Axon Enterprise, Inc. is an American
Scottsdale, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, named_for = Winfield Scott
, image_skyline =
, image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg
, image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg
, nick ...
-based company which develops technology and weapons products for
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
,
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
, and civilians.
Its initial product and former namesake is the
Taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
, a line of
electroshock weapon
An electroshock weapon is a less-lethal weapon that utilizes an electric shock to incapacitate a target by either temporarily disrupting voluntary muscle control and/or through pain compliance. There are several different types of electroshock w ...
s. The company has since diversified into technology products for military and law enforcement, including a line of
body camera
A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system.
Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...
s and Evidence.com, a
cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may co ...
-based
digital evidence
In evidence law, digital evidence or electronic evidence is any probative information stored or transmitted in digital form that a party to a court case may use at trial. Before accepting digital evidence a court will determine if the evidence ...
platform. As of 2017, body cameras and associated services comprise a quarter of Axon's overall business.
History
In 1969,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
researcher
Jack Cover
John Higson Cover Jr. (April 6, 1920 – February 7, 2009) was an American aerospace scientist who was the inventor of the Taser stun gun.
Biography
Cover was born in New York City on April 6, 1920, and grew up in Chicago. His father was a profes ...
began to develop a non-lethal electric weapon to help police officers control suspects, as an alternative to firearms. By 1974, Cover had completed the device, which he named the "
Tom Swift
Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was ...
Electric Rifle" (TSER), referencing the 1911 novel ''
Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle
''Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle; or, Daring Adventures in Elephant Land'' is a young adult novel published in 1911, written by Stratemeyer Syndicate writers using the pen name Victor Appleton. It is Volume 10 in the original Tom Swift novel se ...
''; to make it easier to pronounce as a word, Cover later added an "A" to the acronym to form "
TASER
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
". The Taser Public Defender used
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
as its propellant, which led the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...
to classify it as a
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
in 1976,
a decision that limited sales.
In 1980, the Los Angeles Police Department conducted a successful field test of an improved version (having reconsidered its earlier rejections of the technology after the
shooting of Eula Love
Eula Mae Love (commonly referred to as Eula Love) was a 39-year-old African-American mother and widow who was shot and killed on January 3, 1979, by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. Although Love's death sparked outcry in South Los A ...
), but the device remained commercially unsuccessful and Cover's company, Taser Systems Inc., collapsed.
[
In 1993, Rick and Tom Smith formed AIR TASER, Inc. to, with Cover, design a version of the device that would use compressed nitrogen instead of gunpowder as a propellant.] During development, the company faced competition from another vendor, Tasertron, whose product had become associated with its alleged ineffectiveness during the police confrontation of Rodney King
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...
.
After nearly going bankrupt marketing other products such as an electroshock-based anti-theft system
Anti-theft systems protect valuables such as vehicles and personal property like wallets, phones, and jewelry. They are also used in retail settings to protect merchandise in the form of security tags and labels. Anti-theft systems include devices ...
for automobiles known as "Auto Taser", the company, later renamed TASER International, introduced its TASER M26 weapon in 1999. With a $6.8 million deficit in 2001, TASER International took steps to improve sales by offering to pay police officers to train others on how to use their products; this marketing technique helped improve the company's market share, reaching $24.5 million in net sales by 2003, and nearly $68 million in 2004. In May 2001, they filed for an initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
and began trading on NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
under the stock symbol
A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. In short, ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols or characters (generally Latin letters or ...
TASR.
The company also took significant action against competitors, having acquired the aforementioned Tasertron, and aggressively defending its patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s. Patent lawsuits by TASER International led to the shutdown of both Stinger Systems and its successor company, Karbon Arms; both companies were founded by Robert Gruder. Despite the controversies that have centered around the products (including deaths attributed to taser usage), the company maintained its dominant market position.
Shift towards bodycams
In 2005, TASER International began to offer an accessory for its taser products, TASER Cam, which adds a grip-mounted camera that is activated after the safety is disengaged, to its battery pack. By October 2010, at least 45,000 TASER Cams had been sold.
In 2008, the company unveiled its first body camera
A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system.
Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...
, the Axon Pro. It was designed to be head-mounted, and upload footage for online storage on a web-based service known as Evidence.com. TASER's CEO Rick Smith explained that the products were designed to "help provide revolutionary digital evidence collection, storage and retrieval for law enforcement". The company piloted Axon Pro in various small cities and towns. In 2009, after prosecutor Daniel Shue exonerated Fort Smith police officer Brandon Davis based on footage from an Axon Pro camera, both Davis and Shue began to provide testimonials for the product in its marketing.
Especially in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting
On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson, who later stated that Brow ...
