Taser use up as volunteers now able to use the weapon
POLICE in Yorkshire used Tasers nearly 1,700 times in one year – as volunteer officers are set to be armed with the stun guns.
Home Secretary Priti Patel announced at the Police Federation Conference that special constables will be allowed to carry Tasers, if authorised by their chief officers. Volunteers will receive the same Taser training as constables.
There are around 8,900 volunteer officers in England and Wales, who have the same powers and uniforms as paid officers.
In 2020/21, the most recent figures available, police officers in Yorkshire used Tasers 1,661 times, up from 1,644 in 2019/20, 1,540, in 2018/19, and 1,114 in 2017/18. That was despite the pandemic and repeated lockdowns, which saw many types of crime fall.
Tasers, the brand name for Conductive Energy Devices, can fire a high-voltage shock to temporarily disable a suspect. However, in most of the uses in Yorkshire (1,507) the Taser wasn’t discharged.
Non-discharge uses include 458 where the Taser was drawn, 154 where it was aimed at a person, 882 where it was activated to place a red targeting dot on a person, and 13 where it was arced, where the trigger is squeezed so that electric current arcs between the two contact points on the front of the Taser.
However, in 154 incidents in 2020/21 the Taser was discharged, including 152 where the Taser was fired from a distance and two where it was triggered in contact with a person.
Most uses of Tasers by Yorkshire police involve adults. However, in 2020/21 there were three incidents where Tasers were discharged against children aged 11 to 17.
The Home Office said that allowing special constables to carry Tasers will ensure they are not ‘at a disadvantage when facing an attacker
Oliver Feeley-Sprague, Amnesty International
wielding a knife or a marauding terrorist.’
Tasers were introduced in the UK in 2003, initially limited to firearms officers.
Their use was extended in 2008, to non-firearms officers who complete the required training.
According to Home Office figures, Tasers were used 34,429 times in 2020/21, up from 32,058 times in 2019/20, 23,451 in 2018/19, and 16,913. In 2009, figures show 3,128 uses of Tasers, although the figures may not be fully comparable due to changes in recording.
While the use of Tasers has been rising, crime levels have generally been falling since the late-90s. According to Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) estimates, crime was up 18 per cent in 2021 compared with the 2019.
However, the rise was down to fraud and computer misuse offences, crime excluding these decreased by 13pc compared with 2019.
CSEW figures show incidents of violent crime dropped by 8pc in 2021, while crimes involving knives and sharp instruments were down 4pc. Amnesty International policing expert Oliver Feeley-Sprague said: “Arming volunteer officers is a dangerous expansion of Taser use and will inevitably lead to the increased firing of Tasers.”
The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out a review of Taser uses between 2015 and 2020, looking at incidents where they have been discharged.
It found examples of Tasers being used in potentially unsafe locations or circumstances, and found evidence officers had not adequately considered the potential risk of injury to individuals.
A quarter of cases reviewed saw Taser used for compliance, and in just under a third of the cases, potential missed opportunities were identified for officers to de-escalate situations.
The IOPC also said concerns about race discrimination and disproportionality is one of the mostcommon issues raised by community groups and stakeholders in relation to Taser use.
In the IOPC review, 22pc of the individuals involved in independent investigations were Black, despite Black people making up less than 4pc of the population.
Arming volunteer officers is a dangerous expansion of Taser use