Cambridgeshire Police Authority Dodge TASER Questions
At Cambridgeshire Police Authority’s April 2009 meeting I asked about the deployment of TASER weapons to non-firearms police. My question started:
Why has the expanded deployment of TASER to all response police officers announced by the Home Secretary in November 2008 still not been discussed at a full meeting of Cambridgeshire Police Authority? Within hours of the ministerial announcement 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. Why was Cambridgeshire Police Authority not in a position to respond as rapidly and effectively?
I also asked about the meaning of “Specially Trained Unit” querying how much training non-firearms officers get before they are issued with TASER.
Both questions were dodged, the force said they have no non-firearms officers using TASER; this might be true at the moment but they have just taken 150 TASERs specifically for non-firearms officers. No explanation for the authority’s inaction was forthcoming, though I was berated by the acting-chair of the authority for being critical of the authority’s inaction, she said she was happy it was working well.
