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Police in city to be given stun guns
Saturday 16th January 2010, 10:59AM GMT.
Front line police officers in Wolverhampton are to be given tasers for the first time from Monday, it was revealed today.
A “selected few” will be issued with the stun guns, which use electricity to temporarily disrupt a suspect’s muscles so they can be arrested.
Police in Sandwell and Dudley will be given the tasers in May.
It is not clear exactly how many Wolverhampton officers will have tasers, but it is thought “two or three” will be on duty at any one time.
Until now, only firearms officers have been allowed to carry the weapons, which they have used 93 times in the West Midlands since 2004. The change means that a small number of officers will have 24-hour access to them in Wolverhampton.
Ch Supt Neil Evans, in charge of policing in the city, said today: “I anticipate the use of the taser being minimal but it will be a valuable addition to our options.”
Officers undergo four days of detailed training, including tests of judgement and accuracy.
Recent uses include a man who approached police with two knives and was forced to drop them when he had a taser turned on him.
On another occasion, a man came towards police covered in blood but stopped when he saw the red dot from the taser on his torso. In nearly three quarters of uses, a warning red dot has been enough to make the suspect comply with officers.
Tasers have already been deployed in Walsall where on the eight occasions they have been called on, officers have had to fire just three times.
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Tasers now, machine guns next?
Wolverhampton really is giving itself publicity it does not need!
This just goes to prove that the city is not free of dangerous hooligans and whatever but this is the modern world isn’t it?
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slight difference I think…….evrywhere has hooligans and police need to protect themselves and the public better. A good move
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Oh heaven help us! How many “lesssons will be learned” from us now?
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Goes to show what this city is like. However, Im in full support of them.
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Wonderful news!! The police need all the tools that are available to tackle the absolute scum that slithers on the streets of our wonderful city. Tazers work, end of! Don’t let a bunch of whining PC fools stop what needs to be done. Things in Wolvo are looking up.
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Excellent news. I agree with no.5. Now we just more police officers and cars / vans.
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Don’t think thats a good idea it’s only going too render evil for evil lets pray for our youth of wolverhampton and encourage them to go to church or encourage them to send their children to sunday school so they next generation can grow with morals…..
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are you serious?
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EXCELLENT!!
Now if we can just get the Police to use them daily it will send a message out to the “appropriate people” that “Wolvo” (I hate that colloquialism) is not a place for drugs/vice/knives/guns/robbery/etc etc etc
Whilst they are on…can you Taser parking offenders? As I have a disabled Mother in Law, I am sick of people that park in Disabled Bays without a disabled sign…a Taser might make them think twice about doing it again!
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here in Canada the cops used them on a Polish immigrant who could not speak English… his crime was to throw a staple gun across the room at the airport where he was waiting to meet his mother because he could not get out of the receiveing area why??? he could not speak english to ask his way out and he got a bit flustered… but the 3 cops, 3 mind you thought it enough of a danger to see that flying staple gun to tazer him time and time again untill he was dead!!!! so be careful what you wish for…. that could be you
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IF YOU ARE FOOL ENOUGH TO TO BE A HARD CASE THEN YOU MUST BE FOOL ENOUGH TO TAKE THE TASER
GO ON GIVE THE THUGS A BLAST .LETS SEE THEM CRY IN THE GUTTER WHERE THEY BELONG.
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next stop, bringing back the death penalty please.
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More torture weapons for the public servants to torture us with. Please remember Jean Charles DeMenzes who was shot in the head 6 times at point blank range by an officer who also had been trained. The police state is upon us and getting worse and worse each day.
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So you’ll be happy to let Police Officers get beaten or stabbed (possibly to death) because you’re not happy with them having a taser gun? How would you like to stop a criminal from attacking you or another memeber of a public with a knife or metal bar? Use kind words?
… and a police state because 3 police in Wolverhampton have tasers… what does that make the rest of Europe, America, Canada, Australia etc where their officers are routinely armed?
None of your rubbish please.
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How about using pepper spray, a baton, calling for assistance, dogs. My fear is the threshold for violence will increase on both sides until we have gang-land and ghetto no-go areas for police. We are not America where every incident calls for the use of a firearm. We have a decency and values to uphold in our policing, and not stooping to level of perpetuating the violence. In the rare instance a taser is needed, a firearms officer is the most appropriate person to make the call.
I know I wouldn’y like my child to be tasered for refusing to take a bath.
An eye for an eye, and soon we shall all be blind.
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i totally agree with Sam’s comments REALIST!!!!
