West Midlands police using deadly Tasers in record numbers

Aug 29 2010 by Adam Aspinall, Sunday Mercury

Since being introduced in April 2004 Tasers have been used in more than 6,000 incidents in England and Wales.

The Home Office insists they act as a powerful deterrent in preventing any escalation in violence. It is often enough for an officer to draw the Taser from its holster or to point the red laser dot at the offender to gain control of a potentially violent incident.

On other occasions, officers intimidate a target by switching on the electric charge so that the end of the weapon sparks known as arcing.

Amnesty International claims that 334 people in the US died between 2001 and 2008 after being tasered.

Mr Sprague added: "Tasers are dangerous weapons which should only be used in strictest limited circumstances and by officers who are trained to the highest standards.

"There must be extremely strict and rigorous safeguards in place to cover the use of potentially lethal and excruciatingly painful electro shock weapons.

"Without these restrictions, Amnesty remains concerned that more police officers are more likely to use the Taser arguably in circumstances where it is not needed.

"Until we see more stringent controls over the use of Tasers in the UK, I suspect we may continue to see this worrying trend develop in regions up and down the UK."

But Taser International, the US firm which manufactures the weapons, vehemently disputes the fatality figures. A spokesman said: "In only a couple of disputed cases has a Taser been listed as the cause of death."

Yet the company did issue guidelines last October warning police to avoid shooting a suspect in the chest where possible, although it still claimed the danger is extremely low.