Joe Media Group

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 &em; 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?