North Carolina Police Get Safer Stun Guns

Six months after the use of stun guns by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was suspended, officers are getting new Tasers that are billed as safer models.

The Charlotte Observer reports that officers are using the new Taser X2 model starting Wednesday. Last year, the city council voted to spend nearly $2 million to buy 1,600 new stun guns.

Use of the old Tasers was suspended after the death last July of 21-year-old Lareko Williams, who police say was assaulting a woman when an officer fired his stun gun at the man.

The new models have a five-second limit on each electrical charge, which police say makes them safer to use. They also have a warning feature that could convince some suspects to comply without officers firing the weapons.