IT is a disgrace that there are no current plans for a wider roll-out of Taser, the Police Federation conference has heard.<\/p>\n
John Apter, chairman of Hampshire Police Federation, described Taser as an essential piece of equipment and said the service needs to rethink its strategy on the less-lethal weapon.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cTaser is an essential piece of equipment \u2013 we lobbied hard with the Chief Constable and PCC and they agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 400 officers authorised to use it but I want more because it gives confidence and it prevents serious injury. I have evidence that it protects officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the NPCC \u2013 please rethink your position on Taser. To say it shouldn\u2019t be rolled out further is a disgrace.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaser has proven itself time and again that with the right training and right use of force it is an essential piece of kit and must be rolled out to every officer who wants to use it.<\/p>\n
\u201cChiefs around the country \u2013 it\u2019s your decision. I accept its expensive but what is the cost of the safety of your officers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Apter also said that Chief Constables should know the true level of violence against their officers, the Police Federation conference has heard.<\/p>\n
He said he \u201cdoesn\u2019t accept\u201d that some forces find it too difficult to get data on the level of attacks on their officers.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the Home Office\u2019s decision to gather officer assault data from forces\u2019 criminal records, he said \u201cthe only issue is that they are asking for it on a voluntary basis so it\u2019s up to forces\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome forces say they find it difficult to get that data but I don\u2019t accept that. My message to Chief Constables is surely you want to know true level of violence against your staff on a daily basis?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re to deal with this issue we need to know how big it is. Believe me, it\u2019s bigger than the 23,000 assaults on officers across England and Wales that we currently know about. When we put the true picture to judiciary they will start to sit up and listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neil Bowles, Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “We really do need to identify the exact problem before we can come up with solutions. Better personal safety training and more frequent rather than cutting it down like our forces are at the moment, reducing the amount of days you have to do it.<\/p>\n
“[Officers need] self-defence skills like any sort of physical skill, you need to build muscle memory to do the certain actions, if you only do it once a year you just don\u2019t remember to do it when you need to in a street fight.”<\/p>\n
Mr Apter\u00a0added that Hampshire have put together a new system of supporting officers who have been assaulted after the force discovered that officers who had suffered so-called \u201cminor\u201d assaults had \u201cslipped through the net\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIf officers are really honest, they do lack confidence after they\u2019ve been assaulted. When we drilled into the data we found that officers of so-called minor offences had been repeat victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had a lack of confidence in their own ability \u2013 they thought they were doing something wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases it was those who hadn\u2019t had a serious assault who went on long-term sick leave and had mental health issues. A little but of support goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Marshall, CEO of the College of Policing, said the 7-point plan on officer assaults could \u201cmake a real difference\u201d and called on all forces to adopt it.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt might be foreseeable that officers dealing with dangerous situations will be injured but it is not acceptable. What so impresses me is the way the 7-point plan takes a longstanding concern and offers it as a simple and straightforward plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we follow it in every force, it will make a real difference. Its beauty is its simplicity.\u201d<\/p>\n