Officers only use Tasers one in five times it’s drawn

TASER was only used by South Yorkshire Police officers 20% of the time it was drawn, new figures reveal.

In South Yorkshire Taser was drawn 280 times in 2016, Home Officer statistics show, and was only used 20% of the time.

“Taser is about officers having that tactical option available to them,” said Zuleika Payne, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation.

She added: “We have to consider the number of times the request is made for deployment and the number of times there’s an actual discharge.

“Taser may in some instances serve as a deterrent by virtue of the fact that an officer is armed with it. There will be occasions when that in itself may be enough to make an individual reconsider their actions.

“What we do know is that both nationally and locally, there is certainly the appetite for more officers to be equipped with Taser.

“This links in with the ongoing ‘Protect the Protectors’ campaign – we have to ensure that we appropriately equip and train our officers.”

Zuleika added that the Federation “speaks very openly and works very closely with the force’s Senior Leadership Group” around officer safety and welfare issues – such as the wider roll-out of Taser.

She concluded: “Issues around officer safety and security are currently in discussion. I attended a meeting at the end of April around security and safety – Taser was one of the issues that I raised in that forum, and that is a piece of ongoing work. We will keep our members informed.”