The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Lincolnshire Police is under scrutiny after it was revealed it uses Tasers more often than many other forces.
The county has the highest use of the stun guns in the East Midlands according to figures released by the Independent Police Complaints Commission this week.
The commission has called for the use of Tasers to be “closely analysed and each use robustly justified to ensure the device is being used appropriately and not as a default when other options may be available”.
In 2013, Lincolnshire Police used the weapon a total of 259 times, compared to just 83 times in Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, 94 times in Leicestershire and 119 times in Nottinghamshire.
But the apparently high number has been defended by the force’s assistant chief constable Lee Freeman, who said tasers were only actually “fired” 47 times.
He said: “In effect the very presence of Taser was enough to subdue a violent offender on more than four out of five of the occasions it was required.
“Perhaps the primary exaplanation as to the apparent high use of the Taser by the force is the fact that 23 per cent of Lincolnshire officers are trained to use Taser compared to an average of eight per cent of police officers across the East Midlands.
“In many other forces only specialist firearms officers are authorised to use Tasers.
“Given the large rural area policed by the force and the time and distances required for Lincolnshire officers to travel to the scenes of violent incidents, sometimes involving the threat of the use of conventional firearms, knives or other weapons, we took the decision to train local response teams.
“The decision was taken with the safety of the public and our officers and staff as our first priority.”
Mr Freeman added that since adopting the policy on the training and issue of Tasers to specially trained officers, the deployment of officers with conventional firearms had reduced by around 46 per cent from 126 in 2011 to 74 in 2013.
He said he believed a 25 per cent reduction in assaults on officers since 2010/11 could also, at least in part, be attributed to the introduction of Tasers.
The report, which follows an IPCC review of complaints and incidents relating to Taser use from 2004 to 2013, acknowledges that Taser can be a valuable tool in helping police officers manage difficult and challenging situations.
IPCC Commissioner Cindy Butts said: “However, in light of the significant increase in Taser use, it is important to ensure that the device is being used appropriately and not as a default choice where other tactical options, including communication, could be effective.
“For that reason, it is very important that each individual use can be justified and that forces closely analyse the extent and type of use.”
