MP's warning over Tasers

Oct 18 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

A NORTH police force has one of the country’s highest rates for using Taser guns on youngsters, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Northumbria Police force employed the use of electric stun guns 21 times in 12 months – a figure topped only by London’s Metropolitan Police – according to new figures.

The statistics also showed the police force fired Tasers, which deliver a 50,000 volt, twice at under 18-year-olds in the 12 months to March 2009.

However, in most of the 21 cases it was enough to aim the Taser at youths and mark them with its red dot sight, rather than having to discharge it.

Durham Constabulary come bottom of the region’s league table, after only recording one incident in which a Taser was drawn on a youth but not fired.

Cleveland Police and Cumbria Constabulary noted three incidents – none of which saw Tasers fired – and a similar picture emerged in North Yorkshire where a stun gun was drawn once on a youth, and another was marked with its red dot.

The figures were uncovered in a parliamentary answer by the Liberal Democrats, who argue the weapons should not be used on youths.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said: “Given the serious concerns about the safety of Tasers, which have killed more than 300 people in the US, they should not be used on children.

“We must not sleepwalk towards fully-armed, US-style policing.

“Tasers should only be used by trained officers as an absolute last resort. A full inquiry into their use must be conducted before they are rolled out any further.”