Police use of Tasers - Home Affairs Committee Contents


1 Introduction

The procurement of Taser weapons by police forces in England and Wales

1. In July 2010, during the hunt for Raoul Moat, Mr Peter Boatman (a director of Pro-Tect Systems Ltd, now deceased) supplied Northumbria Police Force with a Taser weapon which had not been authorised for use by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch. This was compounded by the fact that he had delivered it by himself; this appears to have been inspired by a genuine wish to assist the police at a time of crisis but it breached the terms of the authority held by Pro-Tect Systems to supply Tasers. The weapon supplied was the X12 Taser shotgun and XREP Taser bullets. The benefit of the X12 shotgun is that the Taser probes in the XREP bullet can be shot from up to 20 metres away as opposed to the 5 metre distance needed to employ the M26 or X26 Taser. There are also significant disadvantages to the use of the X12 including reduced accuracy, less control over the period of discharge, and the risk of causing inadvertent muscle action in the target, possibly inducing them to accidentally fire any weapon they carry.[1] As Crown servants under Section 54(3) of the Firearms Act 1968, Northumbria Police Force were legally able to use the weapon. We were informed by Northumbria police that the X12 was supplied under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, allegedly on the grounds that a state do everything possible to discharge the state's positive duty to preserve life. [2],[3] We are not persuaded by this argument, and express great concern at the implications if this were to be taken as carte blanche to override legislation.

2. Due to the irregularities surrounding its supply and delivery to the Northumbria Police Force, in September 2010, Pro-Tect Systems Ltd, the sole supplier of Taser weapons in the UK, lost its authority to supply Taser weapons in the UK. The company was however, given a short term authority until the end of the year to sell off its stock. We are unable to judge whether or not this was a proportionate response. Shortly after, we heard anecdotal evidence that a number of police forces were running low on stock and unable to re-order as Pro-Tect Systems Ltd had run out of Taser cartridges although they still had a number of Taser weapons in stock. There was concern that some police forces would run out of stock before a new supplier was authorised by the Home Office. We took the decision to hold an urgent evidence session on 7 December 2010 in order to clarify the state of affairs. We took evidence from: Kevin Coles, Managing Director of Pro-Tect Systems Ltd; Assistant Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, ACPO lead on Conducted Energy Devices and Assistant Chief Constable Andy Adams, Kent Police; and, Graham Widdecombe, Head of Firearms, Policing Directorate, Home Office, Christian Papleontiou, Head of the Armed Policing and Less-lethal Weapons Section, Policing Directorate, Home Office and Graham Smith, Manager: Firearms and Protective Equipment, Home Office Scientific Development Branch. During the evidence session, the Home Office announced that, having been approached by several companies interested in the contract, all of whom they had referred to Taser International, Inc., it had authorised a new supplier, Tactical Safety Responses Ltd, who were waiting to receive stock from Taser International and would shortly be able to supply Taser guns and cartridges to police forces in England and Wales. However the session raised several issues which we consider worth noting.

3. In this brief report we will first examine issues relating to the authorisation for use and distribution of Tasers in the UK. We will go on to examine one or two other questions relating to Taser use in England and Wales. Although in questioning we touched on a number of issues relating to the use of Tasers in policing, this was not the main focus of our inquiry. The circumstances in which Tasers can be used, the prevalence of their use, the training given to officers in their use and the extent to which they are justifiable alternatives to other methods of restraint are all important issues which would merit further investigation.

The use of Taser by police forces in England and Wales

4. Tasers are classified as a firearm under Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 and as such, cannot legally be carried by members of the public. Because of this classification, there are strict limitations on who may buy and sell them and how they should be stored, including during transportation. Police forces in England and Wales have been allowed by the Home Office to use Tasers since April 2004, following a 12 month trial during which they were deployed by authorised firearms officers across five police forces—Lincolnshire, Metropolitan, Northamptonshire, North Wales and Thames Valley. At first, deployment was restricted to authorised firearms officers but in July 2007, the Home Secretary approved a one-year trial by 10 police forces—Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gwent, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales and West Yorkshire—which extended the deployment of Tasers, subject to training, to officers—known rather confusingly as 'specially trained units'—"who are not firearms officers in circumstances where officers were facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subject."[4] This allowed the use of Tasers by specially trained officers at incidents where there was the threat of serious violence, including the use of weapons such as knives. Following this trial, use of Taser by authorised firearms officers and specially trained officers in accordance with Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) policy and guidelines was approved by the Home Secretary for all police forces in England and Wales.

5. 'Taser' is a brand name. The generic term for such weapons are stun guns, conducted energy devices or conducted energy weapons. Although several companies manufacture such weapons, only those manufactured by Taser International[5] are currently authorised for use by police forces in England and Wales so, for the purposes of this report, all conducted energy weapons shall be referred to as 'Tasers'. The two Taser weapons which are authorised for use by police forces in England and Wales are the M26 Taser and the X26 Taser.

6. Taser stun guns work in two modes. The first is 'discharge' mode which uses cartridges containing compressed nitrogen that are attached to 4.5 metre conductor wires connected to two probes. These probes (which can penetrate up to 2 inches of clothing or, in the case of the X12 which does not have conductor wires, an air gap due to the very high voltage involved—50,000 Volts—which ionises the air) deliver an incapacitating electric pulse which works by causing the subject's muscles to contract and release more than 19 times a second. The consequence of this is that the subject will have no muscle control and so fall to the floor. The lack of muscle control means that they cannot direct which way they fall or break their fall. The second is 'drive-stun' mode which causes pain and so is used as a 'pain-compliance' tool: in other words, a tool which uses pain to subdue the subject. The cycle of the electrical current is five seconds and any incapacitation or pain will end when the cycle finishes but this cycle can be repeated by pressing down on the trigger. The X12 cannot be used in 'drive-stun' mode as the XREP bullet is entirely separate from the gun once it has been fired.

7. Before being authorised for use by police forces in England and Wales, every 'less-lethal weapon' must undergo testing by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch, a process described to us by Graham Smith, Manager: Firearms and Protective Equipment at Home Office Scientific Development Branch:

We start doing some physical testing, looking at the various aspects of the requirement—first of all, the easiest ones to do, obviously—to see whether that piece of equipment meets the requirement. One of the things with less-lethal, for instance, is accuracy. If it's not accurate, first of all, it's not going to hit the target and do what you want; and, secondly, you don't necessarily know what the medical effects may be because it may hit a part of the body that you're not aiming at. So accuracy is paramount.

Following the physical testing, a medical assessment will take place. Medical assessment looks at any operational uses around the world and any other studies that have been done around the world. That is then assessed by an independent team of clinicians who sit under the Defence Scientific Advisory Council. They will then identify whether there is enough information to comment on the medical implications of the use of the particular technology. If there isn't, they may recommend work to be done.[6]


1   Q 158 Back

2   ARTICLE 2

1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.

2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary:

a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;

b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent escape of a person lawfully detained;

c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.  Back

3   Q5 and Ev 22 Back

4   TASER: Trial Evaluation Final Data, HOSDB publication 85/08, November 2008 Back

5   Taser International Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of conducted energy weapons. The word Taser stands for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle and is an homage to a 1911 novel by Victor Appleton called Thomas Swift and His Electric Rifle. The book inspired the original inventor of conducted energy weapons John H. "Jack" Cover, former chief scientist of North American Aerospace's Apollo Moon Landing Programme. Back

6   Q 115 Back


 
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