Seattle ? Tasers and similar stun guns, increasingly popular among law enforcement agencies nationwide, are generally safe for police to use, according to new research.

In what was called the first large independent study of injuries from Tasers, researchers reviewed 962 cases in six locations. Nearly all the cases they found resulted in no injuries or minor ones such as scrapes and bruises.

“This is the first time we’ve got an accounting of how likely it is that you’ll be seriously injured by one of these devices,” said lead researcher, Dr. William P. Bozeman, an emergency medical specialist at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

He presented the research Monday at a meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians in Seattle.

While the research found that stun guns are safe, Bozeman cautioned, “These are serious weapons. They absolutely have the potential to injure or kill people.”