Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project (BNLWRP). Research Report No. 8.

Abstract

yesIn the UK at present Taser electrical stun weapons can only be used by trained firearms officers in situations where the use of firearms is also authorised. But the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is asking for these `non-lethal¿ weapons to be made more widely available to other police officers. If this is agreed there will be significant implications for the use of force by police in the UK. In July 2005 the Home Office Minister, Hazel Blears, had stated that the Taser was a dangerous weapon and not appropriate for wider use. The rationale behind the deployment of `non-lethal¿ or `less-lethal¿ weapons, such as the Taser, is to provide police officers with an alternative to lethal force for dangerous and lifethreatening situations they face. Wider availability of such weapons should, it is argued, further limit the need to resort to lethal firearms and thereby reduce incidence of serious injury and death. Over the past few months senior police officers have issued public statements that the Taser weapon should be made available to all officers on the beat. They argue that because police are facing dangerous individuals on an everyday basis, the Taser is required to protect their officers and deal with violent offenders without having to call in a firearms unit in certain situations. A crucial point about this proposal is that it would represent a scaling up in the `visible¿ arming of police officers in the UK. It is claimed by opponents that such an extended use of Taser would actually result in an increase in the level of force used by police in the UK, a concern also echoed by the Independent Police Complaints Committee (IPCC) in the minute of their 27 April 2005 `Casework and Investigations Committee¿ meeting