Police officials in South Australia recently announced that over the next six-month period officers in particular Local Service Areas (LSA) will have access Taser guns while on duty. Tasers are the controversial self-defense weapons that deliver a 50,000 volt shock to allow officers to subdue an assailant. These specific LSA’s will each have two patrol vehicles per shift equipped with the newest model X-26 Taser for use in response during risky circumstances.

In this heavily controlled trial, the Tasers will only be used by trained officers in incidents that involve an armed assailant, when risk of serious injury to the police, the public, or the offender exists.

Tasers’ manufacturer, Taser International Inc., maintains that injuries sustained by police and offenders have been greatly reduced subsequent to the introduction of Taser use by law enforcement in other countries. Because of this, Police Commissioner Mal Hyde has confirmed that the decision to run this trial was not made lightly and was “more significant than the decision to upgrade police handguns because it would give patrol officers a new weapon.”

Police Association of South Australia leadership welcomes the trial of Tasers in police duty, citing that it has long been association policy that all operational law enforcement officers should eventually carry a Taser. Likewise, the general opinion of all assocation members is that any measure that can minimize the risk of police officers and offenders being severely injured should be earnestly considered.

All parties involved in this trial study hope that arming police with Tasers will prove to be an intelligent move for the further promotion of peace in South Australia.