The increase in times Taser’s are drawn in police activities worries Green Assembly Member Baroness Jenny Jones, who calls for the Mayor to challenge the Commissioner about this “concerning rise in Taser usage.”
A Stun Gun making an electrical arc between its two electrodes, photograph courtesy of Jason Bain.
Taser use by the Metropolitan Police Service has dramatically increased between 2011 and 2013, according to new figures from the Home Office. In 2011 officers used the weapon 378 times compared to 2013 when the weapon was used 2,110 times.
In England and Wales, the number of occasions when the Taser is actually fired has remained fairly steady, which means that the percentage of discharges has dropped from 21% to 17%. In London, the number of times the weapon was actually fired by a Met Police officer has increased from 112 to 136 between 2011 and 2012. Tasers had been fired 43 times during the first three months of 2013.
Responding to the news Jenny Jones said:
“The use of Tasers is fast becoming a regular part of policing in London. I am deeply worried that some officers are using it to force compliance with instructions, which is exactly what the Met Police promised would not happen. Their argument for the Taser roll out was that it would prevent many injuries to officers, but given such a large rise I worry that they might be using Tasers when they would normally defuse situations by more peaceful means. The dramatic increase in the number of times officers are drawing this weapon but not firing it, makes me worry it is being used too readily to force people to comply or face being Tasered.
“My fear has always been that the more Tasers we have on our streets the more chances there are of mistakes being made, making people less safe. If the Mayor wants to restore trust in the police then he should challenge the Commissioner about this concerning rise in Taser usage.”