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On the 23rd of February 2009 Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne received an answer to his parliamentary question asking how many TASERs had been used against those under eighteen in the last two years.

The answer he received stated those under eighteen had been shocked thirty-eight (17+6+11+1) times over the period, with seventy-three threatened with a TASER either through the weapon simply being drawn or having the red dot placed on them or having the weapon arced infront of them.

Neither the question or the answer distinguished between the use of TASERs by firearms officers; and the trial running during that period involving non-firearms officers being armed with TASER. TASER use against children doubled in 2008 when compared to 2007, this increase may be linked to the trial deployment of TASER more widely.

Having received his answer, Mr Huhne published a statement in which he said:

Figures revealed in a Parliamentary answer show:

• Police in England and Wales fired 50,000 volt Taser guns at children 28 times between January 2007 and August 2008
• Tasers were used on under-18s 11 times in 2007 and 17 times in the first eight months of 2008
• If that rate were to continue, the use of Tasers on children would have doubled between 2007 and 2008
• A further 83 children were ‘exposed to the use of Taser’ in the 20-month period
• In total, 2,222 people were ‘exposed to the use of Taser’

It is surprising to see the Liberal Democrats discount the occurrences where children were shocked by the TASER prongs being applied directly to them in “drive-stun” mode; focusing instead on when projectiles were fired into a person and the shock administer via the wires.

Mr Huhne said:

“Given the grave doubts about the Home Office’s claim that Tasers are not lethal, they should not be used on children.

“Police officers must be able to protect themselves, but these weapons have killed more than 300 people in the United States and should not be issued to untrained officers.

“We need an in-depth inquiry into the use of Tasers before they become commonplace on British streets.

“We must not slide down a slippery slope towards fully-armed, US-style policing.”

I do not think it is practical to expect police to distinguish between a 17 and 19 year old when they encounter them. I would like to see TASER use limited to firearms officers to use as an alternative to a firearm, this would reduce the chance of all of us, adults and children, being shot with these weapons.

I think great caution should be attached to statements such as this from the Liberal Democrats, they are not a united party. Where I live in Cambridge we have a local Liberal Democrat member of the Police Authority but he has not yet got the expanded TASER deployment on the authority’s agenda. I will be asking him why, following this statement from Mr Huhne he is prepared to allow TASERs to be issued to non-firearms officers (all response officers) in Cambridgeshire prior to the in-depth inquiry Mr Huhne is calling for.

Police fire TASER at man, 89, who fled care home

The family of an 89-year-old man shot with a Taser stun gun by police yesterday spoke of their anger at his treatment.

Officers fired the 50,000-volt weapon at the war veteran after he disappeared from his care home and threatened to cut his throat with a piece of broken glass.

He is the oldest man to have had a Taser used on him.

The report say he was shot by “specially trained officers” which suggests these were non-firearms officers.

Vernon Coaker the Home Office Minister of State for Policing, Crime & Security spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday the 28th of January 2009,on the subject of the proposed expanded deployment of TASER weapons:

With regard to Taser training, the roll out of Tasers has been widely welcomed as a good thing. The training costs will be a matter for individual forces. Clearly, the number of Tasers that a force has is not dictated centrally. It is a matter for individual chief constables, with their authorities, to determine what they should have.

I support this, it strengthens the role of Police Authorities and lets local democratic representatives influence the decision. It clearly indicates that the TASER deployment is a strategic matter and therefore falls firmly within the remit of Police Authorities.

Anti-TASER T-Shirts, Badges and Mug

The full text of the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith’s statement announcing funding for all UK response police to be armed with TASERs is reproduced below:

Each day police officers put themselves in danger to protect the public, so I am committed to providing the police with the tools they tell me they need to fight crime and keep the public and themselves safe. I am also proud that we have one of the few police services around the world that do not regularly carry firearms and I want to keep it that way.

Therefore I am today giving my agreement to allow chief officers of all forces in England and Wales, from 1 December 2008, to extend Taser use to specially trained units in accordance with Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) policy and guidance. The guidance sets out that Taser can only be used where officers would be facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves and/or the subject(s).

