400 Children Threatened With Tasers By Police

Around 400 British children a year are been threatened with tasers by the Police, according to the BBC. The figures show the number of under-18s who have had the firearms drawn and pointed at them in 2013.

The Freedom of Information request also says that the youngest person to have had a taser drawn on them was just 11-years-old. The youngest person to have been actually tasered was 14-years-old, the oldest was 82-years-old.

Tasers have been introduced in recent years as de-facto Trade Unions like the Police Federation and the Association of Chief Police Officers have lobbied for constables to have more weaponry. They are seen as a safer alternative to routinely giving police guns.

The number of children threatened with tasers was 431 in 2013, up from 212 in 2012. The Home Secretary at the time of their introduction, David Blunket, told the BBC: “It’s time for a review that incorporates the use of tasers with advice and support on how to deal with difficult situations.

“For a youngster, 11 years old, a taser is not in my view an appropriate way of dealing with a situation which clearly must have been out of hand, but where we need to train people to use much more traditional alternatives.”

A Home Office spokesman told the Daily Express: “The home secretary has been clear that the use of sensitive police powers, such as stop and search, mental health and the use of force, warrant proper accountability and transparency to ensure that they are being used appropriately.

“Taser is an important tactical option to help specially trained police officers resolve potentially violent situations safely, but it is right that its use is subject to the same level of scrutiny.”

The spokesman confirmed Chief Constable David Shaw would look at who tasers are being used on and what the results are. In recent years a number of videos have appeared on websites like YouTube that appear to show the weapons being discharged on innocent members of the public in both the UK and America.