Local Governments from all over the U.S. are suffering from lower tax revenue, which effectively lowers their operational budgets. While Tasers have been shown to reduce officer injuries, increasing spending in the face of a shrinking budget is not a popular measure. Taser's products have come under increasing scrutiny by local communities, which forces police departments to increase the time spent evaluating the product and in some instances, cancel their orders all together. Community activism increases the testing and training time before officers are deployed in the field with these devices, as Police Departments need to satisfy their constituents. These factors combine to raise the TCO (Total Cost Ownership) of purchasing a Taser for a police agency. Declining budgets at police departments coupled with community activism against Tasers doesn't bode well for the firm's near-term prospects.
