CASH STARVED FOREST SERVICE SPENDS $600,000 TO BUY TASERS

[donsu]

http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=952


CASH STARVED FOREST SERVICE SPENDS $600,000 TO BUY TASERS — Devices Remain in Boxes Because Rangers Lack Training


The U.S. Forest Service has bought $600,000 worth of “Electronic Control Devices” without any training program, rules for use or even a written explanation as to why the devices are needed, according to agency records posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The devices, known as Tasers, are sitting in storage and cannot be issued because the agency has yet to develop a training course.

Due to an intense fire season, the Forest Service is now staggering under a more than a quarter-billion dollar deficit, causing it to begin jettisoning core programs. For example, the agency lacks enough funds to draw up new timber sales. At the same time, the Forest Service law enforcement program is hobbled by more than 200 vacant positions, leaving only one officer to cover each 300,000 acres of National Forest and 750,000 annual million visitors.

In late September 2007, the Forest Service purchased 700 weapons and “related accessories” from Aardvark Tactical, Inc. of Azusa, California, a subsidiary of Taser International, at a cost to taxpayers of $600,001.52, according to agency records obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act. This represents enough to equip every single Forest Service special agent and law enforcement officer with an Electronic Control system at a cost of $857 apiece.

The reason for this purchase is unknown since the Forest Service was unable to produce any document justifying the need for these weapons. John Twiss, the Director of Law Enforcement and Investigations and the official who made the decision to buy the Tasers, wrote PEER in a letter dated November 7, 2007:
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the neo cons want the Forest Service turned into a blackwater look alike.

they want the Forest Service dead then resurrected to be used for neo con criminal deeds

[kurth]

1. Them bears and raccoons are vicious

[baldguy]

10. We must protect those pick-a-nick baskets.

[L. Coyote]

2. Just guessing, but certain to be right. A Bush cronie owns the Taser maker.

[donsu]

4. yes indeed

nt

[L. Coyote]

6. Putting my browser where my mouth is, $$$$$$ to the RNC. Typical pattern and amount/

The dump truck load of cash to the RNC during the Bush 2004 campaign. Where, oh where have we seen that before? :rofl:
http://opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=3zfxh&txtState=(all%20states)&txtEmploy=taser&txtAll=Y&Order=A

SMITH, THOMAS P MR PARADISE VALLEY,AZ 85253 - TASER INTERNATIONAL/PRESIDENT

4/23/2004 - $25,000 - National Republican Congressional Cmte
6/30/2006 - $4,200 - Bouchard, Michael J


SMITH, PATRICK, SCOTTSDALE,AZ 85255 - TASER/CEO

6/30/2006 - $4,200 - Bouchard, Michael J
6/30/2006 - $2,100 - Bouchard, Michael J

(Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard http://www.oakgov.com/sheriff/about/bio_bouchard.html
* runs one of the nation’s largest Sheriff’s Offices, overseeing 1,200 employees and managing an annual budget of $118 million dollars. ... On January 11, 1999, Michigan Senator and Majority Floor Leader Michael Bouchard accepted the appointment as successor to John F. Nichols who passed away suddenly.
* appointed member of the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women by Attorney General John Ashcroft)

[Ioo]

3. Have you ever been attacked by a pine cone?

Killers!

[Occam Bandage]

5. I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with

the Forest Service's efforts to combat crime and drug rings.

[L. Coyote]

7. I'd look at stock market trading first. Who bought and sold when? Just guessing again.

http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=TASR&selected=TASR

=======
Revenue - $47.694 million USD (2005) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser_International

The company was founded in 1991 (under the name Air Taser) by brothers Rick and Tom Smith. .....

In 1998 ... the company began marketing the weapon to law enforcement agencies and police departments, in addition to the private buyers who had bought Tasers for personal self-protection in prior years.

In 2001, Taser International developed its "Advanced Taser Electro-Muscular Disruption" system. In May 2001, they filed for an initial public offering and began trading NASDAQ under the stock symbol TASR. In May 2003, the company released its new Taser X26 model.

Rick Smith is the current chief executive officer; Tom Smith is the president.

[L. Coyote]

8. Putting my browser where my mouth is AGAIN. Stock trading scandal history, SEC ...

From http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2005/10/06/taser-takes-the-stage.aspx

TASER INT'L is not new to SEC scrutiny and stock price response to sales or lack thereof.

