Tasers and bashing cops

Two stories of interest, the first regarding the rate of bashings the police face and the second, complaints from lawyers about the use of Tasers.

Let’s first talk about assaults on Police. Now, no one wants to see anyone get the bash when they are doing their job, least of all cops as they are the representation of ‘law and order’ and when you hit cops, you are striking out against the system we all want to protect us. BUT to take the rise in assaults and simply write it all off as ‘P fuelled violence’ misses a deeper point and it is this – we have undertrained (19 weeks to be a cop), over worked, stressed out cops who have had the requirements to join lowered. Because of these factors, we now have police thugs on the beat with little or no articulated skills to calm situations down who only have alpha male dominance confidence skills backed with more weapons as a first response to situations. With this new breed of ill trained, under funded, lower entry point cops, I’m not surprised more Police aren’t being assaulted. It’s not just the attitude of those being arrested that we need to look at, it is also the attitude of the people doing the arresting.

2000 assaults on police
A rise in the number of attacks on police is a sign the Government is failing to get on top of violent crime, says National's law and order spokesman, Simon Power. Mr Power said yesterday that figures in the police annual report showed more officers were being assaulted than ever. "In the year to June, there were 331 serious assaults on police, an increase of 10 per cent on the year before. In total, 2000 officers were assaulted, a 12 per cent increase on the year before and the highest number for 10 years.

Which leads me to the Tasers, as ill trained, unconfident cops flood our streets, we buy them more weapons to compensate. This could be an acceptable equation IF there was an independent police complaints authority with the power to prosecute Police who over step their authority, but because we don’t have that, most abuse by Police can be hidden or written off by claiming they were assaulted first.

Police accused of breaching Taser limits
Police have repeatedly breached the operating procedures for the Taser stun gun, opponents of the weapon say.

The Taser is being trialled for a year by 170 officers in the Auckland and Wellington areas as a less-severe alternative for subduing violent offenders.

The use of the weapon is only permissible under certain conditions.

However, lawyer and Campaign Against The Taser spokeswoman Marie Dyhrberg said those conditions had been regularly breached by police and tasers had been carried or drawn inappropriately.

"Tasers are only meant to be used in 'assaultive' situations, yet a man fleeing the scene of a burglary in Waitakere was stopped by police and had a Taser aimed at him," she said.

"Police claimed he was armed but the so-called weapon was a screwdriver, the sort of tool any burglar might have."

Taser rules

Police operating procedures say officers can only use the Taser to:

* Defend themselves or others, if they fear physical injury to themselves or others, or if they cannot reasonably protect themselves or others less forcefully.

* Arrest someone if they believe the offender poses a risk of physical injury to themselves or others, if the arrest cannot be effected less forcefully.

* Resolve an incident where someone might harm themselves, if the incident cannot be resolved less forcefully.

* Prevent the escape of an offender if that person poses a threat of physical injury and the escape cannot be prevented less forcefully.

* Deter attacking animals.