, the company's body camera business saw significant growth. Smith argued that the company was "not just about weapons, but about providing transparency and solving related data problems." In April 2013, the Rialto Police Department released the results of a 12-month study on the impact of on-officer video using Axon Flex cameras. The study found an 88% drop in complaints filed against officers and nearly a 60% reduction in officer use-of-force incidents.
TASER opened an office in Seattle in 2013, and an international office in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban are ...
in May 2014. In June 2015, the company announced the formation of a new Seattle-based division known as Axon, which would encompass the company's technology businesses, including body cameras, digital evidence management, and analytics. Rick Smith explained that the branch was inspired by Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's use of the Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
brand to branch into entertainment businesses, stating that "Axon was the name that we used for selling cameras historically, but we realized that brand had the room to grow and encompass all of our connected technologies." The Taser brand would still be used for the company's weapons products.
On April 5, 2017, TASER announced that it had rebranded as Axon to reflect its expanded business. The company also announced an intent to offer free one-year trials of its body camera products and Evidence.com services to U.S. law enforcement agencies. While the Taser product line still contributes to a significant portion of its revenue, the company's technologies business had seen major gains. As of 2017, they comprised a quarter of the company's business, while Axon cameras had a market share of 85% among police departments in the United States' major cities. The rebranding was also intended to help distance the company from the negative stigma surrounding the Taser brand, with Smith acknowledging that they were "a bit of a distraction" when recruiting employees for its technology business.
In May 2018, Axon acquired competitor VieVu for $4.6 million in cash and $2.5 million in common stock.
Hardware
Taser
Law enforcement models
There are three law enforcement/military models currently available:
* Taser X26P
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed d ...
: An all-digital, single-shot capacity electrical weapon for law enforcement personnel.
* Taser X2
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed d ...
: An all-digital, two-shot capacity electrical weapon for law enforcement personnel.
Taser 7
An all-digital, two-shot capacity electrical weapon for law enforcement personnel.
Consumer models
Taser currently has three self-defense weapons for sale. They are the Taser Pulse
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
, the Taser Pulse+, and the Taser Strikelight.
Body cameras
Axon Pro
Taser's original body-worn camera, the Axon Pro, was introduced in 2009. The camera consists of three components, a head-mounted camera, a controller, and a monitor to review video recordings.
Second-generation models
The second generation of Axon body cameras were simpler in form and function than the Axon Pro, removing the bulky monitor in favor of pairing with mobile phones. Many of the features introduced in these cameras, such as the pre-event buffer, a method of capturing video from before the record button was pressed, have become common requirements in body-worn camera requests for proposal. The Axon Flex and Body only record video in standard definition (SD).
* Axon Flex: The Axon Flex, a point-of-view camera, was released in 2012. The Flex camera system consists of a camera attached to an external battery pack / controller. In contrast to the Axon Pro, the Axon Flex does not have a screen to play back video. Instead, Taser offers a mobile application (Axon View) that connects to the camera using Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
. Like the previous model, Axon Flex videos are stored in Evidence.com, Taser's cloud-hosted evidence management system. The camera features multiple mounting options, including a mount for Oakley, Inc.'s Flak Jacket® eyewear, in addition to collar
Collar may refer to:
Human neckwear
*Clerical collar (informally ''dog collar''), a distinctive collar used by the clergy of some Christian religious denominations
*Collar (clothing), the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck
...
, epaulette
Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of military rank, rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''sh ...
, ball cap
A baseball cap is a type of soft hat with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front.
The front of the hat typically displays a design or a logo (historically, usually only a sports team, namely a baseball team, or names of relevant co ...
, and helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
mounts.
* Axon Body: In 2013, Taser released the Axon Body, a single-unit camera similar in function to the Axon Flex. It features a wider field-of-view than the Flex, and also has simpler mounting options than the two-piece Flex. Although simpler, the body-mounted camera will not track what the officer is looking at as accurately as one mounted on the head.
Third-generation models
* Axon Body 2: Redesigned and rebuilt on an Ambarella
''Spondias dulcis'' ( syn. ''Spondias cytherea''), known commonly as () in Sri Lanka or June plum, is a tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. In the English speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and el ...
system-on-chip
A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...
(SoC) video chip, the Axon Body 2 camera features full high-definition (HD) video, wireless activation, and other improvements over the original Body.
* Axon Flex 2: The Axon Flex 2, announced October 11, 2016, is a point-of-view camera Like its predecessor, the Flex 2 consists of a camera attached to an external battery pack / controller. The new camera will feature a wider field of view (120 degrees vs. the Flex's 75 degrees), HD video, and other improvements over the original model.
* Axon Body 3: The Axon Body 3, announced on 2019, features enhanced low-light performance, reduced motion blur and an LTE connection that enables real-time features like live streaming, as well as wireless activation, and other improvements over the original Body and Body 2.
