Should all police have tasers?
 

Too many trigger happy / macho police as it is. they will use them for all sorts of reasons. even if somebody gives them a bit of lip. a drunk won't keep still. or somebody is being a bit hysterical.

they may even threaten to 'tazer' you if you're not answering their questions to their satisfaction.

so no. no tazers.
and stop using 'terrorism' as an excuse for everything. it's boring.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

The simple answer is no end of.....

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Good idea for a long poll, sadly let down by the initial post.

Hmmm, A PCC who spend a grand total of 5 years including training in the Army, and currently looks after a grand total of 1100 cops is absolutely the best person to decide what tool the Police need.

---------- Post added at 13:05 ---------- Previous post was at 13:04 ----------

Traditionally you produce reasons and facts to backup your answer.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

You missed out the poll option: Only if we can have them as well. ;)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I personally think it may be more to do with authority. they feel as if their authority has dropped dramatically since the introduction of mobile phones in conjunction with youtube :)

they are too willing to throw the terrorism word in with too many things lately.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Personally l think it would be a very bad move as for one l don't it would go down well with some parts of our society as relations are already strained in certain parts of the country as it is plus the image of every policeman walking down the street carrying a Taser attached to him sends totally the wrong message in my opinion but then again what do l know.

l would personally think that many in the Police would baulk at the thought of carrying a Taser as well Derek but what are your thoughts on this?.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

That happened with cameras. they don't like it when you got one too :)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

If we are going to give all our police tazers then we may as well give them guns instead ,makes much more sense

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

But that will mean that if they shoot you Marty. the chance of you dying will be significantly higher.

and if they shot you for the wrong reason. then that will be worse.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

The main thing though is that it will bring an end to terrorism in the UK

Ok that was just tounge in cheek but if we are going to start using terrorism as an excuse to arm the police with tazers or guns then the terrorists have won already .If the police are going to be armed ,using terrorism as a reason is a bit cynical ,there are probably as many normal crooks carry guns and are prepared to use them as there are terrorists so why the sudden change in direction to arm the police

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

the police seem to conjure up armed officers quite quickly around here i see no need to carry tasers or guns all the time .

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Pardon the interruption, I usually lurk around other parts of the forum, but I felt a few things needed saying! The problem with taser is its image. That's evident by those of you on this thread referring to Police carrying taser as "armed". Taser will sit well below guns (and probably alongside batons and pepper spray which are already routinely carried by our Police) in any organisation's use of force continuum.

As it stands, taser is carried by a significant proportion of "non-armed" Police Officers in this country already, but by no means all of them. The balance is probably currently about right, I reckon, and so I have voted "no".

---------- Post added at 18:01 ---------- Previous post was at 17:55 ----------

I think as well that, particularly in light of the way they handled things like pleb gate, and their appalling behaviour towards the Home Secretary in the wake of the Windsor report, it is worth cautioning against confusing the Police Federation with "the Police". From the article in the op, it is the Police Federation, the staff association for rank and file officers who aren't allowed to be in a union, calling for this.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

So .....

All the answers were in CAPITALS - Fixed (Dont do that again).

Its a Yes/No question, with five answers - which makes no sense at all.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

lol sorry. i didn't mean to shout.
you spelt accorance wrong.

I was going to make it 6.
"You have the right to remain silent"

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

i dont think you do have the right to silence any more

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Depends if you've actually commited an offence. or they just want to know all about you for the hell of it and pretend that you have to tell them.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

At least 90% of the cops I know would carry one no problem. Actual guns is more 50/50. There is far more appetite for taser plus basic firearms training without actual arming IMO.

It would be cheaper. A taser goes for about a grand, a glock 17 is about £400.

Except in very, very few circumstances such as naming the driver of a car or giving basic details when arrested you do.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Where does that quote in the OP come from? There is no link.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I'd rather they have tazers than guns!

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I would rather they all had phasers.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Set to stun I hope!

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I wonder when they will ever get ride of those stupid tit shaped hats.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

My thoughts and vote as well :tu:

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I dont think they should all carry them no BUT i do feel all stations should have officers trained in arms and arms available if needed.

When there was a hostage situation with an armed man last year in Swansea it took almost 45 minutes to get an armed response team to the scene because of where it was based.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Police, no. Teachers, yes.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

A perfect example of why tasers should be standard issue.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime...-10272958.html

Plenty of cops, CS ineffective, batons not really an option against a knife. A taser comes into play and the knifeman is down and restrained in seconds.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I voted yes. The Royal Holloway student that lost his tooth, from the cop's punch, could be easily tasered.

I like the idea of a Glock (whatever that is) better, the student will be resting in peace, like Jean Charles de Menezes.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

thats a perfect example of why the police need some training on how to arrest some one instead of run away. it looks like an episode of come dancing

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Not sure if they were "running away" or "not getting their heads stove in"....

