By IRNA,
London : Amnesty International has expressed concern about the growing use of Taser stun guns by the police in the UK.
“Police have a duty to protect themselves and the community from violent situations,” Amnesty’s arms programme director, Oliver Sprague, said.
“But arming more officers with dangerous weapons without the rigorous training and necessary safeguards could well be a recipe for disaster,” Sprague said.
On Tuesday, the Home Office published new figures showing that the stun guns, which fire electric bards, have been used on nearly 2,700 occasions since they were first introduced in England and Wales in 2004.
The figures show that the incidents included 834 occasions in which the guns were “discharged” in delivering a disabling electric shock up to 10.5 meters away and on a further 115 occasions as a “drive stun”, when the gun is pressed and fired against the person.
The Home Office minister, Tony McNulty, said the Taser guns had been available to all authorized firearms officers since 2004 as a less lethal option in situations where officers faced a severe threat of violence.
“Tasers have contributed to resolving incidents without injury where otherwise there would have been a real possibility of someone being seriously injured or killed,” McNulty argued.
He also said that in a significant proportion of incidents, the drawing or aiming the Taser had proved to be “enough of a deterrent.”