OIS grand jury wants tasers to look different than guns

MEDFORD, Ore. — According to Jackson County District Attorney Heckert, after the apparent confusion over the taser in the Graves case, grand jurors said they felt that a taser should be a different color that way it could not be mistaken for a firearm.

Tasers are commonly used by police around the nation as a non-lethal weapon. They are designed to work to impair an attacker, by disrupting the brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of the body.

Here in the Rogue Valley, almost all police officers in the field carry some type of taser.

The two largest agencies, Medford Police and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office issue black tasers but there are some differences locally.

“Ours are black in color and I do know that some of the agencies have yellow tasers in the valley,” said Sheriff Nate Sickler, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. “I don’t know exactly what the ratio is yellow to black…it just depends on what suits that agencies needs,” he said.

Tasers in close contact are not always effective.

In 2015, Medford police told NBC5 news they were about 60 percent effective.

Tasers typically need to contact the skin of a subject. When people are wearing heavier and baggy clothing, they’re less likely to work properly.

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