the person being tased is going through.
It’s true, I have some friends on the force who said they have to take a tase to use a taser.
@Nathan – It’s true! Today’s police training involves being tased in order to know how it feels/works. A State Trooper friend of mine has video from when he was a cadet being in the class where they did taser training. The biggest guy in the class dropped like a ton of bricks.
Well I can’t vouch for the tasing part, but I can verify that the Coast Guard at least makes it mandatory for our boarding team members to be pepper sprayed during initial training (that is one piece of Proof of Training that EVERYONE keeps several copies of…) BTW I recommend staying upwind if you ever observe a demonstration.
I heard that too. It makes sense, whether it’s true, because then they know what it feels like and will be more cautious when using either the taser or pepper spray.
you do have to be tazed and sprayed to be a cop
The tazer is just as worse as a gun my dad was killed by the police with tazers
The tazer and pepper spray are just as worse as a gun my dad was killed by the police useing tazers and pepper spray
Tim Hawkins has a hilarious video Called “I’m no rock star” which mentions that he no longer spanks his children. Instead, he uses a TASER. Hmmm…….I wonder if that is really true of not LOL
Police officers do indeed have to be tased in order to train with it, it is a part of the other officers’ training with the weapon themselves. This is not true, however, for pepper spray, which could cause long term retinal problems.
You know I never knew it meant anything! I thought a Taser was a Taser! WoW! You learn something new everday! COOL!
-Deanna-
[...] “THOMAS A. SWIFT’S ELECTRIC RIFLE” — That’s street wise electroshock cool. — Everybody might be crazy but take your meds instead, Fool. — The Sanchez Dude who was fired for calling Stewart a bigot — might have had his treatment shocked and it never closed his spigot. — They fired him for speaking out of a canon when Tasing would have been the proper vent — That’s one more idiot like us out of work — such a deal for the money spent. — The TASER is no weapon; — it’s the Sword of Damacles. — Herdin up the cattle and knocking us rabble to our knees. — When they bring out the fire hoses and use the taser guns — could be quite dramatic — the only thing missing are the singing nuns. –>>Rupert L.T.Rhyme [...]
POLICE STATE COMING used Wall of Text…
It’s TL;DR!
I can’t recall if its Psychiatrists, or Psychologists that have to go through a psychiatric evaluation themselves before they can practise.
just goes to show, several thousand volts and convincing someone their dreams mean they want to marry their own mother have equally devastating repurcussions.
Man, by an extension of that logic, qualifying for a pistol has gotta be killer.
Im a member of the U.S. Army and for my work I had to be Tased and Pepper Sprayed…..I’d take the taser any day!
OUCH
Whatever happened to the guy who interrupted the political meeting at that auditiourum. He should be heralded as a hero and the Tea Party folks use him as their poster child.
what the hell is wrong with people this days, jesus, btw this has nothing to do with the article
like lolz this is like coolz
This is so cul
I would love to own a taser!! That should be a must have now a days!!
Well Nathan, you win. Here are 1001 responses to your question. Sheesh.
It is true that you have to be tazed. You also have to be shot, strangled, beaten with a club and on top of that watch CNN for seven days straight (without sleep, or food, or water, in a quiet room, preferably a cell) if you’re going to be a cop. I should know, because a father of a friend’s uncle told me.
i don’t get it???
i don’t get it!!!!!
i’d love to have a taser for self protection. i would carry it everytime i go out especially at night. but i guess no one’s allowing me to have one. 
That was so cool!
Wow, I had no idea, sooo cool! I want one!!!
Waldo Pepper: Not only that, but some of them conflict with the other 90% of posts. Well, at least he got an answer.
at least they don’t have to be shot before qualifying to carry a sidearm!:)
In some law enforcement agenciecies, such as the CHP, it is not required, but if you’re a man with any dignity you submit to getting tazed, like my brother did.
I did not read all the responses, so this comment may be redundant. In differentiating the TASER from a Stun Gun, I have not noticed anyone included this additional information:
When a TASER is fired at the target from a distance, the discharge also widely scatters minute, identical plastic chips called ‘tags.’ They are about the size of confetti. Each cartridge loaded into the TASER also carries a payload of these tags, as many as several hundred per shot. When even a single tag is recovered from the incident scene, it will provide an audit trail as to where the manufacturer fabricated that cartridge, where and when it was sold to a vendor, and who the consumer was who bought it. It makes use of a TASER vitually impossible to walk away from. The tags are as unique as a serial number on the shooter themselves. I am not aware of any grey- or black market TASER cartridges fabricated without this unique identifyer embedded in the product. The lesson is implicit: It is impossible to TASE someone anonymously.
cool… i want one
When my brother and i were in about third grade we found a bunch of old “Tom Swift” novels in our school library and read them. “Tom Swift” was a fairly badly written and stereotypical 40’s sci-fi series; in fact it’s where we get the phrase “swiftie” today, to denote a bad pun on an adverb, but the books were good for one thing–they came before today’s crazy world that i’m growing up in and from my standpoint they seem to be kind of innocent. It seems ironic and almost terrible that a weapon designed solely for causing horrible pain could be named after a simple series of innocent kid’s books from a more genteel–in some respects–if not necessarily less cruel, world.
Who would have guessed? That addition of the middle initial is of course cheating a little, but still…!
In NYC, for a police officer to use a TASER or stungun, he/she must have been tased. Every male police officer who was tased: screamed, clutched his chest, and fell down; every female officer who was tased, silently clutched her chest and fell down. The mantra became: “TAKE IT LIKE A WOMAN”!
LASER- Light amplification through stimulated emission of radiation.
Getting tased is required in order to be certified to carry a taser in most police departments. I’m starting my 30th year in law enforcement in south Florida and feel that officers will more likely utilize a Taser appropriately if they have personal knowledge of its effectiveness. I would rather get beat than to ever get tased again. Most bad guys just give up than chance getting tased. Very effective tool in reducing injuries on both sides and saving suicidal individuals from hurting themselves or others.
The TASER acronym is correct.
However, the photo shows a generic stun gun. You need to show a photo of a real TASER brand device.
Also, there is NO verb “tased.” TASER is registered trademark (and the AP style book should know this). You can’t “bastardize” your trademark by using it as a verb.
On a sidenote, Jack Cover passed away in February 2009. I had the honor of working with him when we started TASER International.
I loved this. I heard, but not even sure if it’s true, that police have to be tased in order to actually use it. The same with the pepper spray. I don’t think it’s true, but who knows.