A Metropolitan Police officer was cleared of misconduct for Tasering a 10-year old girl, and police officers across the UK have called for more Tasers for police. But Tasers are highly controversial after 16 years of their use in the UK, and a number of deaths.
Compared to other major cities in the world, London police officers often aren’t armed, and Tasers have only been in use for a short part of London’s history.
Tasers were introduced to UK policing in 2003, and police officers are required to undertake 18 hours of initial training, followed by six hours of top-up training.
The Met Police currently has 7200 people equipped to carry Tasers, out of 32,493 officers.
The force says that use of Tasers has reduced, used 5314 times so far this year, compared to 9506 times in 2021, according to the use of force dashboard.
Calls for more Tasers
A Police Federation survey found 94% of officers across the UK think tasers should be issued to frontline staff.
A petition garnered almost 120,000 signatures calling for this.
The Police federation says officers feel “vulnerable and isolated due to the lack of equipment”
They claim that they act enough as a deterrent when aimed, and do not have to be fired to deescalate situations.
Human rights concerns
But Amnesty International says overuse of Tasers has led to the death of 18 people in the UK.
It says that these should be restricted to highly-trained specialised firearms officers.
City of London Police. CREDIT: AP
Concerns have also been raised after research from Cambridge University found that police officers using tasers are 48% more likely to use violent force.
It also found they were more likely to be assaulted on shift.
An experiment with City of London police found that the presence of Tasers lead to greater overall hostility in interactions between the police and public.
Racial element
Black people are three times more likely than white people to be involved in Taser incidents, with 12% used against them when they only make up 4% of the population.
Former footballer Dalian Atkinson was killed in 2006 after being shot by a Taser, which sparked debate about the use of tasers by police.
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HeadlineShould all frontline London police officers be given tasers?
Short HeadlineShould police officers be given tasers?
Standfirst94% of officers surveyed by UK-wide Police Federation believe all officers should have tasers.
A Metropolitan Police officer was cleared of misconduct for Tasering a 10-year old girl, and police officers across the UK have called for more Tasers for police. But Tasers are highly controversial after 16 years of their use in the UK, and a number of deaths.
Compared to other major cities in the world, London police officers often aren’t armed, and Tasers have only been in use for a short part of London’s history.
Tasers were introduced to UK policing in 2003, and police officers are required to undertake 18 hours of initial training, followed by six hours of top-up training.
The Met Police currently has 7200 people equipped to carry Tasers, out of 32,493 officers.
The force says that use of Tasers has reduced, used 5314 times so far this year, compared to 9506 times in 2021, according to the use of force dashboard.
Calls for more Tasers
A Police Federation survey found 94% of officers across the UK think tasers should be issued to frontline staff.
A petition garnered almost 120,000 signatures calling for this.
The Police federation says officers feel “vulnerable and isolated due to the lack of equipment”
They claim that they act enough as a deterrent when aimed, and do not have to be fired to deescalate situations.
Human rights concerns
But Amnesty International says overuse of Tasers has led to the death of 18 people in the UK.
It says that these should be restricted to highly-trained specialised firearms officers.
City of London Police. CREDIT: AP
Concerns have also been raised after research from Cambridge University found that police officers using tasers are 48% more likely to use violent force.
It also found they were more likely to be assaulted on shift.
An experiment with City of London police found that the presence of Tasers lead to greater overall hostility in interactions between the police and public.
Racial element
Black people are three times more likely than white people to be involved in Taser incidents, with 12% used against them when they only make up 4% of the population.
Former footballer Dalian Atkinson was killed in 2006 after being shot by a Taser, which sparked debate about the use of tasers by police.