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If it’s anticipated that there will be minimal use of tasers..why invest time, money and resources? The demand isn’t even anticipated. Mark, I am in no way a ‘PC’ either, I can assure you. There is great controversy behind the use of such devices, from a physical as well as psychological perspective.
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And im a Native New Yorker god help you guys in the UK
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im still laughing at lets pray for them…while they prey on us? As for the rest of the people have died bunch i once was told that some one died on a zebra crossing should we not use those, i understand the concerns but i will run the risk,if we dont want to be the fifth worse city we need action not words and this is action, the words are the moaners who do little
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trouble with the world to day there is to many do gooders.
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Tasers eh? Just another illustration of the quantity of moronic pond life inhabiting Wolverhampton which requires such devices.
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Glad to see that the police are getting equipment to deal with sthe street scum. As to Menenzes, is this the same “innocent” man who was here with a forged passport stamp and had taken illegal drugs? My sympathies are with the 52 innocent people blown up by terrorists, no memorial for them!
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The problem is that the West Midlands has a history of trigger happy and rule bending police officers. I can’t wait to see the first innocent person to be stunned sue them.
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Tasers? i thought police were already armed with batons and cs spray what more is needed.
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Point 18 is exactly where i was heading. as a law abiding citizen of wolverhampton, who has witnessed, and been subjected the few of these trigger happy and rule bending officers, i meet this issuing of tazers with mixed views.
if i could trust the police to serve our community honestly, i would gladly welcome tasers, but the reality is, that there are police officers,allbeit a few, who once behind a uniform, go into action man mode. it happened with the issue of cs gas. “he threw an apple core on the floor, im spraying him!!” ok, a little exagerated, but you get the point
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I am a Canadian and am well aquainted with the incident at Pearson International Airport when a confused, frightened, inarticulate new arrival to Canada failed to link up with his Mother and was detained at arrival for 10 hours was Tasered to death by 4 not 3 RCMP Officers! … enough said of the incident actions have been taken regarding this. but the populace of the UK must begin to realise that actions are being taken which are the direct result of the gross mis-mangagement of Federal, Regional and Municipal Governments! … one could say that as a non resident I have no right to be critical and that is a valid point but I was born in the UK and I have living relatives there and many who reside permanently in tombs there and an aged document bearing the stamp of a long dead King which gives me right of Citizenship and I say please be wary of what is being proposed and imposed! .. you may well live to be regretful! …….. In view of my disdain for the quality of the Media in the UK and in particular the E&S I will fully understand if this comment is not given consideration
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trigger happy police ? serious crime squad ?
what about gun toting criminals ?
the police have a job to do and ever since the politically correct do gooders stepped in stopping making every bobby answerable for even a clip round the ear the police have lost respect and power
the power and respect needed to make our town\ country sate for the decent people who have morals and standards, do i care if the odd petty criminal is tasered in an over the top action, in the same way that i dont care if the birmingham six were treated so badly …no i dont they were criminals and its a risk they take for breaking the law
that risk is better in my mind than an honest persons risk of being stabbed or shot for the sake of a few quid in a mugging or burgulary
eye for an eye is what was quoted and we are all blind ..maybe we are all ready blind if we think we dont need a strong arm of the law because a limp wrist would never of caught the black panther, reduced crime, made no go areas safe or even moved a gang of kids off your street corner
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i dont care if the odd criminal gets a blast to be honest. thats not my point.
but do you honestly think arming police with tasers is going to reduce muggings/robberies etc? of course not. has americas crime rate been reduced via armed police? nope.
i have no problem treating a criminal harshly, my issue is the officers who wont think twice about abusing innocent people. trust me, ive been on the recieving end of it, and i am far from a criminal.
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I’m a American citizen and i hope Yall know what yall doing a young guy got tased by the cops last year he was on a roof when they Tased him and he fell to his death now the police are being sued by the family big time!!!Cops are going to be “Tasing” for the fun of it…..
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Number 17 – What are you talking about? Jean Charles De Menzes was the completely innocent man who the metropolitan police now claim to have misidentified as a terrorist (maybe because he had dark skin)and shot him in the head at point blank range 6 or 7 times. An innocent man killed yet no-one is charged for his murder because it was an “accident”.
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why not give the police pottato guns or pea shooters that way no one gets hurt and we would be helping farmers make a living? GET REAL FOLKS DONT BREAK THE LAW DONT GET TASERED.
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SPUD – The problem is the law is turning on innocent members of the public, victimless crimes are all the police are interested in today, handing out fines for no seatbelt, beating us to test their torture weapons, the police have proven they cannot be trusted with these weapons time and time again. Attack first, ask questions 5 years down the line, that is their attitude.
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