Government to allow special constables to use tasers

West Mercia Police has not said it will or will not allow its Special Constables to use tasers, but said that the equipment used by volunteer police in the region is "constantly reviewed".

The force was involved in one of the most controversial and high-profile cases involving a taser, where an officer used one on former Aston Villa footballer, Dalian Atkinson, in a confrontation outside his family's home in Telford..

PC Benjamin Monk, who also kicked the footballer in the head, was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of manslaughter over his actions in the 2016 incident, where Mr Atkinson was killed.

Under the government proposals it would be up to chief officers to decide if their Special Constables are armed with tasers.

Chief Superintendent of West Mercia Police, Grant Wills, said the force currently has more than 350 frontline officers who are trained to use the devices.

He added that all those with them "receive high levels of training and continual assessment".

He said: "Our special constables are hugely valued members of our policing team and we are incredibly grateful to the individuals who give up their own time to make a significant contribution in protecting people from harm.

"Special constables work alongside regular police officers, carrying out the same role and attending the same incidents, and as such can face the same risks.

"In order to equip our staff for the situations they might face, we train them to a high standard and provide them with the specialist skills and equipment they need to ensure they can carry out their role safely. The personal protective equipment provided to special constables is constantly reviewed based on these needs and balanced with providing the best service we can to our communities.

"The force annually carries out a risk assessment to determine the number of officers required to be trained in the use of Conducted Energy Devices, commonly known as Taser. West Mercia Police already has in excess of 350 frontline officers trained in the use of these devices who receive high levels of training and continual assessment to enable them to carry the device.

"All police officers, whether regular police officers or officers in the Special Constabulary, are required to adhere to the code of ethics and any use of force is scrutinised to ensure it was used proportionately and appropriately; incidents where a Taser is used, are subject to an enhanced level of scrutiny, including independent scrutiny from our independent advisory groups.”

Outlining the latest government plan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Government's "crucial duty" is to make communities safe.

Allowing special constables to carry electroshock weapons, if authorised by their chief officers, will ensure they are not "at a disadvantage when facing an attacker wielding a knife or a marauding terrorist", the Home Office said.

Mr Johnson told a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on Tuesday: "The crucial duty of our Government is to make our communities safe, which is what we are doing.

"That's why we put, of the 20,000 police that we promised at the 2019 election, we have already put 13,576 on the streets.

"They are bringing down neighbourhood crime and that's a great thing to see.

"But we have got more to do to make sure that our streets are safer and we will round up those county lines drugs gangs in the way that we are doing through project Adder.

"We will take the criminals off the streets, stopping the deaths from knife crime and gun crime."

However, the move to arm volunteer police with the weapons, which deliver an electric current through two small barbed darts, has been branded as "dangerous" by Amnesty International UK's policing expert, who said it will lead to "more instances of misuse, serious harm and death from Tasers".

The volunteers will receive the same training as constables, with deployment of the weapons remaining an operational matter for police chiefs.

Oliver Feeley-Sprague, Amnesty International UK's policing expert and a member of the independent advisory group to the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on Tasers, said: "Arming volunteer officers is a dangerous expansion of Taser use and will inevitably lead to the increased firing of Tasers and more instances of misuse, serious harm and death from Tasers."

He said Tasers are "potentially lethal" weapons linked to hundreds of deaths in the USA and a "growing number" of deaths in Britain.

Speaking at the conference in Manchester, the Home Secretary was expected to say: "Human rights are not just for criminals but the law-abiding majority, and that means standing squarely with the police."