Extra Taser Officers Is Step In The Right Direction

AN extra 700 Essex Police officers will get access to Taser following Government plans to invest £10m in deployment and training.

It’s a step towards Essex Police Federation’s goal of getting Taser on the belts of every frontline officer in the county.

Before that happens, there are still some hurdles to overcome, according to Federation Chairman Steve Taylor.

He said: “I would like to see a point where a Taser is considered as part of an officer’s Personal Protective Equipment.

“But I appreciate there are a number of hurdles before we get to that stage, not least of which is cost. Unlike almost every other element of PPE, Taser currently is the only part that requires continual testing on a yearly basis, up to a very, very high standard, using very expensive cartridges to do so.

“Colour blindness, for example, is currently a bar to some officers being able to deploy with Taser. So notwithstanding there are some legitimate hurdles that we need to work on in order to overcome, my aspiration still remains that a Taser eventually does become a part of an officer’s PPE.”

Steve is thankful too for the backing of his Chief Constable on Taser provision.

He said: “It’s a step in the right direction. We’ve acknowledged, in Essex, with a really challenging financial backdrop, some of those very real hurdles to Taser roll out on deployment. We’ve acknowledged it’s a difficult space for the job – while still trying to secure savings, while still trying to grow the force.

“Even against that, the Chief is still delivering on growing Taser provision, making more Taser training available so more officers to deploy with it.

“We welcome that. They are small steps in the right direction, and we applaud the Chief and the chief officer team for making that happen, and we continue to encourage and push them towards more of the same.”