Taser by 2021, Chief Constable has said.

1 February 2019

Every response officer in Norfolk will have the option to arm themselves with Taser by 2021, says chief constable Simon Bailey.

Norfolk Police Federation has been campaigning for a roll out of Taser to every officer who wants one.

Andy Symonds, chair of the Norfolk Police Federation, has said all response officers need to be armed due to “the level of violence within the criminal community”.

“Front line officers can find themselves in dynamic situations that can turn very quickly in to severe violence,” he said.

“To have a Taser when they turn up there is a definite change in environment.”

The Federation ran a survey in May, with 414 officers responding. More than half reported their life had been in “serious danger” at least once in the last two years, and 69pc said they were unsatisfied with the level of armed support in the county.

“Because of the dynamics and logistics of our county we are spread quite thinly,” added Mr Symonds. “Officers want it there and then if a situation turns.

“We have incidents where it has turned very quickly to be quite violent, and the nearest back up can be quite a long way away. Taser can help control the situation when it has got to that level.”

Full EDP article here