Taser review criticised

25 August 2021

West Midlands Police Federation chair Jon Nott has criticised an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report into Taser use which considered 101 incidents involving Taser in a five-year period when the devices were deployed almost 100,000 times in the same period.

The IOPC reviewed cases where it had carried out investigations, but Jon says this does not give an accurate, or representative, view of how Taser is used.

“We welcome the fact that in the foreword to the report Michael Lockwood, the watchdog’s director general, acknowledges the valuable protection Taser can provide for police officers facing dangerous situations and therefore for the public they are seeking to protect,” says Jon.

“But the report itself acknowledges that since the IOPC only investigates the most serious and sensitive cases where Taser has been used the review cannot give a fully representative picture of how these devices are used across England and Wales.

“The IOPC has now made 17 recommendations aimed at improving existing guidance and training for officers but these recommendations are clearly based on the outcomes of a very small percentage of the Taser use by forces in the last five years.

“Taser has proven itself to be a vital piece of equipment in modern day policing, often de-escalating an incident that could otherwise have got out of hand. Everyone within the police service is committed to making sure Taser is used appropriately and that officers are suitably trained. We welcome studies of its use but this review just seems to have been a missed opportunity.”

The report, which has been published today, covers the period from 2015 to 2020 and states that the IOPC engaged with stakeholders as part of its review.

However, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) national vice-chair Ché Donald believes one critical group were left out of the consultation process.

He explained: “For many years, PFEW has fully supported the IOPC’s desire to seek improvements to national Taser guidance and training. Police officers are the practitioners of Taser and would ultimately be affected by these recommendations if implemented. We are naturally disappointed our 130,000 members were not consulted.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for less lethal weapons Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi has also criticised the review.

She said: “Unfortunately, this report by the IOPC is vague, lacks detail, does not have a substantive evidence base and regrettably ignores extensive pieces of work that are already well underway and, indeed, other areas where improvement could be made.

“I advised the IOPC of my concerns and am extremely disappointed that it did not engage with policing, attend a Taser training course or consult the national independent experts who we work with whilst undertaking its initial research.”

In terms of the 101 Taser uses considered, she added: “Focusing on these smaller number of cases missed an opportunity to consider Taser use more broadly and unfortunately has resulted in recommendations which are mostly out of date and not based on the realities of policing. The focus on such a small data set ignores good practice and learning elsewhere.”