TASER Takes the Stage
By Rick Smith October 6, 2005
http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2005/10/06/taser-takes-the-stage.aspx


On Sept. 28, Fool contributor Tim Beyers wrote an article that asked three tough questions of TASER International (Nasdaq: TASR) CEO Rick Smith, who graciously responded.

Let me be very clear: We have no problem with the SEC investigating the controversy surrounding TASER International. We support over 8,000 law enforcement agencies that use our products every day. We respect the investigative process. But let's also not forget that material non-public information may have been stolen from TASER and that a confidential governmental process was inappropriately disclosed.

Unfortunately, some members of the media have decided our guilt long before the investigative process is completed. The resulting media frenzy has significantly disrupted our business.

Why did we also mention that TASER International has been continuously on the Regulation SHO threshold list of companies? Because naked short sales violate securities regulations. You might think it's no big deal, but in light of the events above, we believe it is evidence of another securities regulation violation by persons seeking to profit from drops in TASER's stock price.

[L. Coyote]

9. Putting my browser where my mouth is AGAIN. S.E.C. Looking At Safety Data And Big Order

S.E.C. Looking At Safety Data And Big Order For Taser Guns
By ALEX BERENSON - Jan 8, 2005
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CE5DE1E39F93BA35752C0A9639C8B63


Taser International said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission had begun an informal inquiry into the company's statements about the safety of its electric stun guns and a $1.5 million sales order that it announced last month.

Shares of Taser plunged $4.90, nearly 18 percent, to $22.72, on the announcement. After quadrupling last year, the company's stock has fallen 28.2 percent so far this year.

The Arizona attorney general's office said yesterday that its lawyers met on Monday with Taser executives to discuss concerns about the safety of Taser's stun guns and the company's plans to sell them to civilians. The attorney general's office is not formally investigating Taser, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said Steve Wilson, a spokesman for the attorney general.

An internal company document suggests, meanwhile, that Taser was struggling to meet its sales goals at the end of 2004. ...........

[Richard Steele]

17. Well, since they do no such thing, you are probably correct.

nm

[countryjake]

21. if it does, they're gonna be "outgunned", for sure! n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

11. When martial law is declared, the woods will be filled with "radicals" you know.

[JVS]

12. Yogi is in big trouble now

[Hippo_Tron]

18. Hey Booboo, guess we'd better stop robbing those pic-a-nic baskets

[jmowreader]

13. Well...good.

My dad worked for the Forest Service as a road locator, and he ran into more than his share of cedar thieves and pot farms. In 1970s-1980s North Idaho, he wasn't really risking his life going into these areas.

Now they've got meth cooks, crack cooks, industrial-scale pot farms...cedar theft keeps getting bigger...right now he refuses to go into the woods without at least two guns.

I can justify their need for tasers: someone's going to go out there and get fucking killed without one.

[aikoaiko]

14. This actually makes sense. Rangers really are often all alone when they meet troublesome people

And the incident may not rise to firearm level, but it would be prudent to have some tool to stop people.

[L. Coyote]

15. So am I. Should I carry a taser? NO. This makes sense in terms of the $25,000

contributed to the Republicans by the President of the Company!

[aikoaiko]

16. Well, actually, yes, you probably should have some form of protection.

I know I do when I go into some parks and forests.

[riverdeep]

19. OK, at first I thought this was a rip off.

I don't have anything against giving forest rangers tasers, these days they need something. In addition to a gun, it'd be nice to have a non-lethal option. But I thought the price was a little high. $857 for a taser?

The above article has a link to the invoice, but that doesn't tell the particular brand. However, it also has a link to Taser International's investor's news release announcing the sale, where it mentions the model is the X26.

http://www.taser.com/products/law/Pages/TASERX26.aspx

The MSRP is around a $1000 for these. But doing a very quick and cursory search around the web, I already saw prices for $800. You'd think with a bulk order like this, we could get some kind of a discount. Unless the price includes something else for each individual unit, like several of the replaceable cartridges, we could've made a better deal.

The real sticking point is that they don't have a training program set up, that's very dangerous, and could set them up for liability, if you can even sue these people, should something go wrong. Also, someone in the department must have thought this was needed, if only for graft, who?

[-..__...]

20. Perhaps to subdue a rabid chipmunk should they encounter one in the forest?

If it'll knock down a bull... imagine the stopping power it must have on a rodent?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9rXDmRasJs