I am also making funding available to forces to support the purchase of up to 10,000 Tasers. This will allow chief officers to take a decision on Taser deployment according to operational need, without being encumbered by financial restrictions.

Tasers are making a real difference on our streets, not only keeping the public safe but also protecting our police officers. Taser has been available to all authorised firearms officers since September 2004 as a less lethal alternative for use in situations where a firearms authority has been granted in accordance with criteria laid down in the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) “Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms”.

Since 20 July 2007 authorised firearms officers in England and Wales have also been able to use Taser in a wider set of circumstances. These officers are now able to deploy Taser in operations or incidents where the use of firearms is not authorised, but where they are facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subject.

In July 2007 I also gave my approval for a 12-month trial of the deployment of Taser by specially trained units, who are not firearms officers, in circumstances where officers were facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subject. The trial commenced on 1 September 2007 in 10 forces: Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gwent, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police Service, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales and West Yorkshire.

Independent medical advice was sought from the Defence Scientific Advisory Council (DSAC) Sub-Committee on the Medical Implications of Less Lethal Weapons (DOMILL) on the use of Taser in these extended circumstances. DOMILL has now provided a fifth statement on the medical implications of the use of Taser.

The DOMILL statement assesses the risk of death or serious injury from use of the M26 and X26 Tasers within ACPO guidance and policy as very low.

Having considered the latest DOMILL statement and reports on the trial from ACPO and the Home Office Scientific Development Branch which provide final figures on Taser use in the trial, I have given my agreement for further roll-out.

All Taser deployments will also continue to be monitored for assessment by DOMILL. We will continue to publish Taser usage figures on a regular basis.

I have placed a copy of the latest DOMILL statement, and the Home Office Scientific Development Branch trial evaluation in the Library of the House.

Links - They Work For You, Hansard

A number of documents are referred to in this statement, some are available online:

• TASER Trial Evaluation 2008 from the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB), which the statement says provides: “final figures on Taser use in the trial”
• Defence Scientific Advisory Council Sub committee on the Medical Implications of Less lethal Weapons (DOMILL). Statement on the medical implications of M26 and X26 Taser use at incidents where firearms authority has not been granted. , published before the trial.
• DOMILL Statement on a review of the first year of operational use of M26 and X26 Tasers by Specially Trained Units and Authorised Firearms Officers at incidents where firearms authority has not been granted. This document is dated the 7th November 2008 and was released on the day of the Home Secretary’s statement.

I believe the statement is misleading in that the Home Secretary stated: “The trial commenced on 1 September 2007 in 10 forces: Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gwent, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police Service, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales and West Yorkshire.” The HOSDB report confirms that the trial did not start on that date in those forces. For example the Metropolitian Police trial started on the 10th of December 2007, meaning that at the time of the Home Secretary’s statement it had not yet run for a year. I do not see how “final figures on Taser use in the trial” can be provided when the trial has not come to an end.

The Home Secretary’s statement refers to “reports on the trial from ACPO”, and the Home Office press release accompanying the statement states: “The ACPO trial evaluation report can be found on the ACPO website”. I have made a request for the ACPO report(s) via the whatdotheyknow website as at the time of writing they are not available online.

While not referred to in the statement The Independent Police Complaints Commission has published the results of its monitoring of the roll-out of Taser.

Within hours following the statement London’s Metropolitan Police spurned the Home Secretary’s offer of funding for TASERs for all front line response officers. The Metropolitan Police Authority decided not to extend TASER use to all front line response officers in London on the grounds that they may cause fear and damage public confidence.

On the morning of this announcement, which was well trailed in advance, Home Officer Minister Alan Campbell was interviewed on the Today program, which introduced the item saying TASERs will soon be a common sight on the streets.

I have written to my MP opposing arming more police with TASER, though I support police firearms units having access to TASER weapons which they can elect to use as an alternative to firearms.