Tasers and their use

The request was successful.

Dear West Mercia 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

Information Compliance, West Mercia Police

Dear Sir or Madam

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 
69748                                                      

 

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
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Sue Cale

Information Compliance Assistant | Information Compliance Unit  | West
Mercia Police

Hindlip Hall Police Headquarters, Hindlip Hall, Worcester, WR3 8SP
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Information Compliance, West Mercia Police

Dear Sir or Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 69748

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
on 6^th April 2021. Please find below the response to your request:

 

 

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.

 

 

Reply:-

 

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

 

a.  The number of officers who withdrew their Tasers.

 

2017/18 – 280

2018/19 – 333

2019/20 – 427

 

b. The number of officers who discharged their Tasers.

 

2017/18 – 18

2018/19 – 25

2019/20 – 18

 

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

 

2017/18 – 9

2018/19 – 11

2019/20 – 13

 

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

 

2017/18 – 2

2018/19 – 2

2019/20 – 1

 

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

 

Nil return

 

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

 

X2 – 241

X26 – 49

 

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as
accurate as possible.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding.

Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or telephone the Information Compliance Unit quoting the reference number
above.

Yours sincerely

 

S Biddle

Information Compliance Unit
West Mercia Police

PO Box 55

Hindlip

Worcester

WR3 8SP

01905 331545 / 331565

 

 

West Mercia Police in complying with their statutory duty under sections 1
and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed
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This email and any attachments may contain information that is
confidential, privileged, sensitive, or otherwise protected from
disclosure. Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If received in error, please destroy all copies and notify the
sender immediately by return email. Internet email is not a secure medium
of communication. Any views or opinions expressed in this email do not
necessarily represent those of West Mercia Police. All email activity may
be may be monitored, recorded and retained by West Mercia Police in
accordance with relevant legislation.

 

Please be aware that all information provided to West Mercia Police will
be held and treated in confidence in accordance with the Data Protection
Act 2018. It may be shared with other Force departments. Personal
information may also be used for statistical purposes, for fraud and crime
prevention and may be checked with/disclosed to regulatory bodies. The
information provided may be held electronically and/or in paper form and
will be kept secure at all times. Your personal data will be processed for
the performance of tasks carried out in the public interest or in the
exercise of the Police’s official authority and to comply with legal
obligations. 

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...

West Mercia

Looking more closely at those officers who did use force, mean frequency was close to 30, whilst the median was 14 (Table 15.). This suggests that while there were more prolific force users (with a maximum of 479 uses* by a single officer), the majority who used force did so less than 15 times during four-year study period. p175

* 25 uses for Taser

Table 18. Frequency of force used by Taser vs non Taser using officers in West Mercia (only officers with at least one use are included) p 178

Thus, we can give an affirmative response to our first research question that it is the case that a relatively small number of officers were responsible for most uses of force. p180

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

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

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. p 23

In the year ending on March 31, 2022, Home Office Statistics record that Tasers were utilised in a total of 34,276 incidents p 25

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

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… p 36