Lancashire Police Taser 569 people in two years

Colin Farmer Colin Farmer

LANCASHIRE Police have revealed that officers deployed Taser guns on 569 occasions between January 1, 2010 and November 5 this year.

The force did not reveal how many times Taser guns had been used on people not charged with an offence, stating it would take too long to compile the information under freedom of information rules.

The force was criticised in October after a blind stroke victim was shot in the back with a 50,000-volt Taser stun gun by an officer who mistook his white stick for a samurai sword. Colin Farmer, 62, launched a bid for compensation following the incident in Chorley, which happened after reports were received of a man walking through the town centre with a martial arts weapon.

Other police forces across the country have revealed their varied use of Taser guns on people who were not charged with any offence.

Fifteen forces in England and Wales provided details of incidents where the weapons had been fired despite criminal charges not being brought by police.

According to Freedom of Information (FOI) responses, Leicestershire Police used Tasers on 21 occasions between January and October this year on people not charged with any offence.

The reasons for using the guns included threats with offensive weapons, preventing serious injury to an individual and resisting arrest.

South Yorkshire Police fired Tasers on 11 people so far this year, including nine who were threatening to self harm.

Comments(18)

happycyclist says...
1:54pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!

Dave_P says...
2:15pm Thu 27 Dec 12

there are some tools around and happycyclist is certainly one of them..

"The force did not reveal how many times Taser guns had been used on people not charged with an offence, stating it would take too long to compile the information under freedom of information rules. " -- I wonder why?

They managed ok without tasers before 2010 and none of these incidents would have involved any guns whatsoever. So why do they need tasers?

xrayspex77 says...
2:16pm Thu 27 Dec 12

happycyclist wrote:
Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!
And how many people on here are thinking of the same reply to your post as me?

shytalk says...
2:24pm Thu 27 Dec 12

569 people and thats just the pensioners and disabled.

Accy Phil says...
3:23pm Thu 27 Dec 12

How did the Police manage to arrest anyone before tasers, batons, cs spray etc!....... Answer, they used to command the respect of the public, they could communicate, were mainly 6ft plus males with a presence coming from working class backgrounds!!! Now they are......lets not even go there!!!!!!

HecticBigBoy says...
3:31pm Thu 27 Dec 12

happycyclist wrote:
Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!
and 560 were probably doing nothing wrong, where as the 300+ offences that deserve dealing with are missed completely as a crime. One thing you can guarantee, if theres a trouble spot in your town, you won't see a police presence!!! Brierfield for example, at night when the threats start when you walk through town, the Police station is closed and locked.

happycyclist says...
6:14pm Thu 27 Dec 12

HecticBigBoy wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!
and 560 were probably doing nothing wrong, where as the 300+ offences that deserve dealing with are missed completely as a crime. One thing you can guarantee, if theres a trouble spot in your town, you won't see a police presence!!! Brierfield for example, at night when the threats start when you walk through town, the Police station is closed and locked.
"560 were probably doing nothing wrong..."
Don't be daft.
The police make mistakes like everyone else, but for the majority of that lot, the easiest way to have avoided being tasered would to have not resisted arrest. People who kick off with the police deserve to be tasered. The police have a hard enough job as it is without you wets and apologists for criminals making their jobs harder.
I for one would rather my taxes be spent on more tasers than paying for police off sick because thugs and criminals have hospitalised them.

