Nearly 500 South Yorkshire police officers set to be approved to fire Tasers
Nearly 500 police officers in South Yorkshire are due to be trained and approved to fire Tasers by next March.
South Yorkshire Police said that by the end of the financial year, 468 response officers will be trained in operating Tasers – 57 per cent of all response staff.
Last week, Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderley said Tasers will be issued to every frontline officer in his force in response to a ‘sickening trend’ of attacks on the emergency services.
In response, Assistant Chief Constable David Hartley, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "The use of Taser by police officers is incredibly effective at keeping the public and our officers safe."When faced with a violent or unpredictable, high-tension incident- such as an individual armed with a weapon, intent on causing harm to themselves the public or our officers- it is one of the most effective options available to officers."We invest heavily in ensuring that our officers receive the best training and the use of Taser is no different - our officers who are trained to use this equipment must complete a rigorous programme."We currently have 43 per cent of our response staff trained in Taser, and in 2018 we have funded and approved expansion plans- this is currently underway and will see 468 frontline staff trained in Taser by March of next year. This will equate to 57 per cent of response staff."In addition, specialist officers such as firearms officers are always trained in the use of Taser."We assess the need of Taser based against the annual strategic process and are absolutely committed to providing Taser as one of a range of options to support officers discharge their duties as safely as we can."