ADVANCED TASER M26
Field Report Analysis

2,690 Field Applications
May 1, 2003

Statistical Analysis
Number of Reports
Lives Saved

2690
348

Success Rate:* 94.3%

Success is defined that the use of the ADVANCED TASER was sufficient to bring
the force confrontation to successful conclusion without any additional or
alternative force used. Lives saved were based on the judgment of the reviewer
“would the suspect likely have lost his life had the TASER not been present.”
Success Rate Against Subjects Under Influence
Influence

# Success

# Failed

Rate

28

1

96.55%

PCP
Cocaine

104

8

92.86%

Alcohol

1054

60

94.61%

110

5

95.65%

58

6

90.63%

576

43

93.05%

Methamphetamines
Misc. Drugs
Emotionally Disturbed Persons

Conclusion: There is no correlation between the presence of narcotics and the
effectiveness of the M26. The weapon appears to have consistent efficacy
regardless of narcotics.
Success Rate By Gender
Influence
Male
Female

# Success

# Failed

Rate

Total

2215

153

93.54%

2,368

91%

219

11

95.22%

230

9%

Conclusion: There is no correlation between sex and efficacy. The M26
appears equally effective on both genders.
Level of Deployment

# of Incidents

Rate

Darts Fired at Subject

1739

64.99%

Stun Gun Application

487

18.20%

Laser Only

322

12.03%

Spark Demo

53

1.98%

Unknown

75

2.80%
100.00%

The figures above are most likely weighted toward dart deployments. We believe
that it is more likely an officer will submit a use of force report when he has fired
the cartridge, hence laser presence and spark demonstration incidents are likely
to be under-represented.

Success Rate By Level of Deployment
Level

Success

# of Incidents

Darts Fired at Subject

No

126

Darts Fired at Subject

Yes

1580

Laser Only

No

4

Laser Only

Yes

318

Spark Demo

No

3

Spark Demo

Yes

50

Stun Gun Application

No

28

Stun Gun Application

Yes

457

Rate
7.39%
92.61%
1.24%
98.76%
5.66%
94.34%
5.77%
94.23%

Note: Laser only is shown at 98.76% effective. This is due to the fact that if a
laser display is not effective in gaining compliance, the officer will usually
escalate to firing darts or using the stun gun. Hence, the only time a laser only
display is listed as unsuccessful is when the officer displays the laser, then elects
to discontinue with the TASER and transition to another force option. An
example would be an officer using the laser display on a female who declares
she is pregnant, at which point the officer may decide that a chemical spray is a
better choice given the potential adverse consequences of a fall.
Success Rate By Distance of Deployment
Distance
Success # of Incidents
1-3 Feet

No

13

1-3 Feet

Yes

176

3-7 Feet

No

39

3-7 Feet

Yes

578

7-11 Feet

No

35

7-11 Feet

Yes

497

11-15 Feet

No

26

11-15 Feet

Yes

235

15-21 Feet

No

8

15-21 Feet

Yes

48

Unknown

No

18

Unknown

Yes

454

Success
Rate
6.88%
93.12%
6.32%
93.68%
6.58%
93.42%
9.96%
90.04%
14.29%
85.71%
3.81%
96.19%

Totals

%

189

11%

617

37%

532

32%

261

16%

56

3%
100%

1,655

Conclusion: The most common firing ranges are in the 3-11 foot range (69% of
firings). The reported effectiveness does appear to drop off slightly beyond 15
feet. We would anticipate this would be a combination of more misses, and
perhaps less clothing penetration due to lower impact energy.

Injury Statistics
Officer Injuries in TASER incidents
Injury
Number of
Level
Incidents
Unknown
185
None / Minor
2494
Moderate
8
Severe
3
2505
Suspect Injuries in TASER incidents
Injury
Number of
Level
Incidents
Unknown
280
None / Minor
2348
Moderate
45
Severe
17
2410

%
N.A.
99.56%
0.32%
0.12%
100.00%

%
N.A.
97.43%
1.87%
0.71%
100.00%

The injury rate to officers involved in reported TASER confrontations are
experiencing an injury rate of less than 0.5%. Similarly, suspects are also found
to have an injury rate of less than 3%. Considering the types of scenarios where
the TASER is employed, these low injury rates should be considered a dramatic
advancement in both officer and suspect safety.

