Stun Gun Use Has Quadrupled in Three Years

In the Welsh countryside of Avon and Somerset police officers have seen the utilization of their stun gun devices quadruple in three years.

In 2009, officers fired the self defense devices on 153 occasions, whereas that figure is set to rise for 2010, while putting the figures into comparison with 117 deployments in 2008 and a mere 37 in 2007.

The police force however has said that the operation of the stunning devices has proven to be extremely effective when officers find themselves threatened, in addition to the tools helping to act as a deterrent without actually firing them.

The increase in stun gun deployment is a result of the rank and file officers in addition to firearms officers, who have received training to operate the devices as part of a government pilot project.

As a result the stunning devices are seeing a more frequent use as they follow the extension of the pilot scheme; but only saw a small number of police forces in England and Wales affected.

This means that officers who are assigned to operational departments within the police force, which also includes officers based at airports and road policing, they have received training and been given the authority to employ a stun gun when it is needed. Furthermore this shows that the number of officers who have the authority to employ the tools is much greater compared to other forces.

In 2009, firearms officers employed their stun guns 35 times in Bristol, four times in Gloucestershire, and three times in Bath, which are all situated in England. In the same years in Wales, the devices were deployed nine times in North Somerset, three times in North East Somerset and 22 times in the remaining force area.

Additionally in 2009, it was found that on 80 occasions the self defense devices were employed by officers who are not firearms experts, which included 12 times by officers of the road policing unit.

An incident in 2009 saw a man who was armed with a knife and axe stunned by a stun gun after he walked towards police, while in June of the same year a man who was brandishing a knife surrendered after police threatened to subdue him with a stunning device if he didn’t comply with their orders.

In many cases all it takes is for a suspect to see the device which can act as a deterrent to them, which often makes it possible for a situation to be resolved without any conflict.

In Avon and Somerset a total of 300 officers have been trained to utilize the stun guns; however that number rose by 150 last year after the police departments established how handy the tools has become for non-firearm officers when it comes to defusing situations that have the potential to turn violent.