Taser row intensifies as sergeants warn of risks to personal safety

12 January 2022

Sergeants trained and experienced in the use of Taser are being forced to stop using the devices after a “nonsensical” decision by the Force not to fund a one-day refresher training course for them.

The move comes at a time when the recent assessment by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services found the West Midlands had the highest rate of firearms offences (24.5 per 100,000 population) and knife crime offences (1.55 per 1,000 population).

And Stechford-based Sergeant Hannah Graham has warned colleagues could face serious injury without the protection of Taser.

Hannah, who was a response PC across Birmingham for 14 years before becoming a sergeant, said she found it difficult to understand the Force’s stance.

She said: “I really can’t get my head around it. It’s as if they have no idea what is going on. But what is it going to take before they realise? Has someone got to get really badly hurt before they see sense?”

Hannah was fully trained and equipped with Taser for eight years but was unable to convert to the new model as a result of the funding decision and is no longer authorised to carry it because her ticket has now expired.

Bournville-based sergeant Saj Ahmed, who has is still equipped with Taser, said he could not understand the thinking behind the funding decision.

He said: “This notion that training for sergeants has become a cost thing is just beyond me. Taser should not be a rank-specific thing, and safety of officers should not be compromised due to cost”.

“If you are a frontline officer – irrespective of rank and you are happy to carry and take on the responsibility to carry Taser - then you should be afforded the opportunity to do so.”

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke who wants to see all officers trained and equipped with Taser if they want to be.

He said: “As a Federation we have serious concerns about the current approach. The current level of risk faced by our frontline officers of all ranks is there for all to see. We want all our frontline colleagues of any rank to be afforded the protection Taser is proven to provide. We know that in 9 out of 10 cases where Taser is present there is no violence – so we could be preventing many of these assaults or worse.

“Put simply, Taser could save an officer’s life. Sergeants are often the only officers free to support colleagues at back up shouts, they are mostly single crewed in some of the most violent streets of the UK.

“This is the least they deserve, but to prevent sergeants who are already trained and have years of experience using the tactic from undertaking a simple one-day refresher course, on grounds of cost, is nonsensical to me.”