Carleton professor Andy Adler is the lead author of a report recommending Tasers and other conducted energy weapons (CEW) be more thoroughly tested with a new system to evaluate how dangerous they can really be.

“Several studies have discussed the need for reliable, uniform testing of these weapons,” Adler, Canada research chair in biomedical engineering, said in the foreword of his report. The new procedure intends to make the testing more “reliable,” “consistent,” and “repeatable” for organizations who conduct their own tests, according to the report.

The Tasers and CEWs tested were those commonly used by the Canadian police force. Certain sections in the report are specifically dedicated to the Taser M26 and X26.

The report suggests all of the electrical pulses emitted by the weapon should be analyzed to judge its safety, rather than just the ones the manufacturer recommends.

The report also said the maximum and minimum electrical pulses of the weapons should be reported instead of just the average values so that the capacity of the weapon can be more accurately evaluated. Testing procedures used by the weapons manufacturer are also incorporated into the report.

The tests conducted at Carleton involved 300 Taser X26s, but no CEWs have yet been tested using the new recommended procedures.

The procedures are based on data from three Canadian labs that performed about 6,000 tests on the Tasers involved in the report as well as different versions of the stun guns.

The report found that when the Taser M26 and X26 specifically are discharged, the electric charge delivered “may vary depending on temperature, battery charge and load characteristics.”

It was noted that if the temperature dropped to 0 C, the rate at which the electrical pulses are emitted would decrease.

The report notes that simple steps, like changing the batteries, can be taken to correct an error with the weapon to ensure it performs to expectations.

Of the five other authors of the report, three are Carleton alumni: David Dawson, Ian Sinclair and Laurin Garland.

The test procedure outlined in the report was developed by Carleton’s department of systems and computer engineering which has, in the past, organized CEW workshops with partial funding from Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Police Research Centre.