TASER donated $300,000 to International Association of Chiefs of Police.
TASER International, Inc., announced Saturday at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Foundation's (IACP Foundation) Sixth Annual Fundraising Gala that it donated $300,000 in funds from its TASER Foundation to an IACP Foundation/TASER Fallen Officer Fund.
The contribution to the International Association of Chiefs of Police Foundation (IACP), the organization's philanthropic arm, represents the latest in a series of controversial relationships Taser has established with police, the primary source of the Arizona-based company's lucrative business.
The rapid deployment of stun guns across the country and questions related to their safety, prompted the IACP in 2007 to publish guidelines for "selecting, acquiring and using'' the devices.
The study, titled "Electro-Muscular Disruption Technology: A Nine-Step Strategy for Effective Deployment,'' was funded by the Justice Department's research arm, the National Institute of Justice.
And as recently as this year, the IACP cited the increasing use of stun guns in a separate report on police use-of-force issues.
IACP and Taser officials said they found nothing wrong with the gift, saying the contribution — the largest-ever to the association foundation — would provide funds to families of officers killed in the line of duty.
But law enforcement and criminal justice analysts said the donation raises questions about the IACP's ability to engage in future reviews involving the technology and whether the contribution represented a de-facto endorsement.
"When you accept that kind of donation, you create an impression that you view the product favorably,'' said Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union. "There is an appearance issue here.''
Samuel Walker, a University of Nebraska criminologist who has written extensively on police accountability issues, said the relationship "raises serious concerns."
"It's like a non-profit (group) taking funds from the tobacco industry and being involved in studies on smoking and lung cancer,'' Walker said.
In 2005, a USA TODAY review found that hundreds of police officers were on the payrolls of companies that supplied equipment to departments across the nation, including their own departments.
The companies included Taser, Armor Holdings, a maker of protective equipment; ASP, a police baton manufacturer; and PepperBall Technologies, a supplier of non-lethal weapon products.
The initial endowment of $1 million came from TASER International, Inc. and the direct contributions of TASER International employees. To date, the TASER Foundation has awarded more than $3 million to more than 1,000 families of fallen law enforcement officers in the United States and Canada.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/21/taser-police-chiefs/1627299/
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