THE public have shown their support for police officers having access to Taser – with 71% considering it acceptable for police officers to carry Taser when on patrol.<\/p>\n
An Ipsos MORI poll for the Police Federation of England and Wales, also showed that 80% of those surveyed said it would make no difference to their decision, or they would be more likely, to approach an officer for assistance if they were carrying a Taser.<\/p>\n
In addition, 89% said forces should be allowed to train and equip officers if the use of Taser is automatically recorded by Body Worn Video.<\/p>\n
Steve White, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: \u201cWe know officers support the use of Taser and Body Worn Video, and now we have the evidence that shows the public do as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday I wrote to all chief constables and commissioners across England and Wales, outlining the survey results and asking them to support a wider rollout of Taser and call for increased Government funding to assist with this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home Office statistics suggest that an officer is assaulted every 22 minutes in England and Wales. That is 64 officers a day and more than 23,000 in the last year.<\/p>\n
The survey results come as a new replacement model of Taser, the X2, awaits final Home Office approval before it can be rolled out to frontline officers, something the Police Federation fully supports.<\/p>\n
Steve White said: \u201cAny equipment that helps improve the safety of not just police officers doing their duty, but also the public, is an absolute must. You cannot put a price on safety. The current model is obsolete with spare parts difficult to come by, while the X2 is even safer and more effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public clearly have their eyes wide open to the very real threats that exist. Attitudes are changing and people recognise the benefits Taser can offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The survey was carried out by Ipsos MORI, using the online omnibus – research took place between Friday 11 and Monday 15 November, 2016 with a nationally representative quota sample of 2,004 adults aged between 16 and 75.<\/p>\n
Other results show 79% of respondents said that forces should be allowed to train and equip officers if Tasers were to be issued to police officers working alone. 89% of respondents said that forces should be allowed to train and equip officers if the use of Taser is automatically recorded by a camera mounted on the police officer\u2019s uniform.<\/p>\n
Only 17% disagreed that all police officers should be given the option of being equipped with Taser.<\/p>\n
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