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18/01/2013
Met To Spend Over £800,000 On Taser Rollout
Over £800,000 is being spent equipping Met police response vehicles with Tasers, despite growing concerns over their use.
The total budget for the weapons is £817,864 for the first stage of the rollout in the capitols 32 boroughs.
The figure was came to light following a question to the mayor's office for policing and crime by Jenny Jones, assembly member for the Greens.
Previously the stun guns were only used by specialist firearms officers and TSG officers, but Met commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has now said he wants to see the stun guns in everyday use by response cars.
"Last October police in Lancashire Tasered a 61-year-old blind man after mistaking his white stick for a samurai sword," Jenny Jones said in the Guardian.
"That case, along with many others, shows the problems of the widespread adoption of Tasers. I fear the rollout will increase the risk of mistakes happening in London, making people less safe.
"The Metropolitan Police Authority put real restraints on the police use of Tasers as it recognised the danger of every officer being armed in that way.
"Sadly … Hogan-Howe and the Mayor's office for policing and crime have made clear their intention to expand their use."
It is understood that the Met will increase the number of Tasers from 800 to more than 6,500.
(H)
The total budget for the weapons is £817,864 for the first stage of the rollout in the capitols 32 boroughs.
The figure was came to light following a question to the mayor's office for policing and crime by Jenny Jones, assembly member for the Greens.
Previously the stun guns were only used by specialist firearms officers and TSG officers, but Met commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has now said he wants to see the stun guns in everyday use by response cars.
"Last October police in Lancashire Tasered a 61-year-old blind man after mistaking his white stick for a samurai sword," Jenny Jones said in the Guardian.
"That case, along with many others, shows the problems of the widespread adoption of Tasers. I fear the rollout will increase the risk of mistakes happening in London, making people less safe.
"The Metropolitan Police Authority put real restraints on the police use of Tasers as it recognised the danger of every officer being armed in that way.
"Sadly … Hogan-Howe and the Mayor's office for policing and crime have made clear their intention to expand their use."
It is understood that the Met will increase the number of Tasers from 800 to more than 6,500.
(H)
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