Operational Policing
Taser
The Home Secretary is committed to providing the police with the tools necessary to do their job safely and to protect the public. In 2004, following a trial in five forces, it was agreed to allow chief officers of all police forces in England and Wales to make Taser available to authorised firearms officers.
Figures on the Police use of Taser in England and Wales
The latest figures on police use of Taser in England and Wales (new window) were published on 17 August 2009.
You can also read the May 2009 report (new window), November quarterly report (new window), August quarterly report (new window), the May 2008 quarterly report (new window) and the March 2008 quarterly report (new window).
Taser can be used as a less lethal alternative in situations where a firearms authority has been granted in accordance with criteria laid down by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
Read the manual of guidance on police use of firearms (new window)
The Home Office announced on 19 July 2007 that authorised police firearms officers in England and Wales will now be able to use Taser (from 20 July 2007) in a greater set of circumstances. These officers will be able to deploy Taser in operations or incidents where the use of firearms is not authorised, but where they are facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subject.
Taser deployment extended
It was also announced in July 2007 that the deployment of Taser by specially trained police units who are not firearms officers, but who are facing similar threats of violence, would be trialled in ten police forces.
The 12-month trial commenced on 1 September 2007 and took place in the following forces: Avon & Somerset, Devon & Cornwall, Gwent, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales and West Yorkshire.
Following the success of the trial, the Home Secretary agreed on 24 November 2008 to allow Chief Officers of all forces in England and Wales, from 1 December 2008, to extend Taser use to specially trained units in accordance with current Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) policy and guidance which sets out that Taser can only be used where officers would be facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves and/or the subject(s).
6000 new Tasers
Additional funding for 10,000 Tasers was made available to support the extension, and police forces were asked to make bids to the Home Office for the number of Tasers they required. On the 19 March 2009, the Home Secretary announced that forces were to receive over 6000 new Tasers (new window) following the first wave of bidding. An additional £2.3m was also made available to pay for cartridges to assist forces in rolling out Taser.
The latest ACPO policy and operational guidance documents on the use of Taser can be found under publications on the West Mercia Constabulary website (new window).
The police use of Taser in England and Wales has shown that it provides an additional and less lethal option for police when dealing with violent or threatening situations.
It is vitally important that we extend Taser in a managed and coordinated way. That is why we have taken a rigorous approach to agreeing any extension to the use of Taser. The 12-month trial was subject to critical evaluation by the Association of Chief Police Officers (new window) and the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (new window).
Independent medical advice
The announcement to extend the use of Taser followed the receipt of the latest independent medical advice from DOMILL (the defence scientific advisory council sub committee on the medical implications of less lethal weapons). We need to be wholly confident about the medical implications of any extension to Taser to protect both the public and officers.
DOMILL has concluded that the risk of death or serious injury from the use of Tasers within ACPO guidance and policy is very low.
Taser reports
Taser devices have also been extensively examined by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB). The HOSDB published the report PSDB Evaluation of Taser Devices (new window), in July 2002. A further report, PSDB Further Evaluation of Taser Devices (new window), was published in 2005.
Both reports contain statements to Ministers by the Defence Scientific Advisory Council (DSAC) sub-committee on the Medical Implications of Less-lethal Weapons (DOMILL). In addition, the HOSDB has published the source material used for these two reports, supplement to HOSDB evaluations of Taser devices 2006 (new window). All three reports are available on the HOSDB website (new window).
Further information and the first three DOMILL medical statements can also be found in the fourth and fifth reports of the research programme into alternative policing approaches towards the management of conflict, available on the Northern Ireland office website (new window).
More information
For more information, please visit the Taser website (new window).
