Should the UK police be armed with Taser

[mally]

There's a few police forces in England testing the use of Taser. This includes the Met and Nortumbria Police.

In Northumbria Police theres a car on each shift with 2 officers authorised to use Taser. I would imagine any jobs involving voilence will be attended by those officers when available.

YouTube - Police use of Force --CS Spray/Taser

Whats you view, should the police be armed with Taser?

[co19]

Yes definitely it saves lives, SO19/CO19 have been using TASER since 2002 from memory and I have used it myself on someone. SO19 have used it on average again from memory about 18 times per year. It only get used in parralell to firearms, so if you are dealing with a suspect who is dangerous, you can go down the levels of force

Firearms-Lethal Force

Baton Gun-Less lethal Force (fired directly at the suspect stomach region) ( A bad weapon in my opinion as the HK is only a single shot weapon)

Taser-Non Lethal Force

The Met are now going to put TASERS out with local police at certain stations, I believe its a good idea, It will protect officers.

Taser saves lives, the officers and the suspects.

[co19]

You dont want to use CS spray near firearms officers especially when armed with TASER.

[mally]

From what I've been told Taser is now to be used before pepper/CS. It gives the police the edge against most things they will deal with which must be good for officer and public safety.

I think all firearms officers when on firearms duty carry taser in addition to their side arms.

Having addition officers carrying Taser must be a better option.

[co19]

Along as a TASER is in a group of firearms officers that was sufficient, SO19/CO19 use it as one TASER for 3 firearms officers. You will have one per ARV(3 crew) and a couple of baton guns, aswell as the 2 X MP5s and 3 X Glocks and there may also be a G36 or G3 in there aswell.

It all depends on the situation, CS Spray is the least force, when i was in, a baton strike was more force than a taser was.

[FACSGC]

whats the score with frangible ammunition i have found a supply done a bit of research and it turns out that it is section 1 ammo - which is cool would like to test some of that - i have also heard that air marshalls have frangible ammuntion in their sidearms as it allows the subject to be arrested, prosecuted and jailed - but from the manufacturers they say it does kill but doesnt penetrate tissue the same way as regular HP ammo would

[kennyjulie1]

The effective use of TASER within certain police forces namely Northumbria is strictly limited.The deployment of these is strictly controlled via a critical incident manager at police HQ,who will authorise its deployment based on information he or she receives via the senior officer in attendance. Then only if the Taser unit is available or as was on a recent murder in Newcastle not availble as the Taser unit could not draw out its weapons as the safe/armoury was locked.
Unlike CO19/Metpol the authority to arm is not with the troops deploying to an incident what ever that maybe,this includes the CSU, Northumbrias ARV`s, but with the CIM who is miles away in an office.

[kennyjulie1]

Further to my last Northumbria has ARV`s with the Taser option, however they have now introduced a designated Taser vehicle. This comprises of two officers each armed with Taser covering large geographical areas, which unlike CO19, where I served the response time for Northumbria is shockling slow and therefore at this stage in its operation can not be counted upon. The way forward is clear, the Taser will come in nationally and it will not in most cases be supported by other more conventional firearms as carried by ARV`s

[Mr50]

Should all Officers be armed? "Some of them" doesn't really answer the question. Taser has an important role to play in UK policing but it is not the Holy Grail that people make it out to be. It is a tool and in certain situations it is the right one to use.

It should not be carried by everyone as it has limited uses but there should be more available at local level.

[Nomad]

There has been a trial on Tazar use with the NZ police. The trial was a great success and difussed potentially violent situations with it only having to be discharged twice. They use one with a laser sight and the act of being "painted" with it was enough in most cases to gain compliance from the suspect. It can only be a good thing in my book as it does even up the playing field and certainly a safe bet for the police than using a baton as there is more chance injury could be sustained which could affect the outcome of an arrest.