http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aX6znmP.VVxY
July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Taser International Inc., the world’s largest maker of stun guns, may cut its litigation costs in half with a video-recording system it plans to start selling by early 2010, Chairman Tom Smith said.
The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company estimates its $1.5 million in quarterly legal fees may fall over the next three to four years “just by video being present” at crime scenes, the co-founder said in an interview in New York yesterday.
Taser, whose weapons deliver an electric shock that can incapacitate and subdue crime suspects, was the defendant in 42 lawsuits alleging wrongful death or personal injury as of May, it said earlier this year.
For members of a jury, it may be hard to picture “somebody on drugs going berserk,” Smith, 42, said. “But now we’re going to give you a video image of it.”
The recording system works with the company’s Evidence.com product, which stores and processes data and video taken at crime scenes. Taser started testing it July 27, the day it introduced its newest stun-gun model, the X3. The company also plans to sell a portable recording system with a video camera worn on a headband that syncs with the Evidence.com software.
The recording system is “more likely to result in lower legal fees for police departments,” said Steve Dyer, an analyst with Craig-Hallum Capital
