Sword attack spurs call for Tasers
The body representing rank and file police in London has renewed its call for every officer who wants a Taser to be equipped with one in the wake of the Hainault sword attack.
About 7500 of the Metropolitan Federal Police’s 34,000 officers are currently trained to carry the non-lethal devices.
However, the incident on Tuesday (UK time) in Hainault, north-east London in which a 14-year-old schoolboy was killed and four others were wounded – including two police officers
– by a samurai sword-wielding assailant has led to calls for the number of Tasers to be increased.
It is thought the first local officers at the scene of the early-morning rampage were not equipped with the devices when they attempted to tackle the attacker.
The 22-minute attack, which was filmed and uploaded to social media in almost real time by witnesses, began just before 7am.
The teenager who died was thought to have been on his way to school and is believed to be from a Nigerian family.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show officers confronting the attacker as a body lay on the street nearby. A 36-year-old man in a yellow hoodie who was Tasered close to the scene was arrested on suspicion of murder, but was taken to hospital and had yet to be questioned.
The suspect had earlier rammed a Ford Transit van into a house in Thurlow Gardens before he began prowling the streets and attacking victims at random.
After being pursued into an alleyway, he climbed on to garages before making his way through people’s gardens as residents were urged to lock themselves inside. He was eventually cornered on a driveway, disarmed by a female officer and arrested.
Police said the attack was not believed to have been targeted or terror-related.
Tasers incapacitate an assailant by firing two barbs into the target’s skin, sending an electrical current into the body that temporarily disrupts control of the muscles.
Frontline officers see the devices as a vital part of their personal protective kit which can help subdue or repel violent attackers until armed back-up can arrive.
To be able to carry a Taser, an officer must pass a four-day intensive training course and undergo regular refreshers with personal safety and first aid training.
But the most recent figures suggest the force could still be about 2500 officers short of that target.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Federation said: “Our position is that every officer in London who wants a Taser should have one.” – Telegraph Group