UK: Widening deployment of Tasers marks "a slippery slope"
01 October 2007
Amnesty International has expressed "grave concern" at the ever widening deployment of the Taser, the so-called "less-lethal" weapon that was described as a "dangerous weapon" by the former-Home Office minister, Hazel Blears. Use of the Taser electro-shock gun, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths in the USA, had been confined to specialist firearms officers until their deployment to ten police forces in the UK which are participating in a year-long trial that began on 1 September. Until then, about 3,000 electro-shock weapons had been issued to police firearms units since September 2004, and it is widely predicted that the latest extension will lead to a dropping in standards for police use of the 50,000 volt weapon. Amnesty has said that it fears that police using the weapon in the trial may not be properly trained. Its Arms Programme Director, Oliver Sprague, said that he feared a situation like that in the USA "where Taser's have been widely misused and people have died." He added:
Because these weapons are potentially lethal, police officers must be trained to the same high standard as they are for using a firearm, receiving intensive, ongoing training to ensure that they only use these dangerous weapons in the right situations.
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is also opposed to the introduction of TASER's in Northern Ireland, "even as a pilot". According to the organisation's Chief Commissioner, Professor Monica McWilliams they should only be introduced:
following the proper processes of assessment, and then can only be used in accordance with the principal of minimum force. There remain genuine concerns about the safety of this particular technology. As such, concerns have yet to be addressed around the potential for violating Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to life and inhumane treatment
An Amnesty investigation has found that more than 220 people have died after being shot with Tasers in the USA.
Amnesty International press release "Tasers: Increased deployment marks the start of a slippery slope" 31.8.07; Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission press release "Commission highlights concerns around TASERs" 3.10.07; see also "DSAC Sub-Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons (DOMILL). Statement: 30.5.07, http://www.theiacp.org/research/CuttingEdge/DSACReport.pdf<