Police Officers Want Tasers in the Face of Growing Violence

In Westport, New Zealand, Senior Constable Denis Bergman has added his voice to that of other officers who want Tasers. In the magazine Police News he described an incident with about 60 youths during which he was knocked to the ground and stabbed. He credits his stab-proof vest with saving his life even though he was kicked repeatedly while he was down.

Bergman states officers need Tasers and they need them now. His fear is that delays in having Tasers issued could easily lead to the death of one or more police officers.

Bergman states, “I was very lucky but someone else may not be.” He, along with other officers, say Tasers are desperately needed so officers would be able to stop offenders without killing them.

The 50,000-volt Taser provides an intermediate intervention that can stop violent suspects, thus shortening confrontation times. The result is a drastic reduction in exposure time which limits danger.

Bergman stated that a segment of the population appears to be intent upon limiting or removing the ability of law enforcement officers to protect themselves and the public they are sworn to defend.

In the same issue of Police News Sergeant Jim Currie stated he was “dismayed with the bureaucracy of the police as the number of violent incidents increased.”

He added that administrative levels in law enforcement were “sitting and twiddling their thumbs” while maintaining that the ever growing numbers of knife-carrying youths in the United States and England “won’t happen here.”

Officers expressed their concern about tight finances limiting potentially life-saving uniforms and equipment. Body armor is good, as far as it goes, but there is still a lot of unprotected area which could be targeted with knives, guns, and syringes loaded with any manner of nasty substances.

Police believe Tasers would greatly enhance their level of safety.