Sweaty Whippet says...
7:16pm Thu 27 Dec 12

It never ceases to amaze me how ill-informed some people are about modern day policing.. Unfortunately Dixon of Dock Green (and thousands of his 1960's colleagues) retired years ago. Most of the general public have absolutely no idea of just how few officers are now "on the streets" these days,compared to the 1960's and 1970's. As a consequence, these officers have little or no back-up, when they need it, and they have to resort to the use of Tazers, CS Sprays and Batons, in order to protect themselves from an assault (or worse) Incidentally, for the information of all the armchair lawyers, whingers and general half-wits, although the media usually refer to a Tazer as a "Tazer Gun" It is not a gun, it is projectile self-defence weapon, which, when discharged, incapacitates the subject by use of high voltage, but extremely low current, electricity. It has no lasting effects on the individual, and it actually comes lower on the scale of reasonable force responses, than both CS Spray and a Baton. So please, those of you who howl with indignation when a Police Officer uses a Tazer, why not try your own Freedom of Information Act enquiry as to have many officers were assaulted prior to the introduction of Tazer and then how many, after its introduction.. I would suggest the number has decreased significantly. Finally, regarding the officer who discharged a Tazer at the blind pensioner, he will, no doubt, be in very deep sh*te for failing to comply with Tazer protocols!

Good call says...
9:37pm Thu 27 Dec 12

happycyclist wrote:
HecticBigBoy wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!
and 560 were probably doing nothing wrong, where as the 300+ offences that deserve dealing with are missed completely as a crime. One thing you can guarantee, if theres a trouble spot in your town, you won't see a police presence!!! Brierfield for example, at night when the threats start when you walk through town, the Police station is closed and locked.
"560 were probably doing nothing wrong..."
Don't be daft.
The police make mistakes like everyone else, but for the majority of that lot, the easiest way to have avoided being tasered would to have not resisted arrest. People who kick off with the police deserve to be tasered. The police have a hard enough job as it is without you wets and apologists for criminals making their jobs harder.
I for one would rather my taxes be spent on more tasers than paying for police off sick because thugs and criminals have hospitalised them.
If police officer make mistakes like the rest of us,which is correct, then why can they posess tasers for self defence,what about the public where we aren't allowed to own ANYTHING for self defence purposes.Oh and before you start calling me an anti-police anarchist,I'm not i support common law and order and oppose the cutting and privatisation of the police.

window_licker says...
10:55pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Quote:
"South Yorkshire Police fired Tasers on 11 people so far this year, including nine who were threatening to self harm."

Ironic, they fired Tasers 9 people who were threatening self-harm! ha ha

Major Tom says...
11:34pm Thu 27 Dec 12

Tasers should be given also to PCSOs & security staff in places like hospitals, banks, & town centre areas.
And I think happycycler has a point about Darwin. Everytime I have to drive through the place it is full of knuckle draggers making their way to the nearest licenced outlet.

happycyclist says...
10:21am Fri 28 Dec 12

Good call wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
HecticBigBoy wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!
and 560 were probably doing nothing wrong, where as the 300+ offences that deserve dealing with are missed completely as a crime. One thing you can guarantee, if theres a trouble spot in your town, you won't see a police presence!!! Brierfield for example, at night when the threats start when you walk through town, the Police station is closed and locked.
"560 were probably doing nothing wrong..."
Don't be daft.
The police make mistakes like everyone else, but for the majority of that lot, the easiest way to have avoided being tasered would to have not resisted arrest. People who kick off with the police deserve to be tasered. The police have a hard enough job as it is without you wets and apologists for criminals making their jobs harder.
I for one would rather my taxes be spent on more tasers than paying for police off sick because thugs and criminals have hospitalised them.
If police officer make mistakes like the rest of us,which is correct, then why can they posess tasers for self defence,what about the public where we aren't allowed to own ANYTHING for self defence purposes.Oh and before you start calling me an anti-police anarchist,I'm not i support common law and order and oppose the cutting and privatisation of the police.
I'd much rather have a small number of trained police officers with weapons, making the odd mistake, than every **** being allowed to own weapons for their 'self-defence' and making mistakes every time they'd had a skinful. Go and live in America, where you'd be allowed to build up a small arsenal for your own self-defence, only to find that everyone else is also armed to the teeth.

katey h says...
3:28pm Fri 28 Dec 12

when u think of it police just do as they please , as they all cover eachothers backs , they more criminals then the other criminals pffffffffffffff make me sick

