West Mercia Police to train extra Taser officers
West Mercia Police has today announced its intention to train extra officers to use Taser.
A Taser is a device which delivers an electrical charge to the person it is fired at, causing a temporary loss of voluntary muscle control which makes them ‘freeze’ or fall to the ground, allowing an officer to gain control of them.
Currently, around 173 West Mercia Police officers are trained to use the device and the force intends to boost its numbers by training 60 more officers to use Tasers.
It is anticipated that by making Taser more widely available, it will increase West Mercia Police’s capability to protect communities from harm at all times of day and night.
Taser can only be used by officers who have been selected and provided with training in the use of the weapon. Training will begin in August and officers should be fully operational towards the end of the year.
The estimated total cost of the training is around £40,000 and all officers trained to use Taser attend a strict re-accreditation process annually to ensure they continue to meet the nationally agreed standard.
Deputy Chief Constable Simon Chesterman is responsible for the use of the device across the force and is also the ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) lead for Taser.
Mr Chesterman said: “Taser is a weapon and as such it is not a risk free option. Government independent medical advisors describe the risks from the electricity as ‘very low’ and slightly higher where the person may have an underlying heart condition or is of small stature.
“These risks are covered in the training and ultimately Taser is often a less injurious tactical option when compared to a baton strike or a dog bite.
“Deployment is usually linked to alcohol related crime, domestic abuse incidents and violence linked to the night time economy where a person is posing a threat of serious harm to another person, themselves or a police officer.
“All Taser deployment and use is recorded, monitored and reviewed – between the beginning of April 2012 and the end of March 2013, Taser was deployed on 163 occasions but was only fired on 30 occasions in the force area.
“As these figures show, Tasers are rarely fired and their presence is often enough to resolve conflict in the vast majority of cases.
“We are pleased that we will soon be able to offer the public more protection from violent individuals who seek to cause them harm by increasing our Taser capability through the roll-out of these additional officers.”
