and there is no evidence tasering of people induces cardiac arrest. but the company has significantly changed its recommendations for how tasers should be used. taser put out a directive last year telling the tens of thousands of police officers who used the device to no longer aim for the chest area. instead they should go for the back, the leg or the lower pelvis. but cops aren t trained to do that. they re trained to go for the biggest target area: the chest. reporter: even taser supporters who say any death by tasers are rare realize officers nationwide will have to change their thinking. with a firearm, we teach people to shoot center mass. we want to shoot the largest portion of the body, the center. the torso area, this area right here. so their instinct is to go for center mass, and when they pull the taser, they have to recalibrate their thinking instantly. it s a training process that we have been trained to do so. with a taser, we re obviously
international. it s the first time the company has been listed as the sole defendant in an injury case. can a taser cause cardiac rae arrest? absolutely no question about it. why do you say that? because it s happened to a number of people and these cases are clearly documented. attorney john burton says he has data showing that tasers, when fired at the chest, can cause fatal heart injuries. he says the company has known about it for several years. how long has taser known that these weapons can cause cardiac rae arrest? we can prove they must have known by early 2006, but we suspect they had all the necessary data in 2005 since they were funding the study. reporter: this is the study he believes proves his case. published in early 2006, the study funded by taser focused on taser pigs, quote, generalized to humans.
going to have different training protocols. reporter: as for steve butler, greeting the mailman now is the highlight of his day. how we doing? pretty good. reporter: he doesn t dispute that he was drunk, but he blames taser for what happened to him. he says he s not frustrated or even angry, just resigned trying to spend the rest of his life trying to remember what happened. dan simon, cnn, watsonville, california. san francisco s police chief, who you saw there in dan simon s report, now says he s given up on the idea of arming officers with stun guns. on wednesday the city s police commission voted 4-3 against drafting a policy for their use. and after cnn first reported this story, taser international, which had previously declined all comment, sent us what it called a fact sheet about the steven butler case. the company said the 2006 taser study we quoted produced no cardiac arrests in animals. while the company says cardiac
reporter: to bring butler under control, the police officer indeed fired his taser, striking him in the chest. this taser is a consumer version that you can buy at any number of stores. the company says it utilizes the same technology in the weapons used by police. it works by pointing a laser beam embedded in the taser at the target and then pulling the trigger. according to the police report, three separate jolts of electricity went through butler s body. when it was all over, he was in full cardiac arrest, not breathing. paramedics revived butler, but his brain was deprived of oxygen, leaving him permanently disabled. his brother now takes care of him. once it s gone, it s gone. he can t remember any good times, birthday parties, christmas, any event. reporter: steve butler and his family filed a lawsuit not against the police, but against the maker of the weapon, taser
barack obama. this comes at a bad time. he needs all his focus on health care. any time there is a debate in this country between bouncing national security and our traditional civil libertys, the company tends to lean primarily toward national security, particularly because of 9/11. it takes a lot to convince the country, you know what, security can be maintained and we need to be true to our traditions. that s where the heart and head of barack obama has been, as you said, throughout his time in national life. the challenge for him if he does make this change is how he appeases the people on the left, and i m not even sure he ll appease the people on the right. he could find himself once again in month man no man s land wi people mad at him on both sides. why did they make this change? they haven t made it yet, but if they do, i think it s clearly because of the political pressure, not just from republicans in washington who have said this shows the president s weak on national