The number of officers issued stun guns in London’s Metropolitanpolice (Met) will increase from 800 to almost 1,300, opening up adebate in the force over 'mission creep' risks of using Tasers forminor violations, the Guardian reported. The plan will see 40officers per borough issued Tasers, according to an inquiry by theLondon Assembly, an elected body that monitors the activities ofLondon’s mayor.The decision will put the Met on an equal playing field withother police forces in the UK that already have an increased numberof stun guns in their units. The UK’s Sussex police force announcedthat it will be extending its use of Tasers and is currentlytraining more officers, while West Yorkshire police have been notedfor their extensive use of Tasers in the past two years.The actual firing of stun guns in the UK has also been on arise: Tasers were discharged 1,371 times in the year ending March2011, a 66 percent increase over the previous year, according tofreedom of information requests obtained by the Guardian.Tasers are electroshock weapons, usually shaped like pistols,that disrupt voluntary control of muscles by jolting the victimwith 50,000 volts of electricity.When Tasers were first introduced in the UK, only officers withfirearms training were permitted to carry them; now, an officersimply only needs to pass a three-day training course to be armedwith one.These changes have prompted concerns over how Tasers are beingused. Met data revealed that half of those Tasered last year wereblack. Also, the number of people Tasered between 2008 and 2011with emotional and mental health problems increased from 20 percentto 30 percent.The rate of youths being Tasered has risen as well: Between 2008and 2011, 61 percent of those Tasered were under 30.There are concerns in the Met that the Taser might “become acompliance tool,” the Guardian quoted deputy chief constableSimon Chesterman as telling the assembly. Chesterman explained thatthese types of weapons had been used to enforce submission in thepast, including forcing a person out of a car or getting consent tohave fingerprints taken.The Met had previously tried to limit police use of Tasers, butthe London mayor’s office insisted on the expansion, saying thatthe devices could protect officers. Amnesty International hasargued Tasers are potentially lethal, and that stricter rulesshould govern their use.Amnesty also criticized the plan to increase the issuance ofTasers, and said that it might negatively impact policing methodsin the UK, as the stun guns are portable, easy to use and couldcause “severe pain at the push of a button, often withoutleaving marks.”There is also evidence linking being hit by a Taser to long-termhealth issues like heart failure.A study published by the journal Circulation has connectedTasers to irregular heart rhythms, which at times lead to cardiacarrest. It analyzed eight cases of people who were Tasered and wentinto cardiac arrest, opening up a wider debate around the safety ofthe electric stun gun. Seven of the people in the study died, andone survived. … Read More
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