Taser is an essential piece of kit and officers should be encouraged to use it when necessary
26 August 2021
City of London Police officers should continue to use Taser when necessary as it is an “essential piece of kit”.
That’s the message from the force’s Federation following a report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct this week, which raised concerns with Taser guidance, training and scrutiny.
Officers should “pay no heed” to the research, Mike Reed, City of London Police Federation Chair said, after the watchdog failed to interview chiefs or federated officers for the study.
Mike said: “The IOPC haven’t engaged with anyone. The National Police Chiefs Council offered to speak to them and nothing. The IOPC went off and did their own thing. But the problem is that they used the data from 0.1% of Taser uses. That’s like judging a beach by one grain of sand - and explains why police officers don’t trust IOPC investigations.”
The National Police Federation of England and Wales dismissed the review as “statistically insignificant”.
It stated: “This report makes recommendations on 101 IOPC investigations into Taser use in a five-year timescale. However, there were almost 100,000 recorded Taser usages in this period, so it is statistically insignificant.”
Mike added: “It is ridiculous. The IOPC do not like Taser and they haven’t got an understanding of operational policing.
“It is a fantastic tool to deescalate volatile situations. Taser is a far less harmful method than physically manhandling someone, using strikes or asps. It doesn’t leave any lasting injuries. Thousands of incidents with Taser are resolved peacefully.
“It is an essential part of officers’ tactics to defuse and manage situations safely for the suspect, the police officers and the public. Our advice to members is to pay no heed to this report and keep using Taser as you have been trained to; legally, proportionately and when necessary. Do not shy away from using it.”
Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi, speaking on behalf of The National Police Chiefs Council, said: “Unfortunately, this report by the IOPC is vague, lacks detail, does not have a substantive evidence base and regrettably ignores extensive pieces of work that are already well underway and, indeed, other areas where improvement could be made.
“I advised the IOPC of my concerns and am extremely disappointed that it did not engage with policing, attend a Taser training course or consult the national independent experts who we work with whilst undertaking its initial research.
“Only 101 Taser uses over a five year period were reviewed and these were all ones that had been investigated by the IOPC. It is concerning that this only represents 0.1 per cent of all Taser uses in the same period, which totals 94,045.”
