(CALGARY – February 1st, 2010) The Taser®. Hailed as a breakthrough in modern policing – as a weapon that allows police to subdue “even the largest and scariest people on the planet”. A 21st century weapon that would temporarily incapacitate, but never kill. ‘Non-lethal’ declared the company’s promotional material in 1999. Police departments everywhere embraced the new and promising technology.

Click on the picture below to watch a preview of TASERED:

Tasered Preview

A decade later, more than 400 people have died in North America following Taser use, raising doubts about those early claims. In Canada three public inquiries have investigated the weapon and critics clamor for more independent research and national standards for its use.

TASERED takes a comprehensive look at the weapon. The documentary goes inside a major Canadian metropolitan police department — the Calgary Police Service. We follow recruits as they train to become “Taser ready”. We watch as they line up for what has become a rite of passage in many police forces: to be tasered voluntarily just to experience how it feels.

Police say the weapon saves lives in high risk situations, but TASERED also shows dramatic footage of the weapon being used indiscriminately – against a grandmother pulled over for speeding, an intoxicated woman and a student asking a politically charged question.

“Usage creep” is now a major concern. In 43 U.S. states civilians can buy a Taser. Our cameras record a sales party at a private home in Georgia where pink Tasers are marketed to women who are nervous about using a gun for self-defense.

Has the Taser changed policing and personal security? And now that it is becoming a household item, what new risks of potential misuse and abuse loom ahead? Is this a weapon of control for the better? Or in our haste to embrace this new technology, have its risks been ignored?

To view additional background, please visit:
CBC - Doc Zone

TASERED is Produced, Directed and Written by Lynn Raineault for CBC's Doc Zone, and by Joe Media Group in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with financial participation from the Canadian Television Fund, the Alberta Film Development Program and Canadian Audio Visual Tax Credit.

Joe Media Group is an award-winning, high-definition television and film production company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that specializes in the development, production and post-production of documentary, performance, dramatic, lifestyle and sports event programming.