Amnesty Raise Concerns Over Police Taser Use

Amnesty International has raised concerns over police use of Tasers, saying that your chances of having the weapon used against you could depend more on where you live as forces are interpreting the rules differently.

January to September figures show Gwent Police used Tasers the most of the four Welsh forces, but North Wales was not far behind despite much lower rates of violent crime.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) guidelines say Tasers should be used to "control and neutralise a threat" but that the decision to use one is up to an "individual officer".

Amnesty says this is too vague and means the chances of being Tasered in Wales could differ from force to force depending on how they interpret the guidelines.

"There are a number of differences between different police forces in Wales," said Oliver Sprague, Amnesty's director for arms control and policing.

"In similar areas you would expect, if everybody was applying the rules in the same way, the use of Taser would be consistent, but it's not, which does raise a concern that there is a difference in interpretation."

(H)