Give us Tasers, say 93% of police

POLICE officers want more access to Tasers as a damning survey revealed almost 90 per cent have been assaulted at least once in their career.

A survey of 40,000 officers – the largest of its kind – yesterday revealed 30,885 assaults on officers in 2018/19, up 17 per cent. Almost four in ten officers said they were assaulted in the past year and 88 per cent had been attacked at least once in their career. The report, from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), showed that 71,308 sick days were taken during 2018/19 as a result of assaults. A total of 93 per cent of officers surveyed believed more frontline staff should have a taser (pictured) which can deliver up to 50,000 volts of electricity. And 61 per cent said all frontline officers should be deployed with the stun guns. NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt said he was shocked by the scale of the assaults but added that ‘there is no one piece of equipment that is the answer.’

Kent chief constable Alan Pughsley warned the weapons are no guarantee of safety and there were concerns over racial disparity in their use. ‘They can sometimes not work,’ he added.

Provisional NPCC figures show a rise in attacks on officers throughout the pandemic, partly due to suspects spitting at police while claiming to have coronavirus.

The NPCC wants a specific offence of targeting an officer with a vehicle, and tighter laws around corrosive liquid possession.