Tasers are dangerous and their use is spreading. They should always be a last resort for police

The Police Federation has argued that every frontline police officer in England and Wales should have a taser provided if they wish to be equipped with one

Dalian Atkinson, who died after he was Tasered by police in Telford early on Monday (Reuters)

In the 13 years since tasers were introduced here, their use has become relatively commonplace. Yet they remain a controversial tool in the police armoury, and the death of ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson has reopened debate about their deployment.

Given the regularity with which the weapons are used, it is worth remembering that during their initial, year-long trial, tasers were only available to specialist firearms officers and could only be drawn in circumstances that would also have permitted the deployment of a lethal weapon. As a consequence, they were discharged just 13 times. This reflected the idea that tasers would be a replacement for more lethal tactics, enabling police officers to remain safe while limiting the chances of causing death to members of the public.

It wasn’t until 2008 that tasers were rolled out across England and Wales and no longer restricted to use by specialist firearms officers, although they cannot be carried by personnel who have not received specific training. The circumstances in which they could be used were also extended. In Scotland, the weapons are still used only by the country’s 275 armed officers, although police chiefs have recently called for tasers to be carried in all patrol cars in order that they can be deployed if necessary by other personnel. Even more radically, the Police Federation has argued that every front-line police officer in England and Wales should have a taser provided if they wish to be equipped with one.

Among police personnel there is – not unreasonably – a focus on the importance of staying safe while on duty. Violence against the police is committed on a frequent basis, sometimes with extreme force, and the threat of terrorism has increased feelings of vulnerability. Nevertheless, it is striking that taser use has risen out of all proportion with attacks against officers. In 2009, stun guns were deployed just over 3,100 times. Four years later, tasers were drawn on more than 10,000 occasions. The rate of use in 2014 and 2015 has remained fairly stable, although it is notable that a report published by the Independent Police Complaints Commission in July 2014 urged caution against “mission creep”, noting that taser use was becoming all too routine. Evidently the IPCC’s words helped to limit further increases but have done nothing to reduce the regularity of the weapon’s deployment.

Indeed, the IPCC’s report highlighted what it described as an “obvious mismatch” between the public’s perception of tasers as being a “high-level use of force” and the rationale provided by police officers for their deployment – that they represented a “lower risk” (to the officer) than other equipment such as CS spray or a baton. In short, the IPCC identified the simple point that many officers prefer to use a taser because it makes their job easier. That is a fundamentally flawed approach because it ignores the impact on the individual who has been tasered. Since the 2014 report there have been two inquests which found police use of a taser played a significant or material part in a person’s death. Amnesty International argues that more than 500 people in the US have died as a consequence of taser action.

A further difficult question raised by the incident that resulted in Dalian Atkinson’s death is whether tasers are used disproportionately against black people and those from other ethnic minorities. The statistics certainly give cause for concern: Home Office figures suggest that in 12 per cent of cases the individual against whom a taser has been drawn is black, yet black people make up only 4 per cent of the population. Police forces in the UK have made major strides towards ending the kind of endemic racism that was rife 20 or 30 years ago. But this is a worrying discrepancy that requires considerable soul-searching by police chiefs.

Nobody would dispute that the police do an extraordinarily difficult job. They face regular threats to their safety and must make potentially life-changing decisions on a daily basis. Even so, officers must recognise that deploying a taser ought to be a last resort – a way to incapacitate a violent suspect without using lethal force, not just a convenient way to avoid having to get close to someone who may or may not pose a real danger.

British policing is, for the most part, highly effective and widely envied. In large part that can be traced to a very limited use of firearms and the belief that officers can diffuse most situations peacefully. Increased reliance on tasers is not a sign of strength but of a lack of confidence in Britain’s traditional policing virtues. Home Secretary Amber Rudd would do well to put this matter at the top of her in-tray.