Findings published in Spectrum magazine
| Published: 04/16/2008 |
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Dr. Larry Fennigkoh is currently involved in a forensic engineering, expert witness case involving the electrical, muscle-stimulating effects associated with tasers. So when an article appeared in the respected IEEE magazine Spectrum making some claims about the safety of using a Taser on a human, Dr. Fennigkoh - based upon his recently completed taser testing - was able to show that the claims in the article were technically true but extremely misleading. The conclusions of the article suggested that the effect of being tasered would be minimal since the average current delivered to the body was only 1.9mA. His investigation, however, demonstrated that peak currents in the 4-8A range are actually delivered by these devices. The incapacitating effects produced by tasers are due more to these high peak currents rather than the much lower stated average currents. These differences in current are the basis for much of the controversy surrounding the use and safety of tasers. Dr. Fennigkoh's findings were published in a letter in the February issue of Spectrum.
Alumni E-news April 2008