Tasers and their use

The request was successful.

Dear Surrey Police,

1. For the years financial years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 please provide:

a. The number of officers who withdrew their Tasers.

b. The number of officers who discharged their Tasers.

c. The highest number of times a single officer withdrew their Taser.

d. The highest number of times a single officer discharged their Taser.

e. The number of Tasers reported lost, stolen or missing if any.

2. Please provide the number of each sort of Taser you have, including the shotgun variety.

Yours faithfully,

D Moore

!Freedom of Information (Surrey), Surrey Police



 

Thank you for contacting Surrey Police, Information Access Team, via the Freedom
of Information mailbox

If you are contacting us regarding a current FOI request and have already
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being processed.

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or as soon as practicable after that.   Unfortunately, at the present time, due
to restricted working practices resulting from the Coronavirus outbreak, there
will inevitably be some delays. 

We are currently unable to respond to emails seeking an update, or estimated
disclosure dates as we are focussing on processing all requests as quickly as
possible.  We apologise for any delays and hope that this does not cause too
much inconvenience.

Thank You

 

 

 

!Freedom of Information (Surrey), Surrey Police

Dear D MOORE,

Freedom of Information: 001481/21

I write to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information Request
(FOI).

The Act requires us to respond to FOI requests within 20 working days of
receiving the request. Although every effort will be made to ensure a
response is provided within statutory deadlines, due to current
circumstances delays may be unavoidable. We apologise for any
inconvenience and will endeavour to process your request as quickly as is
practicable.

Yours Sincerely,

Information Access Team
Surrey Police
Telephone 01483 630007

!Freedom of Information (Surrey), Surrey Police

1 Attachment

 

 

Dear D Moore,

 

I write in connection with your request for information received on 05
April 2021.

 

You had asked:

 

Q1.  For the years financial years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 please
provide:

 

   a. The number of officers who withdrew their Tasers.

   b. The number of officers who discharged their Tasers.

   c. The highest number of times a single officer withdrew their Taser.

   d. The highest number of times a single officer discharged their Taser.

   e. The number of Tasers reported lost, stolen or missing if any.

 

Q2.  Please provide the number of each sort of Taser you have, including
the shotgun variety.

 

Response:

Section 1 of the Freedom of information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties
on public authorities.  Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at
s1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified within a
request is held.  The second duty at s1(1)(b) is to disclose information
that has been confirmed as being held.  Where exemptions are relied upon
Section 17 of the FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a
notice which: a) states that fact, b) specifies the exemption(s) in
question and c) state (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption applies.

The information that you have requested is held by Surrey Police. 

The information pursuant to Q1 a. & b. is held by Surrey Police,
however, we are not obliged to disclose as the duty in s1(1)(b) of FOIA
does not apply by virtue of the following exemption:

 

·        Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible By Other Means.  

 

Section 21 applies in this case as the information is already available to
you and published via government data tables ref ‘Police use of force
statistics’.  For your assistance, please see the relevant links below:
   

 

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...

 

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...

 

[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
   

 

Q1c.  The highest number of times a single officer withdrew their Taser:

 

01/04/2017 – 31/03/2018 =  Seven

01/04/2018 – 31/03/2019 =  Five

01/04/2019 – 31/03/2020 =  Four

 

Q1d.  The highest number of times a single officer discharged their Taser:

 

01/04/2017 – 31/03/2018 =  Two

01/04/2018 – 31/03/2019 =  Four

01/04/2019 – 26/03/2020 =  One

 

Q1e.  The number of Tasers reported lost, stolen or missing:

 

= None

 

Q2.  We only hold x2 sorts of Tasers.  As of 13/04/21, we have a total of
309 Tasers.

 

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic,
nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be
noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be
used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.

 

Surrey Police provides you the right to request a re-examination of your
case under its review procedure. How to do this is set out in the attached
Appeals Notice.  Having followed the full procedure, if you are still
dissatisfied, then you have the right to direct your comments to the
Information Commissioner who will give your case consideration.

 

Thank you for your interest in Surrey Police. Should you have any further
enquiries concerning this matter, please write or contact us on 01483 -
630007 quoting the reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely
                                                                                                    

Neil Coventry

Information Access Team Decision Maker

Information Access Team

Surrey Police

Tel - 101

•         Hunt Number 30007

•         Fax 01483 634911

•         Address – Surrey Police, PO Box 101, Guildford, GU1 9PE

 

The Surrey Police Privacy Notice including your personal data rights is
available on the Surrey Police website or on this link: 

[4]https://www.surrey.police.uk/about-us/yo...

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...
4. https://www.surrey.police.uk/about-us/yo...

Dear !Freedom of Information (Surrey),

001481/21

Thank you for the useful information you provided.

I have a query concerning your response to 1a. and 1b. You wrote:

'The information pursuant to Q1 a. & b. is held by Surrey Police, however, we are not obliged to disclose as the duty in s1(1)(b) of FOIA does not apply by virtue of the following exemption:

· Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible By Other Means.'

I have followed the links you provided and have found some useful information; however, I cannot find the specific information on Tasers. I found a part in the 'Use of force stats' documents headed 'Incidents by police force, year ending March 2020' that revealed a figure of 5,143 for your force. But I couldn't find the specific information I am seeking on Tasers. The information is not therefore readily accessible to me. I have tried to find it and I have failed.

Yours sincerely,

D. Moore

!Freedom of Information (Surrey), Surrey Police



 

Thank you for contacting Surrey Police, Information Access Team, via the Freedom
of Information mailbox

If you are contacting us regarding a current FOI request and have already
received an acknowledgement email from us, your request has been logged and is
being processed.

