CONTACT: Steve Tuttle
Director of Public Relations
TASER International, Inc.
(480) 905-2006
October 6, 2002
SCOTTSDALE, AZ. - TASER International, Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR, TASRW), a provider of advanced less-lethal weapons for use in the law enforcement, private security and personal defense markets, today announced that it will award Sergeant Byron Johnson of the Kannapolis, NC Police Department the John H. Cover Medal for Heroism at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference on October 6, 2002 in Minneapolis, MN.
“I am proud to name Sgt. Byron Johnson as the first law enforcement officer to receive this distinct award,” said Rick Smith, CEO of TASER International. “This award is a new program to recognize officers who use less-lethal force to save someone’s life.”
“John (Jack) Cover is the original inventor of TASER technology. He envisioned the preservation of life through non-lethal force and the TASER was his crowning achievement. He and I founded TASER International in a garage in Tucson 9 years ago. To see the ADVANCED TASER saving lives every day in over 1600 law enforcement agencies is a credit to not only the law enforcement users but to Jack Cover as well,” continued Mr. Smith.
“On August 2, 2002 Sgt. Johnson responded to a scene where a suicidal man threatened to kill himself with a knife. After several hours, the subject stepped out on his porch, slashed his wrists with a double bladed knife, and placed the knife to his chest, refusing officers’ commands to give up the knife. Sgt. Johnson deployed the ADVANCED TASER upon the subject preventing the man from further harm to himself and to other officers who were at jeopardy. For his life-saving effort, we presented the John H. Cover Medal for Non-Lethal Heroism to Sgt. Johnson during our IACP roundtable luncheon featuring former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and over 350 IACP members and chiefs of police at the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel on Sunday, October 6, 2002,” added Mr. Smith.
“Although we are not encouraging law enforcement officers to subject themselves to dangerous situations, we do realize that there are times when officers find themselves in dramatic, heroic and life-saving situations and we intend to recognize their efforts with this award program. We are in the process of reviewing our database of over 2,000 field uses of the ADVANCED TASER and believe there will be approximately 300 uses that will qualify for this new award. Additional awards will be made by year end,” continued Mr. Smith.
Video of Sgt. Johnson’s use of the ADVANCED TASER during this incident is available for download at www.taser.com/. The format is Quicktime 6.0 MPEG 4 video at broadcast resolution and is freely available for use by members of the media. Other real world uses and support video for media is also available at www.taser.com.
About TASER International, Inc.
TASER International, Inc. provides advanced less-lethal weapons for use in the law enforcement, private security, and personal defense markets. Its flagship ADVANCED TASER® product uses proprietary technology to incapacitate dangerous, combative, or high-risk subjects that may be impervious to other less-lethal means. This technology reduces injury rates to suspects and officers, thereby lowering liability risk and improving officer safety. The ADVANCED TASER® is currently in testing or deployment at over 1,400 law enforcement and correctional agencies in the U.S. and Canada.
For further information contact Steve Tuttle, Director of Public Relations at Steve@TASER.com or call 800-978-2737 ext. 2006.
TASER International, Inc.
(480) 905-2006