Panel Speaker at Law Society Public Debate Series – Does Taser use breach fundamental human rights?

Law Society Public Debate Series – Does Taser use breach fundamental human rights?

Event Type: Free CPD event

When: 24/06/2013 18:00 - 19:45

Venue: The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL

Cost: Free event 

Overview CPD hours 1.5
Tasers have been carried by the police since 2003. The aim of Taser use is to prevent conflict, protect life and resolve disputes. However, people have been injured by Taser guns during peaceful protests, when being arrested and when they have already been put in handcuffs.
This debate will help the profession look at not only legal context but also moral and human rights context of Taser use. During the debate each speaker will share their views so as to develop a balanced view of Taser use in the UK.
The Law Society Public Debate Series is being held in association with the Huffington Post. Sign up to the Huffington Post UK newsletter here.
Programme18:00 - 18:30        Registration and refreshments
18:30 - 19:45        Debate
19:45 - 20.45        Drinks in the Law Society bar
Speakers

Mike Kellett, CPT's most used expert and an ex English police officer
Richard Edwards, Associate Head of the Law Department and Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of England
Alastair Logan, The Law Society's Human Rights Committee
Olivier Sprague, Amnesty International
Simon Chesterman, lead for armed policing, Deputy Chief Constable
Sophie Khan, McMillan Williams Solicitors  

Who should attend?
This event is open to both members of the Law Society and the public. This debate is recommended for anyone interested in the debate topic, including:

• Law Society members
• Corporate Counsel
• Academics

Quoted in Camberley and Sandhurst News & Mail - 13 June 2013

By James Chapple

YOUNG people in Surrey were targeted by Tasers more than twice as often as they were in Hampshire last year, and five times more often than in the Thames Valley policing area.

Figures released via the Freedom of Information Act show Surrey Police deployed a Taser for use on a person under 20 on 10 occasions during 2012.
This compares with four in Hampshire and two in Thames Valley.
During the last three years combined, Surrey has seen 29 deployments on people under 20, Hampshire 20 and Thames Valley just eight.
Of the 57 deployments over those three years, 10 saw the 50,000 volt weapon fired at a young person, eight of which were in Surrey.
Among the occasions where a Taser was fired were a brawl involving a 19-year-old man, a 17-year-old boy who assaulted his father and an 18-year-old man resisting arrest.
Taser use or ‘deployment’ is broken down into six main categories – fired, drive stun, red dot, drawn, arced and aimed – with red dot, which sees a red laser sight activated and aimed at the subject, proving the most common deterrent.
However, only when ‘fired’, when two barbs are shot at a subject, and ‘drive stun’, where an officer must physically press their Taser against the subject, does the Taser deliver a shock.
Used to incapacitate suspects, Tasers are classed as firearms and opponents of their use say injuries and deaths have resulted from deployment and cite a lack of study into the consequences of shocks.
Across all three policing areas, the youngest person against which a Taser was deployed during those three years was a 12-year-old in Hampshire while the youngest to have received a shock was a 16-year-old in the Thames Valley area who was involved in an assault.
A Taser has been fired 10 times at someone under 20 in Surrey, Hampshire and Thames Valley since 2010. It has been used to ‘drive stun’ two more people. There have been 38 red dot uses, Tasers were aimed three times, drawn twice and arced twice.
Police and Crime Commissioners Kevin Hurley for Surrey, Simon Hayes for Hampshire and Anthony Stansfeld for Thames Valley Police have this year pledged their support for increasing the number of officers trained to carry Tasers.
Mr Hurley said Tasers were the best way of gaining compliance from a violent or threatening person without injuring them.
“We need to give police the appropriate tools to protect us,” he added. “A five-second shock makes an offender collapse to the floor so officers can apply handcuffs in an unhurried and measured way.”
Mr Hayes said he wanted to see all frontline officers trained to a carry Tasers, a view backed by Police Federation.
However, Sophie Khan, a solicitor specialising in Taser-related injuries for McMillan Williams, said there was no justification for tasering a child.
“It shouldn’t even be a last resort,” she said. “Police should be able to restrain a child without resorting to using a Taser. We’re moving towards a culture of compliance policing – like America – rather than consensual policing.
“Firearms officers have reviews every six to 12 months. Taser training is just three days with a one-day refresher. If police are to roll them out more widely, this needs addressing as the training is simply inadequate at present.”

Interviewed on BBC Lancashire - 12 June 2013

BBC Radio Lancashire - Brett Davison, 12/06/2013   http://bbc.in/18Ho2Dq


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-22868652

Blind Taser victim: CPS to consider police watchdog evidence

 

Mr Farmer said the shock forced him to drop his stick and fall to the ground

The police watchdog has passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a blind man was Tasered by police in Lancashire.

Colin Farmer, 63, was stunned by a police officer who was looking for a man walking through Chorley with a samurai sword on 12 October last year.
The officer is claimed to have mistaken Mr Farmer's white stick for the sword.
An IPCC spokesman said the CPS will now decide whether there is enough evidence for criminal charges to be brought.
Tasers are designed to temporarily paralyse a target by delivering electric shocks of up to 50,000 volts.
Damages claim Mr Farmer, who is registered blind and has suffered two strokes, was walking to a pub to meet friends at the time of the incident.
He said the electric shock forced him to drop his stick and fall to the ground. Mr Farmer was taken to hospital for treatment and later discharged.
A man carrying a samurai sword was later arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.
In January, Mr Farmer's solicitor said a claim had been lodged for damages from the Lancashire force.
The incident was investigated by the IPCC after a referral by Lancashire Police.
A spokesman for the force said: "We have and continue to assist the IPCC with their investigation into this incident.
"We understand the decision to refer the case to the CPS and we await the outcome of their decision."

Quoted in Taser weapons at teens as young as 14, reveals new investigation - Wales Online 9 June 2013

But solicitor advocate Sophie Khan, who specialises in Taser-related injuries, believes police rely on Tasers too much.
She said: “They shouldn’t be used on 14-year-olds or any children at all.
“There can be other ways to deal with that kind of situation. Children can be restrained more easily than adults, so surely a Taser shouldn’t be an option at all.
“In my opinion, it’s lazy cop policing, turning to a Taser at the first opportunity. Being shocked may seem like a short-term thing, but it can lead to a great deal of anxiety for the person being tasered and has also been linked to numerous other health problems.”
She added: “Tasers should only be used as the very, very last option.
“And if they’re being used on children as young as 14 already, it may only be a matter of time before a child dies as a result of being tasered.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/police-firing-taser-weapons-teens-4279837

Interviewed on Victoria Derbyshire's Show - 4 June 2013

 BBC Radio 5 live - Victoria Derbyshire, 04/06/2013   http://bbc.in/11eJN7e

Interviewed on The Sunday Politics Show South East - 2 June 2013