When Tasers Miss: How Body Weight, Clothing, and Placement Can Undermine a Stun Gun’s Effectiveness

On a Monday afternoon that turned chaotic in Times Square, police officers found themselves wrestling with a 49‑year‑old suspect, Pamela Cisneros, who had just used kitchen knives to stab two pedestrians. One victim, a 32‑year‑old woman, died; a 68‑year‑old man was wounded. Before the suspect was finally shot, officers fired several Taser cartridges, yet the stun gun seemed to do little more than a faint buzz.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the scene at a press conference: “Multiple officers discharged Tasers, which proved ineffective. The subject kept moving forward, knives still in hand.” The incident sparked a flurry of questions: why didn’t the Taser stop her? And what does a person’s weight have to do with a device that’s supposed to incapacitate anyone, regardless of size?

Experts say the answer isn’t as simple as “the Taser failed.” In reality, a stun gun’s success depends on a combination of physics, human physiology, and situational variables. First, the voltage that a Taser delivers (often quoted as 50,000 volts) is only part of the story. The actual current—measured in milliamps—determines how much muscle disruption occurs, and that current can be diluted by factors such as thick clothing, heavy body mass, and even the amount of sweat on a suspect’s skin.

Weight matters because a larger body has more muscle tissue and a greater volume of fluid that can absorb the electrical charge. In a 2024 study published by the International Journal of Law Enforcement Technology, researchers found that subjects weighing over 250 pounds required a higher cumulative charge to achieve the same level of neuromuscular incapacitation as lighter individuals. The study also noted that adipose tissue (body fat) is a poorer conductor of electricity than muscle, meaning the charge may dissipate before it can trigger the rapid muscle contractions that usually bring a person to the ground.

Clothing is another hidden culprit. Heavy winter coats, multiple layers, or reinforced fabrics can act like an insulator, preventing the Taser’s probes from making solid contact with the skin. In Cisneros’ case, police reports indicate she was wearing a thick, padded jacket—likely enough to reduce the effective current that actually reached her torso.

Shot placement is equally critical. Tasers are designed to fire two darts that attach about 6–8 inches apart, creating a circuit across a major muscle group. If the darts land on a limb, on a heavily padded area, or miss entirely because of a bad angle, the resulting current may only affect a small patch of muscle, leaving the suspect relatively mobile. Video from the Times Square encounter shows officers firing from a distance of roughly 12 feet, a range that can make precise placement tricky, especially when the target is moving.

Beyond the physical factors, there’s the human element of stress and adrenaline. A suspect who’s already in a heightened fight‑or‑flight state may experience a temporary surge in pain tolerance, making the electric shock feel less debilitating. “Adrenaline can mask the pain and keep muscles firing longer than they normally would,” says former NYPD officer and current firearms instructor Mark Davis. “That’s why you sometimes see a suspect shrug off a Taser and keep advancing.”

Police departments are not ignoring these realities. The NYPD’s Taser program has recently introduced refresher training that emphasizes getting as close as safely possible, aiming for the central torso, and considering alternative deployable devices (such as pepper spray) when a suspect is heavily clothed. Meanwhile, the manufacturer, Axon, announced a prototype that boosts the initial pulse from 4 joules to 6 joules, hoping to improve effectiveness against larger or heavily insulated targets.

Nevertheless, experts caution that simply increasing voltage isn’t a silver bullet. Higher power raises the risk of serious injury, which runs counter to the principle of using Tasers as a less‑lethal option. “It’s a delicate balance,” notes Dr. Laura Khan, a biomedical engineer who studies electro‑muscular response. “You want enough energy to stop the threat, but not so much that you cause cardiac complications or burns.”

So what can be taken away from the Times Square tragedy? First, tasers are valuable tools, but they aren’t foolproof. Weight, clothing, and shot placement all play a decisive role in whether the device will work as intended. Second, continuous training and realistic scenario drills are essential to give officers the muscle memory needed to get that crucial hit. Finally, ongoing research and modest equipment upgrades may gradually close the gap between expectation and reality, helping law enforcement keep the line between deadly force and non‑lethal intervention clearer.

In the meantime, the city’s homicide unit is still reviewing the incident, and the department plans to release a detailed after‑action report later this month. For families affected by the Times Square attack, and for officers on the front lines, the hope is that lessons learned will translate into safer outcomes next time a Taser is the first line of defense.