Concern at police use of taser gun

I was deeply disturbed by the report on December 27 that a man arrested outside a public house in Shrewsbury had been subjected to 50,000 volt shock from a taser gun.

The man was "allegedly aggressive" towards the officers arresting him.

My understanding was that these neurological weapons, which cause a severe convulsive fit and have killed 334 people since their introduction in the US, were only to be used as a non-lethal (or perhaps less-lethal) alternative to firearms.

In other words they would be used in cases where shooting and killing by trained firearms officers would be the only other way of protecting the public or the police.

It is clear from the reported details of this case, and the police statements about it, that the victim was not carrying a weapon, was not threatening to harm the public and was not capable of harming the police.

The man was possibly drunk and disorderly and could have been arrested by the officers present using the normal, proportional methods of physical restraint.

Is it now the case that untrained police officers can use these weapons more or less at will, whenever they feel threatened by an angry word or gesture by a member of the public?

George Miller

Oswestry