Good call says...
4:31pm Fri 28 Dec 12

happycyclist wrote:
Good call wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
HecticBigBoy wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
Nowhere near enough. I could find 569 people in Darwen who need tasering every day!
and 560 were probably doing nothing wrong, where as the 300+ offences that deserve dealing with are missed completely as a crime. One thing you can guarantee, if theres a trouble spot in your town, you won't see a police presence!!! Brierfield for example, at night when the threats start when you walk through town, the Police station is closed and locked.
"560 were probably doing nothing wrong..."
Don't be daft.
The police make mistakes like everyone else, but for the majority of that lot, the easiest way to have avoided being tasered would to have not resisted arrest. People who kick off with the police deserve to be tasered. The police have a hard enough job as it is without you wets and apologists for criminals making their jobs harder.
I for one would rather my taxes be spent on more tasers than paying for police off sick because thugs and criminals have hospitalised them.
If police officer make mistakes like the rest of us,which is correct, then why can they posess tasers for self defence,what about the public where we aren't allowed to own ANYTHING for self defence purposes.Oh and before you start calling me an anti-police anarchist,I'm not i support common law and order and oppose the cutting and privatisation of the police.
I'd much rather have a small number of trained police officers with weapons, making the odd mistake, than every **** being allowed to own weapons for their 'self-defence' and making mistakes every time they'd had a skinful. Go and live in America, where you'd be allowed to build up a small arsenal for your own self-defence, only to find that everyone else is also armed to the teeth.
How about a licensing/permit system, where people have to undergo background checks and training.Do you think people should just have to rely on the "authorities" for their safety and protection.

Mikeee47 says...
4:48pm Fri 28 Dec 12

I bet they get a BuZZZZZ out of it, Happy Easter..

happycyclist says...
9:56pm Fri 28 Dec 12

@ Good call: Yes, we should rely on the authorities for our protection. That's how it works. Taxes are paid and they should pay for our protection both at home from criminals (the police) and from foreign threats (our armed forces).
Cameron was waffling on about civic duty the other week, but there is no civic duty to fight crime -that's the job of the police who we pay for and whose job it is. I acknowledge that the state is failing in many areas, and especially with crime, but that's the fault of scum politicians, which we (at least in theory) can do something about.

Good call says...
11:04pm Fri 28 Dec 12

happycyclist wrote:
@ Good call: Yes, we should rely on the authorities for our protection. That's how it works. Taxes are paid and they should pay for our protection both at home from criminals (the police) and from foreign threats (our armed forces).
Cameron was waffling on about civic duty the other week, but there is no civic duty to fight crime -that's the job of the police who we pay for and whose job it is. I acknowledge that the state is failing in many areas, and especially with crime, but that's the fault of scum politicians, which we (at least in theory) can do something about.
What about if some scumbag is attacking you in the street and the nearest police patrol is 10-15 minutes away,or when rioting returns to our streets and a mob starts trying to torch your house,what do you do then.Do you think we should also rely on the government for food and other essentials.

happycyclist says...
12:43pm Sat 29 Dec 12

Good call wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
@ Good call: Yes, we should rely on the authorities for our protection. That's how it works. Taxes are paid and they should pay for our protection both at home from criminals (the police) and from foreign threats (our armed forces).
Cameron was waffling on about civic duty the other week, but there is no civic duty to fight crime -that's the job of the police who we pay for and whose job it is. I acknowledge that the state is failing in many areas, and especially with crime, but that's the fault of scum politicians, which we (at least in theory) can do something about.
What about if some scumbag is attacking you in the street and the nearest police patrol is 10-15 minutes away,or when rioting returns to our streets and a mob starts trying to torch your house,what do you do then.Do you think we should also rely on the government for food and other essentials.
My point was more along the lines of IF the state/police/judicia
ry were effective, scumbags wouldn't be attacking anyone in the street. They're not effective, but I'd prefer that to be addressed rather than arming everyone.

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