Taser Gets Big Body-Camera Order
November 24 2015 - 10:50AM
Dow Jones News
Taser International Inc. on Tuesday said it won a contract from
the London Metropolitan Police to outfit officers with body
cameras, sending shares up sharply in early trading.
The Seattle-based company said the order for 22,000 Axon cameras
came after London police completed a pilot program earlier this
year using 1,000 of the cameras. Taser said the trial was the
largest to date of body cameras, and, according to the company, the
College of Policing found that introducing the cameras resulted in
a 33% reduction in complaints against officers.
"We're driving a global trend toward smarter, more transparent
policing," the company's founder and chief executive, Rick Smith
said, adding that Taser's Axon platform has become the most
widely-used body camera and digital evidence-management system in
law enforcement.
Demand for Taser's products and services has skyrocketed amid
increasing and racially-charged friction between some areas'
law-enforcement officials and the citizens they police. Since the
high-profile shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Mo., by officer Darren Wilson, which stoked calls for
more body cameras, Taser's stock has gained 56%, including the 7%
gain notched Tuesday morning.
Taser said the terms of the deal aren't yet completed. The
company said it expects to release additional information on the
contract in February.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2015 10:35 ET (15:35 GMT)
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