Chair critical of Taser review

27 August 2021

The chair of Suffolk Police Federation says Taser is an important piece of a police officer’s equipment as he criticised an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report into its use.

Darren Harris says the review by the police watchdog – based on 101 IOPC investigations involving Taser use between 2015 and 2020, a period during which devices were deployed almost 100,000 times – did not tell the full story about the devices and their use by officers.

And he expressed his disappointment that the IOPC failed to consult the Police Federation and frontline officers when undertaking the review.

The IOPC report has made 17 recommendations to the College of Policing, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and the Home Office seeking improvements to national guidance and training; scrutiny and monitoring of Taser use; and data and research.

Darren said: “We recognise that reviews into police powers – such as the use of Taser – are vital in maintaining trust with the people we serve but this one by the IOPC doesn’t paint a complete picture.

“The recommendations are based on a review of just 101 incidents involving Taser over five years, all ones investigated by the IOPC, out of almost 100,000 times it was deployed. That’s just 0.1 per cent of all uses, and ignores good practice in other incidents.

“I’m also disappointed that the IOPC failed to consult the Police Federation of England and Wales.

“Officers who carry Taser are given the best training and the best support. They’re the ones when confronted with potentially violent situations making the decisions and with only seconds to do so and they have to protect themselves and the public.

“In the majority of incidents, just drawing Taser out of a holster can de-escalate a situation and it’s a less lethal option when compared to firearms.”

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) national vice-chair Ché Donald was also critical the Federation was left out of the consultation process.

He said: “For many years, PFEW has fully supported the IOPC’s desire to seek improvements to national Taser guidance and training. Police officers are the practitioners of Taser and would ultimately be affected by these recommendations if implemented. We are naturally disappointed our 130,000 members were not consulted.”

The NPCC lead for less lethal weapons Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi has also criticised the review.

She 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.”

In terms of the 101 Taser uses considered, she added: “Focusing on these smaller number of cases missed an opportunity to consider Taser use more broadly and unfortunately has resulted in recommendations which are mostly out of date and not based on the realities of policing. The focus on such a small data set ignores good practice and learning elsewhere.”

• Photo courtesy of Axon.