Police leaders want urgent Taser use review
Crime commissioners’ chief and watchdog director are worried about increasing complaints
POLICE and crime commissioners have demanded an urgent review of Taser training after a series of incidents, including one in which a man suffered life-changing injuries. Martyn Underhill, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ (APCC) lead on force, said he was holding police chiefs to account because of “concerns at the police use of Taser in contentious circumstances”.
It follows a call by the police watchdog, the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), for greater scrutiny of Taser deployment.
In recent weeks, the IOPC has opened four inquiries into police use of Tasers. One involves a West Midlands officer tasering a man who claimed he had been only a “bystander” after he went into the street following a car crash outside his house.
He has made a formal complaint to the police, claiming he was ordered to lie on the ground, and the Taser was used on him when he failed to comply.
The second IOPC investigation involves a man who collapsed in front of his young son after being tasered following an altercation at a petrol station in Stretford, Greater Manchester.
In the third case, a man in Haringey, north London, was Tasered as he jumped over a wall, and has since been assessed as having suffered a lifechanging injury. The fourth saw a man stopped in Southwark, south London, and “red dotted” with a Taser.
The controversy comes amid a major increase in the police deployment of Tasers. It is being funded through £10million secured by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to treble to 60 per cent the proportion of front-line officers trained to use them.
Mr Underhill said: “There are concerns at the police use of Taser in contentious circumstances, including in relation to levels of disproportionality with BAME communities. PCCS are responsible for holding chief constables to account, and this includes their use of Taser. I have written to both the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to discuss this, and have asked for an urgent review of Taser training.”
Michael Lockwood, IOPC director general, said the watchdog was aware of concerns from “a broad range of stakeholders” about disproportionate use of Tasers. “More officers are now carrying Taser, and there are growing concerns about its disproportionate use against black men and those with mental health issues,” he said. “Robust oversight of cases is essential for public confidence in the police use of this kind of force. We need a visible demonstration that forces are learning from their experiences of using it.”
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, said training and scrutiny were thorough.
Some police and crime commissioners opposed the review call. Susannah Hancock, APCC chief executive, said it is committed to Taser use, and that Mr Underhill’s desire for a review was not the united position of the APCC.