Chief Constable 'Tasered'

[Bush Tucker Man]

This story was in the papers when the demonstration was first held for the Press, but the footage has only just released a couple of days ago.

BBC 'Real-Player'

I wonder how many offers were made to be the 'armed' Officer?

What do the serving Officers who contribute on here think to them & their possible issueing to specialist units?
(ie; Lord Shagg-Pyle & Boggert)

[Sheddy]

I would have paid good money to do that.

[thermidorthelobster]

Interesting.  If it's used to stop dangerous / armed people from injuring others then I'm all for it.  But I fear in due course it'll be used against reasonable protestors in the name of "anti-terrorism".  Remember the guy who spoke out at the Labour Party conference who was arrested on anti-terrorist charges.

In short, I think this is great as a tool for the police;  it's as a tool for the government that I fear it.

[graham78]

i think that the british police should adopt an attitude similar to that of our canadian friends,  when our military police og over there to support them they can only carry a taser if they are "demonstrated" the effects of...

they swoon learn that it is not too nice and decide to use it as a last resort, i "volunteered" my services for charity adn it certainly made me behave a little better!!!

but then wasnt there the same scares when mace was introduced???

[Boggert]

Oh god I so wish I could do that to my CC....  :twisted:

As for the arming the police question...

I do not wish to ever carry a hand gun ie 9MM pistol. the reason being if you shoot some one you are likely to get convicted of Murder / manslaughter yourself and the force is not going to back you at all... you are on your own.

Also as soon as we are armed so will the scum bags will arm them selves.

However I would happily carry a Taser all day long.
 :twisted:

Oh do you like the new Avitar? he he he

[TDi90]

Oh do you like the new Avitar? he he he

yes  :lol:  very good.
have you seen hot fuzz boggert?

[BigBlue90]

Boggert,

Nice new avatar!!! :D

Problem with the Taser at the moment is that it cannot be deployed without conventional firearms alongside it.

I personally think that the taser as a less lethal option is a brilliant step forward in dealing with knife/sharps related crime and violence. Having seen it in action it causes less injury than the conventional baton and affects less bystanders than 'cs'.

Saying that I think that it should be carried by front line officers on a daily basis rather than specialist departments who may not be there when it is needed most.

I don't quite agree with the 'If we arm then the criminals will arm' view on life. When you work in certain departments you begin to realise how readily available firearms are to the criminal fraternity and how often they are carried on the streets. It is sometimes scary to see what the criminals carry and how far they are willing to use them. It is impossible to deal with  an armed drug dealer high on crack carrying an automatic weapon with just a baton and cs. The taser only has a range of 20 feet!!! In these types of situation conventional firearms are the only way of dealing with it.

[Boggert]

Oh do you like the new Avitar? he he he

yes  :lol:  very good.
have you seen hot fuzz boggert?

Yep laughed my ass off... Going to buy it on vid as soon as its out.

The problem with CS is its old and won't affect some people and Dogs, Captor or Pava is good (neat chilli spray) is better but you must get the eyes.

We had a job recently where a guy with a knife was threatening officers. An Traffic ARV as called because he is known to be very violent. Any how he put on his coat and walks out of his house up the road towards me with 4 armed officers running behind shouting the usual "Stop armed police" (got to say I was worried) CS was ignored, 6'3" officer was brushed off when trying to take him down. So my colleague drew his Taser gave him a warning shout then shot him and he went down like a sack of spuds! Easy to cuff no struggle and then bundled into the van for a sprint to custody.

Easy... no long term damage to officers or public.  Which is how it should be.

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

I wish they would Taser the Chief of Hampshire. It might put some life into the miserable old git!
Anyway, being serious, for a very short period, my thoughts on the matter are this.
Guns. I personally would not want to carry one full time. I have carried while with the reserve forces, but not as a Plod. I have seen some of the officers that are on the firearms teams, and while the vast majority are very competent, there are some that remind me of a mix of Robocop, The Terminator and Tackleberry. Very scary.

Tasers. Never carried one, but I think they are a brilliant idea. I would certainly have no probs with having one of those on me.

Some of the alternatives to firearms are below

http://www.pepperball.com/

http://www.ifexuk.com/

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B8677DFC-E705-452E-81D1-12D5DAF04C2C/0/TT121_BatonGuns.pdf

I've used a baton gun and they are scary and are quite effective.
The Ifex system has been tested and was very effective as a crowd control weapon. Unfortunately, the Home Office doesn't like things like that. Too aggresive. :roll:
The pepperball gun is a great idea, but again the Home Office stepped in.

Those are my thoughts. In the mean time, I shall continue to wave my piece of collapsible steel rod at angry crowds and people with weapons. I'm sure that will stop them! :shock:


[/u]

[Wanderer]

TBH I have no problem with Tasers etc. as they aren't going to be used on me and I have no problem with some scroat getting taserred. I'd also like to see these people that resist arrest being given an immediate 3 months minimum in prison for running from the police or resisting arrest.

I'm sick to death of seeing UK programs where the miscreants steal a car, refuse to stop and then cause extra damage when they crash having put lots of people's lives in the process, Then go on to leg it and resist when caught.
They end up with community service. There's no deterrent to resisting arrest and it's generally accepted that legging it from the police is Ok as they were only going to "stitch the person up"

Feel free to discuss.

Ed