Ferguson protests send Taser stock soaring

[Nye Bevan]

As the protests continue in Ferguson, Missouri over the police shooting of Michael Brown, shares of Taser International (TASR) have soared 25%.

The company is most well-known for its taser guns that shock people, but it also makes wearable video cameras used by law enforcement.

Investors are betting that allegations of heavy-handed police tactics during the Ferguson conflict will spur sales of the video cameras. The thinking is simple: If the film is rolling, a record will be made of any officer who engages in police brutality. At the same time, the videos could provide another layer of credibility for police by showing what they are seeing when they are out on patrol.

Interest in equipping police with body cameras has swelled nationwide. Pilot programs using Taser's products are underway in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, and London. New York may soon follow suit as a result of scrutiny of its controversial "stop and frisk" policing.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/18/investing/ferguson-taser-stock/index.html?iid=mkt_SF_news

[BlueStreak]

1. Good business in tools of obedience

[Nye Bevan]

2. I think the wearable video cameras are a good thing

and that appears to be the primary driver for the stock price going up.

[treestar]

3. Complaints about tasers exist

But it would be better than guns. Michael Brown might be alive now. That's the whole point -use technology to find something that doesn't have to kill.

With the attitude you can't draw the gun without shooting to kill and the claim that people do rush cops for their guns and sometimes get them away from the cops - it seems as if it might be safer for the cops to have no guns at all and to have tasers instead.