Aberdeen Shrimper
The Man who sold the world
Tens of thousands of police officers across England and Wales are to be allowed to use high-voltage Taser stun guns.
Funding will be provided for police chiefs to buy an extra 10,000 of the weapons (at a cost of £8M) which are designed to temporarily disable a suspect after a year-long trial in 10 police forces.
Tasers have only been used 93 times in the more than 600 occasions they had been deployed over the last year.
The weapons temporarily disable a suspect by firing two barbed darts trailing electric wires. Human rights groups oppose their widespread use because they have been linked with dozens of deaths in the United States and Canada.
Human rights group Amnesty International said it was concerned officers would not receive sufficient training in the handling and use of the weapons.
According to research over 320 people had died after being hit by a Taser in the United States since 2001
Funding will be provided for police chiefs to buy an extra 10,000 of the weapons (at a cost of £8M) which are designed to temporarily disable a suspect after a year-long trial in 10 police forces.
Tasers have only been used 93 times in the more than 600 occasions they had been deployed over the last year.
The weapons temporarily disable a suspect by firing two barbed darts trailing electric wires. Human rights groups oppose their widespread use because they have been linked with dozens of deaths in the United States and Canada.
Human rights group Amnesty International said it was concerned officers would not receive sufficient training in the handling and use of the weapons.
According to research over 320 people had died after being hit by a Taser in the United States since 2001
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