M26 Weapon Statistics
Number of Shots Fired
# of Shots
Unknown
0
1
2
2D
3
4
5

# of Incidents
684
22
1534
113
90
21
7
1
1788

NA
1.23%
85.79%
6.32%
5.03%
1.17%
0.39%
0.06%
100.00%

85.79% of deployments require only one shot from the M26. It is interesting to
note that, if a second shot is required, it is almost equally likely to come from a
second M26 on scene as from a reload in the original unit. This data supports the
usefulness of having multiple M26 weapons on scene.

Number of Probes That Hit Subject When Probes Fired
# of Probes In Subject
# of Incidents
%
Unknown
76
N.A.
1
101
7.62%
2
1218
91.92%
3
5
0.38%
4
1
0.08%
1325
100.00%

91.92% of the time, there are two probes in the suspect. Given that 86% of M26
confrontations involve only one discharge, this data indicates that the rate of both
probes adhering to the target is high.
Failure Causes
Descrption
Clothing
Unknown
Low Nerve / Muscle Location
Miss
Single Dart
Weapon Problem
Cartridge Failure
Low Battery
Operator Error
Door Closed
Decided not to use
Animal Use
Dropped / Broken
Propped Up

# Incidents
43
33
29
24
20
8
7
6
6
4
4
4
3
2
193

% of failures
22.3%
17.1%
15.0%
12.4%
10.4%
4.1%
3.6%
3.1%
3.1%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
1.6%
1.0%

% of all
1.60%
1.23%
1.08%
0.89%
0.74%
0.30%
0.26%
0.22%
0.22%
0.15%
0.15%
0.15%
0.11%
0.07%

The chart above lists the most likely cause of failure in the cases marked
unsuccessful. This includes both probe firings and touch stun applications. The
percentage of all uses column is not additive (some incidents have multiple
failure issues, hence it would not be accurate to add all failures together as a
percentage of total uses).
Duration of M26 Discharges
Duration
Unknown
1 sec
2 sec
3 sec
4 sec
5 sec
More than one cycle
Total

# of Incidents
754
16
38
61
35
914
492
1556

% of known
1%
2%
4%
2%
59%
32%
100%

The data seems to support that a five-second discharge is optimal. The 5second discharge is sufficient in 68% of confrontations. However the fact that

32% of incidents require additional discharges, suggests that shortening the
cycle would not be recommended. The performance of the automated 5-second
burst appears to be fairly optimized.
Location of M26 Uses
Location
Indoor
Jail / Hospital
Outdoor
Total

# of Incidents
667
304
1496
2467

27%
12%
61%
100%

M26 Incidents: Subject Statistics
Ages of Subjects
Age
10-18
19-40
41-60
61+

# of Incidents
183
1794
477
19
2473

%
7.40%
72.54%
19.29%
0.77%
100.00%

The M26 is being safely applied across a broad age range.

Analysis of Call Types
Call Type
Violent
Resisting Arrest
Suicide
Civil Disturbance
Barricade
Serve Warrant
Officer Assault

Success
770
770
422
371
144
152
144

Fail Success%
62
92.5%
67
92.0%
19
95.7%
21
94.6%
8
94.7%
8
95.0%
15
90.6%

Total % of Total
832
28.0%
837
28.2%
441
14.8%
392
13.2%
152
5.1%
160
5.4%
159
5.3%
2973
100.0%

The M26 is performing above 90% across all call type categories. Of particular
interest is the fact that 15% of M26 uses involve suicidal persons.
Analysis of Suspect Force Level
Suspect Force
Success
Verbal Non-Comp
906
Active Aggression
792
Defensive Resist
707
Deadly Assault
76

Fail
45
51
51
3

%
95.3%
94.0%
93.3%
96.2%

Total % of Total
951
36.1%
843
32.0%
758
28.8%
79
3.0%
2631
100.0%

Analysis of Suspect Weapons
Suspect Weapon
Success
None
2041
Edged Weapon
321
Firearm
96
Blunt Force
58

Fail
131
11
6
5

%
94.0%
96.7%
94.1%
92.1%

Total % of Total
2172
83.3%
332
12.7%
102
3.9%
63
2.4%
2606
100.0%