A controversial wireless taser that can immobilise from a greater distance than the normal one is being considered for use in Sutton.
The Sutton Police and Community Forum considered the possibility of police being equipped with the new Taser shotgun, which is currently being tested by the Home Office Scientific Branch.
The Taser extended-range electronic projectile (XREP) is a capsule containing electrodes which can be fired wire-free from a standard 12-gauge shotgun or a new-style taser weapon.
When the capsule hits the target, a sharp dart pierces the skin or clothing and a wire is then released from the capsule, to emit up to 20 seconds of electric shock with the same intensity as the traditional Taser.
The wireless Taser can be fired from a standard shotgun and can hit targets further away than a normal one.
A spokesman from Sutton police said: “If approved for police use, it is likely to be about two years before it will be will trialed operationally in the MPS.
“Any trial is likely to involve a very small number of specially trained firearms officers and will be subject to close supervision and monitoring.”
He said the “current Taser is still part of a trial and they are issued only to specially trained officers” and “Sutton police officers do not carry Tasers and there are no Tasers in the borough”.
According to Amnesty International, there are concerns about the 20-second default shock built into the XREP, given the potential adverse effects from prolonged electro-shock exposure.
They have also released a report that said there had been 334 deaths in the US linked to the use of Taser guns, between June 2001 and August 2008.
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