Today the Police Federation of England and Wales voted unanimously to support a policy that all operational police officers who wish to volunteer should have the opportunity to successfully complete Taser training and be issued and authorised to carry Taser.
In addition they agreed to support the action of the National Armed Policing and Less Lethal Weapons working group / Secretariat in asking forces to conduct a Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment of current Taser capability and capacity provision to provide evidence in support of a wider roll out of Taser to more operational police officers.
Steve White, Chair, Police Federation of England and Wales said:
“This is a step in the right direction and we will now work with ACPO, individual chief officers, the Superintendents’ Association and the Home Office to progress this as a matter of urgency.
“We have long called for a wider roll-out of Taser. Now the time is right for all operational police officers to have the option to carry Taser which I believe will provide greater public reassurance.
“Any officer authorised to carry Taser must be fully trained to do so and there are strict procedures and safeguards in place to ensure all officers are fully accountable.
“It is only right that police officers be given the choice to carry Taser and we urge Government and all chief officers to give this their support.”