Stun guns useful for keeping the peace

LETTER - I expect you will get a lot of correspondence as a result of your report on the man being stunned by a taser, mostly from people who have little or no experience of tasers, or from those who feel they may be a "victim" one day, or from human rights supporters.

On the face of it, it would appear to be very threatening and dangerous. However, I think it might be a good idea to explore the reasons for using it.

I know a little about the effects, as my son nearly became part of an incident in Canada some years ago, and while watching the behaviour of drunks on a Friday night on TV here years later, he remarked: "That wouldn't happen in Canada."

He then related the following tale. He was a sergeant on exercise with the Army and on R&R took his squaddies into town.

He left the bar to call a taxi to go back to base, and on returning found some of them had got into an argument with some locals.

One policeman turned up and shouted: "Taser, taser, get on the floor".

My son started to explain that he was taking them back to camp, and he was told he would be tasered if he didn't be quiet and get in the taxi and leave.

He tried again and was warned again, whereupon he got in the taxi and left. The boys were taken to the cells for the night, and sent back to camp sober the next morning.

The locals all hit the deck immediately the taser was displayed and all went quietly to the cells. My son was quite shaken but impressed with the orderly and safe way one police officer could deal with a group of drunks.

Several points can be made from this example. Nobody was hurt - not even the police officer. Only one officer was needed - not the hundreds you see on the streets in this country.

All were given several warnings, and even my son, who knew very little about tasers, took the hint and did as he was told. After all, what good would he have done his boys if he had been rendered unconscious?

They would still have been in the cells all night. Because they were not charged, there was nothing on their army record, and the Canadian police treated them fairly but firmly.

I have read on the internet about people being injured or dying from tasering, and it is a very small minority - probably fewer than the number of police attacked or their attackers.

Your average trouble maker, living in a country where tasers are well known and used when necessary, will soon realise that compliance with the request to lie on the floor and keep still is a far better option than being tasered because the drink or drugs have made him think he can take on the world.

Hospital staff would be safer if these people were stopped from attacking each other - and them - and a night in the cells would serve to clear their heads and cost us very little.

The statistic from Amnesty International only tells you how many people died, but it is a shame the quote didn't include the number of people who were tasered and had no serious after-effects, or the number of people who were only threatened with a taser and who "went quietly" - or how many were ever tasered twice.

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