City's police add Tasers to their arsenal

Kelly Makiha | 16th March 2010

More than 80 Rotorua police staff will be trained to use Tasers over the coming months as part of a national roll-out of the device.

Police won't say exactly how many are coming to Rotorua, but 70 Tasers will be issued throughout the Bay of Plenty police district.

The stun guns fire barbed darts carrying up to 50,000 volts. Whether police warn a person before firing the weapon will depend on the situation.

Anyone who has been "Tasered" will initially be monitored by police and then examined by a doctor.

The devices will be spread across the Bay's policing areas - Rotorua (including Murupara) , Eastern Bay of Plenty (Whakatane, Ohope, Kawerau, Opotiki), Taupo (including Tokoroa and Turangi) and Western Bay of Plenty (Tauranga, Mt Maunganui, Te Puke).

Bay of Plenty district operations manager Inspector Scott Fraser from Rotorua said more than 300 staff across the district would be put through an extensive one-day training session.

He said the introduction of Tasers was an important development for police.

"Taser ultimately provides us with an effective, non-lethal tool that will help us defuse serious situations and contribute to safer communities so that people feel safe and reassured in their homes and in the street.

Tasers were introduced in Waitemata, Counties Manukau and Wellington police districts in 2008 after a nine-month trial.

 Last year, police reintroduced Tasers in Auckland and Wellington districts.

Over the year Tasers were deployed on 132 occasions but in 92 per cent of these cases, the incident was sorted without having to discharge the Taser. There were only 10 Taser discharges for the entire year.

"In most cases, simply presenting a Taser at an offender has been enough to defuse the situation and achieve a safe resolution without injury to police, the public or the offender," Mr Fraser said.

"Ultimately, Tasers will help us save lives, including those of police, offenders and innocent members of the public."

He said it was critical police used the devices correctly and appropriately and that staff were trained well.

"The training is very robust and challenging and staff will need to attain a high level in order to qualify to use Tasers.

"At the end of the day it's safety, safety, safety."

He said there would be rules about the use of Tasers but police did not have to always warn members of the public they would be shot with the device.

Mr Fraser said Tasers were no different to police using other means of force, such as batons, pepper spray and dogs. He said the circumstances of each event would dictate whether police would give someone a warning first.

Mr Fraser said staff in all areas would be trained.

"All I can say is if there was an incident at 2am in Te Teko or Kaingaroa where we needed a Taser, a device and an operator will be available."

Training throughout the Bay will start on March 30 and be spread over three months.

Mr Fraser said no staff would be shot during training.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad is yet to announce the date from which the weapons will be used across the country.