Taser International Inc. has warned police departments that its newest electric stun gun recently failed to subdue some suspects, and it will increase the power of the weapon, The New York Times reported on Friday.
The newspaper said that, according to a bulletin the company has sent to police departments, it will increase the power of the X26 by about 14 percent to make the gun more effective.
A Taser spokesman, Steve Tuttle, told the newspaper the change did not mean that the weapon was unsafe or did not work. Taser says its guns are successful about 95 percent of the time, although an independent study by the Defense Department found a much lower rate of effectiveness, according to the article.
The company's weapons look like pistols and fire electrified barbs that are connected to the gun by insulated copper wires up to 25 feet long, hitting suspects with a powerful electric shock that lasts at least five seconds, the article said.
More than 100,000 police officers nationwide carry the weapons, and the newspaper said the company began selling a version of the X26 to civilians last fall.
The article said that, in the bulletin, Taser said it had received reports that suspects "were able to gain partial mobility" while being shocked.
"In some of these cases, the suspects were able to break the wires," the newspaper quoted Taser as saying, which would break the electric circuit and end the shock.
The company did not disclose how many reports it had received or whether anyone had escaped after breaking the wires, according to the article. Taser sent the bulletin in September but had never announced any changes in the design of the X26, the newspaper said.
Taser could not immediately be reached for comment.
The company is facing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its public statements and shareholder lawsuits claiming the company underplayed the dangers of its weapons to inflate its stock price.
Last week, a California lawmaker said he will introduce a bill to collect data on the use of Taser's stun-guns and may move to sharply restrict their use.
