Taser is a vital part of officers' personal protective equipment kit which kelps to protect police officers and the public, according to Dorset Police Federation.

Officers on the frontline know its value in helping them to protect the public, says Chair Anna Harvey and she’s confident its use is properly monitored across England and Wales.

“Taser has numerous benefits,” she said. “Not only does it give officers another option to prevent injury to themselves and the public, but it’s also a deterrent.

“When I speak to operational officers, many of them tell me that as soon as they draw their Taser in the appropriate way, very often the person involved who’s maybe displaying that violence calms down. So not only does it prevent any injury to members of the police but also police officers themselves.

“By protecting the officers, stopping them from being assaulted, we see more officers on the street, which is beneficial, not only to our members but also to the public.

“To the people who are critical of Taser, if they were faced with a violent offender intent on causing them or another serious injuries, what would they like to have at their disposal? Because until you put that uniform on and deal with someone like this, you have no idea - and believe me polite words and reasoning doesn’t always work.”

Anna added: “The last thing we want to see if officers being assaulted because that has a major impact not only on the service, they deliver but also to their families. They’re humans too, in uniform.”

Training in its use is continuous, Anna said, with yearly refresher courses that have to be passed if officers want to keep using the kit.

“There is a yearly refresher training which continually monitored,” she said. “And every time an officer uses Taser that usage is [classified as] pulling it out of the holster and pointing it towards somebody. Every time officers do that; it is scrutinised by a panel of people in the force to make sure that it’s used appropriately.”

It’s easy to look back at the times when it’s deployed with hindsight, and away from the glare of the in-the-moment decision making officers have to do every day, Anna said.

“When you’re involved in a situation where you’ve got multiple factors to think about, you might have numerous people who are being violent towards you or displaying violence, you have split second, operational decisions to make.

“Officers are the best people to do that at that time, with all the other factors they have to consider.

“It’s very easy to sit back after the event and say, ‘ you should have done this or that’, but actually it’s that officer who is having to deal with that aggression and that violence at that time and having to do what they consider appropriate.

“As officers on the streets deal with more and more volatile situations we’ve got to develop. We’ve got to protect them.

“You’ve got to understand and be that officer on the street. It’s alright to be the jury at 9am but officers are dealing with very difficult situations, mostly in a situation where they’re outnumbered. This piece of equipment really helps officers,” she said.

More officers now have access to Taser thanks to a new Government-led investment in the roll-out of the kit; a trend unlikely to be reversed anytime soon.

“It’s voluntary [for officers] at the moment so everybody can volunteer if they want to be a taser carrier,” Anna explained.

“Not everybody wants to have that option.

“However, in years to come we’ll find that more and more officers want to use Taser. With that comes a financial impact on the force and again we would be looking to Government to make sure they give us appropriate budgets so we can maintain proper training and proper equipment for officers.

“Taser is absolutely beneficial to officers; the feedback we have from them is nothing but positive.”