TASER.ORG.UK

On the day of the Home Secretary’s announcement that the government wanted to see all the UKs response police armed with TASERs the Metropolitan Police authority rejected the concept. It is today being reported that Sussex Police are joining the Met in rebuffing the government’s plans to roll out TASER to more officers.

The force has accepted new weapons from the Home Office but has made a statement saying it has no plans to use them.

Cambridgeshire Police have also taken delivery of the new TASERs intended for use by non-firearms officers; but it was reported to a recent police authority meeting that they have to all intents and purposes simply been “put in a cupboard”.

Many forces, and their police authorities have not yet considered the question of arming non-firearms officers, even though they have accepted the weapons from the Home Office.

One shocking aspect of the reports today, which arise following freedom of information requests conducted by the Liberal Democrats, is that ten of the UK’s forty or so police forces reportedly did not reply to the freedom of information request made.

Sources:

• The Argus - Sussex Police leaves extra Tasers on the shelf
• Telegraph - Taser roll-out snubbed by police

The current edition of Private-Eye is reporting that despite the Home Secretary announcing £8m for 10,000 Tasers last November she’s only managed to get police forces to take 2,000.

It is excellent that forces are resisting the attempts to push enough TASERs for all response police onto them and are generally restricting what they take.

The Private-Eye and others have pointed to the recent deaths of teenagers in the USA following TASER use as showing the dangers of TASER.