Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, wrote a letter to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, asking for clarity on use-of-force protocol regarding tasers. “We respectfully request that the department issue a clear directive answering the following question: If threatened with the use of a [conducted electrical weapon] or taser, are officers authorized to use deadly force to protect themselves and/or others?”

The answer, at least according to current NYPD training, is that officers are authorized to use deadly force when threatened with a taser. And for good reason: Tasers are extremely dangerous weapons, and the NYPD has only brought them into wide use among its patrol officers in the last five years or so.

Before that, the electric-prong guns were provided only to members of the elite Emergency Services Unit, and some other officers, who were not even supposed to carry them in the normal course of duty.

A recent incident in the Big Apple showcased the “less lethal” but still very much lethal nature of these weapons.