Nick Berardini

What would it be like to live in a world where none of this is possible? One man had a vision. A vision of a new reality.

What would it be like to live in a world where none of this is possible? One man had a vision. A vision of a new reality.

He was going to make it happen with an invention.

He was going to make it happen with an invention.

Rick Smith is building this new reality in a real place. I visited the Space Age headquarters rising up from the Arizona desert. My tour guide put his eye up to a retinal scanner to get me into the building.

Rick Smith is building this new reality in a real place. I visited the Space Age headquarters rising up from the Arizona desert. My tour guide put his eye up to a retinal scanner to get me into the building.

The steel doors retracted slowly, like we were entering a vault. I walked through a wide hallway and saw catwalks crisscrossing above me. Employees in glass conference rooms drew equations on the windows. I watched as an assembly line of workers built this future weapon called a taser. Electricity buzzed through the air. It felt like science fiction, but they were really doing it.

The steel doors retracted slowly, like we were entering a vault. I walked through a wide hallway and saw catwalks crisscrossing above me. Employees in glass conference rooms drew equations on the windows. I watched as an assembly line of workers built this future weapon called a taser. Electricity buzzed through the air. It felt like science fiction, but they were really doing it.

I was inside this world. I could see what this new technology could be capable of. And I wanted Rick's dream to be real. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, a story about unchecked power. I'm Nick Berardini. Episode 1, Whips, Poles, and Chains. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever fired your gun?

I was inside this world. I could see what this new technology could be capable of. And I wanted Rick's dream to be real. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, a story about unchecked power. I'm Nick Berardini. Episode 1, Whips, Poles, and Chains. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever fired your gun?

Rick Smith, in his space age outpost, was trying to build a world where the answer would always be no. But if you were a cop before that, like my friend Matt Masters, you were skeptical. Matt had been trained, if you think your life is in danger, shoot.

Rick Smith, in his space age outpost, was trying to build a world where the answer would always be no. But if you were a cop before that, like my friend Matt Masters, you were skeptical. Matt had been trained, if you think your life is in danger, shoot.

Matt says he did what he was trained to do, aim for the chest. But he also did what a lot of cops do under pressure. He missed. Cops call it dipping. He told me he didn't mean to, but he lowered his arm, hit the kid's legs.

Matt says he did what he was trained to do, aim for the chest. But he also did what a lot of cops do under pressure. He missed. Cops call it dipping. He told me he didn't mean to, but he lowered his arm, hit the kid's legs.

In a marketing video from 2023, Rick Smith tells us, not anymore. He shows us the newest taser, a black and yellow gun-shaped device. Instead of one barrel, it has 10 holes to shoot out 10 little darts. The darts are attached to electrified copper wires, so when they shoot out and puncture your skin, the current makes your muscles lock up. You can't move.

In a marketing video from 2023, Rick Smith tells us, not anymore. He shows us the newest taser, a black and yellow gun-shaped device. Instead of one barrel, it has 10 holes to shoot out 10 little darts. The darts are attached to electrified copper wires, so when they shoot out and puncture your skin, the current makes your muscles lock up. You can't move.

But when it's over, you can get right back up,

But when it's over, you can get right back up,

Walking through the Taser headquarters blew me away. While I was there, I sat down with a VP and he told me how proud he was to work for the company.

Walking through the Taser headquarters blew me away. While I was there, I sat down with a VP and he told me how proud he was to work for the company.