NSW ombudsman calls for caution on Tasers
PM - Friday, 12 December , 2008 18:26:00
Reporter: Alison Caldwell
MARK COLVIN: The Police Association in Victoria is calling for more Tasers to be issued to general duties officers as an alternative to firearms.
Tasers are mainly restricted to specialist units in police forces around Australia. A Taser shoots 50,000 volts into a person.
Tasers have been withdrawn from some police forces in Canada after concerns were raised about their use.
In the UK, by contrast, the Home Office has ordered an extra 10,000 Tasers for their largely unarmed force.
The New South Wales Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour, recently completed an extensive report recommending a moratorium on Tasers and a further two year review into their use.
He spoke to Alison Caldwell.
BRUCE BARBOUR: In my opinion it was undesirable to further roll out the use of Tasers to general duties officers; that we should have a moratorium on that for a further two-year period to see what happens with the Tasers that have been rolled out. Now that they're able to be used by many more officers in the field and to ensure that we learn from their use before we roll them out to every officer.
ALISON CALDWELL: In the process of preparing this report you looked at the situation in Canada; what can you tell us about Taser experience there?
BRUCE BARBOUR: Well, in Canada, as in other places in North America, Tasers are in wide use, particularly in law enforcement agencies. But as Tasers have been used more frequently, so have concerns about the health consequences of their use; the risks for certain groups of people, and also what has been described as mission-creep.
In other words, when every officer is provided with a Taser, there is increasing evidence to suggest that they will be used by officers in circumstances which are more everyday circumstances, rather than what they're intended to be used for, which are very extreme high-risk, dangerous situation.
ALISON CALDWELL: How much is known about the medical risks that Tasers might pose?