Other cameras
In addition to body-worn cameras, Axon also offers interview room and in-car video systems, known as Axon Interview and Axon Fleet respectively. These systems, like the body cameras, integrate with the Evidence.com service.
Software
Evidence.com
Evidence.com is a cloud-based digital evidence management system that allows police departments, military command center or military outpost to manage, review, and share digital evidence, particularly video evidence captured with Axon-branded cameras. It includes an automated redaction tool, audit trails for chain of custody
Chain of custody (CoC), in legal contexts, is the chronological documentation or paper trail that records the sequence of custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of materials, including physical or electronic evidence. Of particular ...
purposes, and functionality to share evidence with prosecutors and others. A free version is offered specifically for prosecutors to receive and manage incoming digital evidence.
Evidence Sync
Evidence Sync is a desktop application that allows law enforcement officers or military personnel to review and upload evidence from hardware devices and local files. It is also used to upload logs from Taser weapons to Evidence.com. Although primarily intended to work with Evidence.com, it can also be used in offline mode to directly access files, if the agency prefers.
Axon mobile apps
Two mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
s integrate with the Axon cameras and Evidence.com. Axon View can be paired with an Axon body camera to review, tag, and stream videos from the camera. The app can give an officer instant replay and on the spot evidence. This evidence can be crucial for officers and prosecutors. A new feature they added was GPS tagging. Officers can automatically map video evidence with real-time tagging of metadata. Axon Capture is an app that can be used to capture audio, photo, and video evidence and upload it to Evidence.com using an officer's mobile phone.
Axon Signal
Axon Signal is a range of products that are designed to automatically trigger recordings on Axon cameras in response to certain events, such as Signal Vehicle (which can trigger after the opening of doors or activation of sirens), Signal Performance Power Magazine (a successor to the TASER Cam accessory that triggers recordings when an Taser is armed), and Signal Sidearm (a sensor for handgun holster
A handgun holster is a device used to hold or restrict the undesired movement of a handgun, most commonly in a location where it can be easily withdrawn for immediate use. Holsters are often attached to a belt or waistband, but they may be at ...
s which triggers recording when the gun is removed).
Axon Citizen
Axon Citizen is a cloud-based software solution that allows non-law enforcement personnel to share and upload information, including photos and video, directly to a law enforcement agency. Agencies are able to send links to any user, allowing them to upload evidence remotely. This functionality is supported by Axon's Evidence.com evidence management system. The product is described as incident-based system that seeks to "structure" and "streamline" the collection of crowd-sourced
Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...
evidence.
Controversies
The company has noted that it has lost two product liability lawsuits:
However, on June 6, 2008, the company lost its first product-liability suit. The damages were reduced in the Court of Appeals in 2011.
TASER lost its second product liability suit.
In 2007, Polish immigrant Robert Dziekański died in custody at the Vancouver International Airport
Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busiest ...
after Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
(RCMP) officers used a Taser on him multiple times. A provincial inquiry found the use to be unjustified, and in 2013, the British Columbia Coroners Service ruled the death to be a homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
—citing a heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
caused by the repeated jolts as cause of death. The incident provoked discussion and inquiries into the appropriateness of Taser use in law enforcement in Canada.
In 2008, CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...
found that TASER X26 models manufactured before 2005 had a faulty fail-safe system.
In 2015, it was discovered that several TASER International employees, without mentioning their employment status, had review bombed listings on Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
and iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
for ''Killing Them Safely'', a documentary film by Nick Berardini which documented and investigated major incidents that resulted from taser usage.
In January 2016, TASER International was sued by Digital Ally for infringing its two U.S. patents on the automatic activation of law enforcement body cameras. TASER International considered the suit to be "frivolous and egregious".
A Californian criminal defense lawyer noted that the Evidence.com terms of use gives the company a "non-exclusive, transferable, irrevocable, royalty-free, sub-licensable, worldwide license" to use photos and videos uploaded by its users, and that their policies may violate California privacy law (especially in regards to data involving juveniles).
In June, 2022, after Axon proposed a plan for taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
-armed drones to stop school shootings, Axon's own ethics board expressed disagreement with the plan and issued a unanimous statement of concern. Nine members of the ethics board resigned.
Notes
References
* Anglen, Robert. "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun." ''The Arizona Republic''. May 21, 2005
* Johnson, Kevin. "Taser contributes to police families." ''USA Today''. April 24, 2005
* "Taser research marred by conflicts." ''Vermont Huardian''. May 23, 2005
* Frosch, Dan. "Ex-Albuquerque Police Chief Accused of Violating Ethics Laws in Auditor’s Report" "The Wall Street Journal". April 30, 2015
External links
*
''Palm Beach Post'' special two-part report on Taser use
{{authority control
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies based in Scottsdale, Arizona
Defense companies of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Arizona
Manufacturing companies established in 1991
Taser