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

So from the comfort of your armchair how would you deal with an angry man armed with a knife once verbal communication and CS has failed to work?

You'll get bonus points if your answer doesn't involve cops getting stabbed.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

well its clear from the footage that lot aren't used to getting out from the office much its a shambles .

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

So an angry man with a knife is approaching you. CS spray has had no effect.

What would YOU do?

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I think tasers are a bit OTT so why not issue them with water pistols or spud guns?

:D

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

pull my tux out of my utility belt and dance them into submission -do stop trying to justify that unprofessional shambolic effort it was pathetic .

---------- Post added at 09:55 ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 ----------

they could do that being shot by twenty spud guns would smart a bit

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

yes as long as they have vest cameras to prove they are used justly. Also only when they are not alone

---------- Post added at 10:16 ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 ----------

Use my knife defence training or leave the scene. I do assume Police are given the same training

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

just a desk and doughnuts these days

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I don't think Police have the option to leave the scene......

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

So in translation, you don't know what to do. You have the luxury of watching it from a comfy chair and endless time to think about it rather than a split second choice and you still can't make up your mind, you just think it's wrong.

Are you a Daily Mail journalist?

There is nothing in the job description that says getting stabbed is preferable to withdrawing from an attacker.

Funnily enough what's shown on the video is an almost perfect example of what's taught.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

no i'm not a daily mail journalist

are you a copper or an apologist - not in the job description :td:

dish out a crime number that'll sort it .

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

So still no idea how to deal with it then?

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

"Everyone stop!"

Everyone stop panicing.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I'm proud that we don't routinely arm the general police

It's probably already been said as well but just in case if you arm the police with taser wouldn't there be the potential for the criminal fraternity to potentially go one further ?

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

If criminals are able to get a hold of a gun they'll carry it just now. It's not a weapons race where cops with guns will automatically cause every shoplifter to start packing an Uzi just in case they get arrested.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Quite a few of the criminal fraternity are often armed with weapons that make police weapons look like spud guns.

Tazers used in conjunction with body-worn cameras seem like a decent idea.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

It was a bit pathetic with them all running around panicking the way they were.

if you look at them as 'Robocops' you'd have a load of Robots running around bumping and knocking each other over.

one or two sparking away on the floor.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Perhaps not but the shoplifter might think about carrying a knife

I personally don't see the need at the moment to change the status quo (I'm of course willing to have my mind changed by reasonable debate!!)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

If they are going to carry a knife they already will, to resist arrest with serious violence doesn't really matter if it's gun or knife. The outcome is slightly more in favour of the cop if it's knife vs glock / taser instead of knife vs baton / CS.

Routine full arming with pistols won't occur here until there are a couple of maurauding terrorist attacks where the Police are utterly impotent in the initial assault, think multiple Derrick Birds only with automatic weapons rather than single shot rifles in a city and not a rural area.

Tasers are already less dangerous than hitting someone with a metal stick and far more reliable than baton, CS or PAVA.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

If someone would invent the machine gun taser the police could electrocute several miscreants at the same time. True, the odd innocent would cop for it but hey ho it'll teach 'em to keep out of the way :).

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

That's Libs thinking ;)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

i thought it was very brave of them to send in the chubby lass to pepper spray him while the rest of them ran around panicking;)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Seeing getting your expert opinion on this incident is so difficult I'll try something easier.

Have a look at this website and watch Maggie's video. Then come back with a plan on how you'd deal with it. Alternatively you could just answer my initial question on how you'd deal with this incident.

http://www.itswhatwedo.org.uk/

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

do i need a lawyer ? am i being charged with having an opinion that differs from the official plod line .

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

She looks funny :)

It was nice to see that one copper pushing the others away when they had him on the floor.
"Everyone stop!"

everyone stop panicking.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

There is a pump-action shotgun that can fire tazer rounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT2EX07lQy8

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

No. You were busy spouting off about how the Police dealt with the situation badly yet you can't offer a single suggestion as to how they should have dealt with it.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

oh i was "spouting off " was i and there was i thinking i was expressing an opinion , it was a shambles and a farce 20 people to stun 1 man, gross incompetence or what ? hope the chubby bird [ the one with the nuts to do the job got a promotion] as for the other desk jockeys :td:

issue a crime number it'll all be ok

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Still no answer then...

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

the old moderator gang up strategy coming into play is it

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

It is no longer sold and it was used on Raoul Moat...

I do not like guns/tasers...Despite my earlier ironic comment. Derek has a point.

The reality is the police has to deal with situations like the one in the video. How do you handle it? I do not have an answer for the poor cops, standing there, waiting to be sliced by the guy. Ideologically, I reacted as I did..... but think of the lady cop attacking the guy that wants to slice her with a knife, with a water pistol (ok CS spray), pathetic...

I do not have an answer do you?

