Killing Them Safely

About every two minutes a police officer uses a TASER. Sold as an effective way to subdue violent suspects without injuring them, TASERs have revolutionized the way officers do their jobs. One company is responsible for this revolution: TASER International. The company s mission statement: Protect Truth. Protect Life. In 1993, brothers Rick and Tom Smith started what would become TASER International in their parents garage. Both just in their early twenties, they were shaken by the shooting deaths of two of their friends and imagined a world without guns. By 1999, after years of trial and error and facing bankruptcy, the Smith brothers claimed to have finally found the right combination of safety and power. While TASERs were too expensive for mass civilian adoption, law enforcement officers clamored for them. Almost immediately, TASERs began to change the way officers did their jobs and in less than five years, the Smith brothers went from flirting with bankruptcy to running a multi-million dollar company. But controversy erupted over the safety and impact of the weapons, as by 2008 more than 300 people had died as a result of TASERs and their effectiveness was found to cause officers to use them with less and less restraint. Through direct access as well as never before seen archival footage, KILLING THEM SAFELY provides a behind-the-scenes look at one of America s most fascinating and controversial corporations, bringing the Smith brothers revolutionary decisions into the open and asking if in the realm of law enforcement the ends truly justify the means.