We will endeavour to provide you with a response within the statutory timescales
or as soon as practicable after that.   Unfortunately, at the present time, due
to restricted working practices resulting from the Coronavirus outbreak, there
will inevitably be some delays. 

We are currently unable to respond to emails seeking an update, or estimated
disclosure dates as we are focussing on processing all requests as quickly as
possible.  We apologise for any delays and hope that this does not cause too
much inconvenience.

Thank You

 

 

 

!Freedom of Information (Surrey), Surrey Police

Dear D Moore,

I apologise for the difficulty you encountered in accessing the data you requested. I can confirm that the information is contained within the links supplied.

If you use the below link and select table 13, then using the 'Police Force' dropdown selection to select Surrey Police, you will see the data for Taser use (recorded under Use of CED by type and police force: 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020) CED - Conducted Energy Device is another term for Taser.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...

I trust you will find this helpful in accessing the required data relating to questions 1a & b..

Sincerely,

Information Access Team
Service Quality
Surrey Police
General non-emergency no.: 01483 630007
Address – Surrey Police, PO Box 101, Guildford, GU1 9PE
http://www.surrey.police.uk

The Surrey Police Privacy Notice including your personal data rights is available on the Surrey Police website or on this link:
https://www.surrey.police.uk/about-us/yo...

Surrey Police – With You, Making Surrey Safer

show quoted sections

D. Moore left an annotation ()

The number of times Tasers were drawn almost doubled in two years.

2017/18 (2019/20)

Total non-discharge - 158 (388)
Drawn - 60 (113)
Aimed - 15 (40)
Red dot - 83 (231)
Arced - 0 (4)
Total discharge 30 (40)
Drive stun - 5 (0)

fired 25 (40)
Angular drive stun - 0 (0)
CED not stated - 0 (0)

D. Moore left an annotation ()

Definitions:

'Drawn - removed from holster

Red dot - the taser has a laser that allows the officer to mark the subject with a red dot. This tells the officer that they are on target and also lets the offender know they are being targeted

Arced - this aims to deter a suspect. It is achieved when the officer squeezes the trigger without the cartridge attached and the electric current flows through the end of the taser. An audible and visual display of electricity crackling across through the taser can be seen and heard.

Fired - this is when the cartridge is attached and the taser delivers an electrical charge to the body.

Drive stun - this is where there is no cartridge attached. Arcing electricity at the front of the taser is required to make contact with the subject’s body or clothing before a shock results. This requires the front of the taser to be pressed against the person.

Angled drive stun-tasers are designed to safely disable a person from a distance, yet sometimes the offender can get too close. On such an occasion, an officer can incapacitate an offender by carrying out an angled drive stun which involves activating the loaded taser close to the subject’s body and then placing the taser against another part of the body to disable them.'

https://www.cambs.police.uk/information-...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

Independent report explores the potential causes of racial and ethnic disparities in the use of Taser

(Analysis by researchers from Keele University, UCL, The University of Exeter and Staffordshire University)

Key findings from the research suggest:

https://www.keele.ac.uk/about/news/2023/...

The Report:

Taser use and its association with social, ethnic and racial disparities in policing (TASERD)

https://www.keele.ac.uk/kpac/fundedproje...

Table 2. Taser usage levels across the force areas p149 (9 police forces)

Drawn - Aimed - Arched - Red-dotted - Fired/angle-drive stun

eg. Fired/angle-drive stun

Surrey 181 (8.81%).....GMP 741 (14%).....Met 3,178 (9.40%).....West Mercia 89 (5.31%).....Gwent 88 (9.43%).....Bedfordshire 124 (9.99%).....West Yorkshire 202 (7.47%).....Hampshire 192 (14.20%).....Derbyshire 103 (9.2%)

In the year ending on March 31, 2022, Home Office Statistics record that Tasers were utilised in a total of 34,276 incidents p25

People perceived by the police to be ‘Black or Black British’ were 8.6 times more likely than ‘White’ people to experience Taser during use-of-force incidents. p23

At the very least, and perhaps crucially, it would seem that Taser was more likely to be used in areas with larger Black populations even if it was other factors that had initially ‘attracted’ police attention (i.e., crime, deprivation, and so on) to those places p183

While it is acknowledged that the duration of Taser training in England and Wales is longer than that in other countries (e.g., in the USA), our study does suggest that current constraints are leading to a series of missed opportunities to develop key skills among STOs.

• The study suggests that, in practice, there is an imbalance in the training towards utilising the weapon in contrast to developing parallel de-escalation skills. The study highlights concerns relating to assessment, relatively permissive guidance, and other issues all of which combine to heighten the risk of creating a ‘push’ towards the use of Taser. p12

It is often suggested that BWV audits are an effective way forward regarding scrutiny and research-based analysis of CED use... However, mirroring the experiences of SGMs, the research team encountered acute difficulties accessing BWC footage for a variety of different reasons... However, even in our limited sample we observed several instances where use of Taser appeared to us to be contrary to the guidance provided in Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and training. p11/12

4. We also identified a notable lack of attention to utilising dialogue, or tactical communications, to handle situations of potential conflict, and in terms of de-escalation strategies more broadly. p202

Concerns were also raised about the lack of follow up on IOPC recommendations. As one participant noted:

“When I read the IOPC’s 2021 study I almost wept because it identified everything that went wrong in [his] case. And nothing was learned, and nothing has changed… 36