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.”
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.”
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