Time to arm us with Tasers, pleads officer
A POLICEMAN whose wife was trapped in a car by an assailant wielding a pickaxe yesterday pleaded with the Government to fund more Taser guns for officers.
Mark Jones, 33, made his dramatic appeal directly to Home Secretary Sajid Javid at the annual Police Federation conference in Birmingham.
His police constable wife Vicky Anderton-Jones, 35, was subjected to a terrifying ordeal after being called to a disturbance in April.
On Monday, Caernarfon Crown Court jailed Samuel Jones, 26, who is no relation, for a year.
Jones, who admitted affray, criminal damage and possessing offensive weapons, later had to be talked down from a roof by negotiators, the court heard.
Sergeant Jones, of the North Wales Police Federation, told Mr Javid: “Only a few weeks ago, two police officers in North Wales were sent to a report of a domestic incident. When they arrived, they were confronted with a male who had a huge pickaxe in his hands.
“He went on to violently attack the police car, with the officers sat inside.
“The nearest back-up was miles away. The nearest officer with a Taser was near enough 20 miles away.
“The screams for help from the officers were appalling.
“Thankfully, the officers were unharmed but it was a pure miracle, an absolute miracle they weren’t killed or seriously injured. One of those officers HOME Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday gave police his full backing to use stop and search to tackle the deadly violence on Britain’s streets.
Mr Javid vowed to prioritise force spending and ensure officers had the equipment they need, saying he knew all about their difficulties because his brother was a senior policeman.
The Home Secretary’s speech to the Police Federation conference in Birmingham was seen as an olive branch to frontline officers – in marked contrast to those from predecessors Theresa May, who denounced police corruption in 2014, and Amber Rudd, who was heckled last year over pay.
Giving his first major speech as Home Secretary, Mr Javid told the conference he was “absolutely determined” to end the violence “terminating young lives far too soon”.
He acknowledged some officers “don’t feel comfortable” using stop and search “and that’s not how it should be. I have confidence in your professional judgment. So let me be clear, I support the use of stop and search. You have to do your job and that means protecting everyone”.
Determined
In 2014 then home secretary Mrs May introduced reforms to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way amid complaints ethnic minorities were stopped disproportionately.
Critics say officers have become wary of approaching suspects for fear of being accused of racism and the reduced stops are a factor in a growing epidemic of knife and gun crime, notably in London.
Mr Javid stressed black people were more likely to be murder victims than any other ethnic group. “If stop and search can mean saving lives from the communities most affected, then of course that has to be right,” he said.
He insisted he understood the pressures forces were under, adding: “I am listening and I get it.” He said the Government had to make “difficult” spending decisions since 2010, but more than £1billion extra was now invested in policing than three years ago.
He also accepted a need to think more about forces’ long-term funding, telling the officers: “My pledge to you is this – I will prioritise police funding in the spending review next year.”
Mr Javid also discussed the evolving threat from terrorism and how the internet increasingly “enabled dangerous Pickaxe attacker Samuel Jones was jailed for a year for the terrifying incident was my wife. So, Home Secretary, I have to say, plead, that every officer who wants a Taser and is fit to carry one should be afforded that opportunity, and that funding should be put in place by the Home Office to allow chief constables to adequately equip their officers.”
His testimony was greeted with warm applause from fellow officers of the Federation, which has long campaigned on the issue.
Mr Javid said the Taser issue was one he wanted to look at more closely.
He said: “I want to look at that.
“It goes to my commitment to make sure that officers have the equipment they need.”
Sergeant Jones told the Daily Express he was left “cautiously optimistic” by Mr Javid’s remarks, but said: “We want them to put their money where their mouth is.” Sajid Javid addresses police yesterday crimes and appalling abuse”. He said there was no “single driver” behind the increase in violent crime but acknowledged that “if you haven’t got the resources then clearly that can have an impact”.
Speaking after his address, Mr Javid stopped short of drawing a direct link, noting that offending also rose 10 years ago when officer numbers were higher.
He said: “As I look ahead, with all the demands that are now being faced and the gap between capacity and demand, there needs to be more resourcing into policing as we approach the spending review.”
The Home Secretary’s younger brother Basit is a chief superintendent with West Midlands Police.
Mr Javid said he had been put in hospital several times after being attacked on duty, once missing Christmas when his jaw was dislocated.
Mr Javid, whose parents came from Pakistan, also recalled a “ride-along” in Bristol with his brother during which he saw the level of abuse, swearing and spitting directed at officers.
“And worst of all, at one point when his car approached lights and slowed down, one teenager leaned over and yelled at my brother, ‘You P*** b ****** ’,” he said.
“That was the first time it really hit me just how hard and horrible it can be being a police officer.”
Mr Javid said as children, he and Basit called themselves the Crime Busters and set out to “find and bust crime” on their Bristol street, once dubbed Britain’s most dangerous.
“Years later that brother is still a crime buster, only this time for real,” he said. “I know the tricky situations he’s been in. I’ve seen the impact the job has on family life.”