UK: Restrictions On Police Stun Guns

[Oldbillplod]

The controversial Taser stun gun is a "dangerous weapon" which should not yet be issued to all frontline police officers, Home Office minister Hazel Blears has said.

Ms Blears said the Taser was not appropriate for use in "everyday circumstances" and that she would not want to see neighbourhood officers equipped with the weapon.

This is despite recent surveys, which have shown strong support for Tasers among frontline officers.

The Police Federation said around 80% of its delegates were in favour of rolling out their use because officers often required more than just "handcuffs and a truncheon".

At present only authorised firearms officers are allowed to use the stun guns - which deliver a massive, 50,000-volt disabling shock - as an alternative to conventional guns.

But Ms Blears told Police Review: "Taser is quite a dangerous weapon. It is a less lethal option other than firearms, but it is not an everyday weapon used in everyday circumstances.

"My feeling at the moment is that it is substantially different from handcuffs and a truncheon, and I would not want to see everyone on the streets having that kind of weapon.

"I am concerned that officers sometimes come up against pretty violent individuals, and obviously I want to make sure they have sufficient protective equipment to make sure they are not in danger.

"But at the moment I am not convinced that every single police officer on a neighbourhood team should be equipped with a Taser."

Ms Blears said authorised firearms officers were equipped with Tasers because they were "trained in split second judgments". Providing all officers with an "array of weapons" would not help build a close relationship between the public and their neighbourhood policing team, she said.

[fatboyjim154]

Another example of a politician talking out of their tail pipe.

1, Not every officer is on a "neighbour hood team".

2, Those officer are just as likely to encounter an armed person, if not more so as they police the crappy estates more than I do!

3, AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH. How can you be so thick?????

[Norm357]

The controversial Taser stun gun is a "dangerous weapon" which should not yet be issued to all frontline police officers, Home Office minister Hazel Blears has said.

Ms Blears said the Taser was not appropriate for use in "everyday circumstances" and that she would not want to see neighbourhood officers equipped with the weapon.

You have got to be ****ting me!

[fatboyjim154]

You have got to be ****ting me!

No these lot are the Labour Party, (read liberal worse than yours).

[Norm357]

No these lot are the Labour Party, (read liberal worse than yours).

Move. The offer of sponsorship is still on the table.

[TheQuietCorner]

Where do these people get this bullcrap that the Taser is "quite a dangerous weapon"? What a load of crap!!! The dirtbags are just scared because they know there's no getting away from the thing. And what's this crap that "it is not an everyday weapon used in everyday circumstances"? Neither are Police Officers to the general public, but we don't get rid of them do we? This is crap.

So my question to Officers, from your perspective, how do intelligent citizens who support police use of the Taser go about making sure Officers are equipped with it? What would need to be done?

[MetPC]

So my question to Officers, from your perspective, how do intelligent citizens who support police use of the Taser go about making sure Officers are equipped with it? What would need to be done?

Falling short of a change in Government??

The current "fashionable approach" of the Met is "Safer Neighbourhoods" (basically getting back to the days of neighbourhood policing where your local cop knows all the local people). What the people who make these decisions don't seem to realise is that we deal with decent upstanding members of public probably 10% of the time and we deal with potentially dangerous crims the other 90% of the time.

Nowadays it seems to be nearly constant that we hear news of officers getting shot, stabbed or seriously beaten and the powers that be don't seem to want to equip us with the tools to do the job. The level of violence in London has escalated at an amazing rate over the past few decades and as usual we're a few steps behind.

Any bit of kit that they can give me which helps me to get home safe at the end of the shift would be gratefully received!

[ngcsubutterbar]

you know for a 'non gun' force, I think a taser would multiply your normal beat cop's protection exponentially. As a side note, this recent attack on London 'might' help spur the emotional change needed to give the cops more to 'combat ' such things.

[MetPC]

You would think that the amount of reports of police getting shot (and sometimes killed) in the line of duty around the UK would spur them into action, so far though it's not really made an impact.

I doubt recent events will change the arming issue, after all Britain has survived several decades of terrorism without feeling the need to routinely arm it's officers.

[TheQuietCorner]

Other idea's? Also idea's for America?

Another question to add to it, any ways we may be able to encourage the media to not attack the Taser? How can we potentially help the general public to see that it is safe?

[Oldbillplod]

How can we potentially help the general public to see that it is safe?

The problem you have with the UK is the public like the idea of the traditional bobby on the beat who catches a young miscreant scrumping apples, grabs him by the ears and takes him home to his parents where he gives them a clip round the ears in front of the parents who whole heartedly agree with the punlishment dished out.
For the best part the public still think it is like this.
During my 15 years on the job i have had several hundred sonversations with the public about this situation and they all say "I would never do your job" but aren't prepared to back us when we ask for better training/equipment etc.
Most of them cannot see further than the end of their noses, I have had said to me "We don't want you armed, what if you shoot me and I haven't done anything wrong" to which I reply if you never do anything wrong why worry?
We have only had ASP's and side handled batons for a few years now did police beatings go up overnight?

[fatboyjim154]

We have only had ASP's and side handled batons for a few years now did police beatings go up overnight?

Yes, course they did. We just do it better now so they can talk. :rolleyes: