EVERY\u00a0officer in South Yorkshire Police should be able to have a Taser on their hip in order to keep themselves and the public safe, the force\u2019s Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent has called for greater availability of Taser as part of a wider move to better protect frontline officers from assault.He said: \u201cMy ultimate aim is that all frontline officers should have a Taser and I\u2019d like to think years down the line, when cost doesn\u2019t become an issue anymore, that\u2019s where we\u2019ll be.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re extremely highly trained in its use, I\u2019m a Taser officer myself, extremely highly trained, and ultimately I think it\u2019s a better option to use Taser on somebody than to use a baton or a police dog.<\/p>\n
\u201cI carried the Taser for five years and I used it once in those five years and I red dotted people several times so it\u2019s not something I\u2019d use willy nilly because most of the time people see it and they back down. I used to wear mine on the front of my stab vest and it\u2019s highly visible, it\u2019s bright yellow, people see it and think twice. They do. There\u2019s no two ways about it. So if I could have my way then I would always push for routine equipping.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police is currently training officers to use the new X2 model, and is also moving towards introducing spit guards, after the UK\u2019s largest force, the Met, equipped its frontline officers with them this month.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cThey are not personal issue just yet but we\u2019ve had training rolled out for spit guards. They\u2019re widely used, they can be taken out, they\u2019ve been used in custody especially. So our force, to its credit, broadly supports them.\u201d<\/p>\n