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

That was the first post I'd made in this thread and you're still dodging.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Do Kung Fu on him. and then the fat one can sit on him whilst the nice copper stops the others from putting the boot in for making them panic :)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

hang on a mo i'll get you a crime number then we can all rest in the knowledge its been well documented .

and you can't say fat its not pc although there are a lot of fat pc's its chubby

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I have seen a lot of police in action over the last few years and on the whole am pretty unimpressed, several times I've thought if the situations really kicked of it'd be me protecting them rather than the other way round, wonder if it had anything to do with them becoming a service rather than force.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

They may well use this as a training video.

"Everyone Stop!"

Everyone stop panicking.

---------- Post added at 08:40 ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 ----------

I bet chubby worked up an appetite with all that exercise :)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

The old armchair expert strategy of deflecting appears to come into play.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

the old wont let it go strategy comes into play .

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

In fairness you were repeatedly asked to offer an alternative but dodged each time. A simple "I don't know" would have done.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Simple answer is NO. I work alongside Police Officers in my job. They have enough trouble, proven that they acted right in a major incident.

If police officers had Tasers, can you imagine if one suspect dies because of a Taser - the suspects friends and family would be baying for the officers blood.

Just think of the officer convicted of knocking the suspects tooth out. And that was his shield.

All police officers are highly trained.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Somebody tell me those in the video were G4S clowns.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

from post 38
"Funnily enough what's shown on the video is an almost perfect example of what's taught."

personally i would wait for batman and robin

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Ah. RALAHC
Known in the force as Run Around Like a Headless Chicken tactic.

:)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Training is very strict

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I noticed.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

yup thems the best we got :(

i just hope the crap and the fan never meet

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Yes, I agree with this.

I don't trust the police to be armed with tasers and allow them to do as they wish, which is what they will do, as evidenced from across the pond, unless they wear cameras.

All coppers in police response vehicles in my area (the ones that turn up when you dial 999) carry tasers. And the police say that it has an "instant" effect on a criminal if he wishes to be threatening. So much so, that 9 times out of 10, the police don't need to use them at all. Just having those bright yellow things on their belts sends a message...

It's the boobies on the beat, or on bicycles in my area, who are vulnerable, and need protection. Too often they will called to the "low level" stuff like neighbour arguments or domestics, which turn nasty.

We cannot send police out to potentially violent situations without the means that they cannot defend themselves. Likewise, body cameras will ensure they use the weapons only when necessary.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Suspects / detainees die on a sadly too regular basis from restraint, baton strikes and positional asphyxia. It's a risk of the job that struggling and violence will sometimes have the worst possible outcome and everything you can do to minimise that risk should be done.

IMO a Taser is far less dangerous than a baton and I'd rather be tasered than CS'd.

Here is a radical suggestion. If you think the Police did a crap job and their actions were wrong how about you tell us what you would have done.

I won't hold my breath though.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

you seem to be getting a little annoyed that you can't get your own way and that is the perfect reason not to arm the police with tasers ,if this was a stand off in the street you would have probably tasered me by now just because i wont do as i'm told .

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Nope, not even close.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Papa: I think I've been graped by mods

PC Plod: You mean raped?

Papa: No, there was a bunch of them.

Buh-dum tish :D (I know its old but I'm in that sort of mood :))

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Get your camera out. he'll stop asking you then :)

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Someone else who would have benefited from 50,000 volts (or 9mm of lead)

http://youtu.be/Mr8SmrH_D1k

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Agreed, I don't know what the girl cop was doing though in most of the video. I was starting to wonder if the guy was going to be kebabed before she got the spray going.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

:confused:

She sprayed him first off when he turned round but in true ned style it had no effect. The only other thing she could realistically have done is scudded him on the back of the head when he was getting a bit stabby with the cop wearing the camera.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

If this happened in some other countries, he'd be dead.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Fixed that for you.

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

Was tasering someone doused in petrol a good idea, guess the inquest will answer that

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-34382270

Re: Should all police have tasers?
 

I don't know that it will, I read this and was initially outraged, how stupid to tase someone like that I thought....

Then I looked closer, what a **** situation for the copper, guy was going to set himself on fire with a match, what to do? Using the adage, doing something is better than nothing, he probably felt he had nothing to lose by trying to disable said guy. I've never actually come across this situation before so I don't know if the shock creates a spark or what. The inquest at this point aren't clear if it was the taser or the match that did it. The copper faced disciplinary action too to make things just that bit worse for all concerned, but they seem to have dropped that due to lack of being able to prove anything for sure.

Guy on fire was more than likely destined to go up regardless, given as he had soaked himself in petrol & was waving a match around. I feel more for the copper being screwed if he did nothing and screwed if he did something. I wonder what they'll do in future repeat scenarios.

No winners here, sad all round, definitely not one of those 'you tased me bro' stories.