Taser guns have been fired at suspected crooks by West Midlands police almost 70 times this year – compared to just four in the whole of 2009.

Police chiefs say the 1,700 per cent increase is the result of the hundreds of extra weapons which have been rolled out across the force over the last 12 months.

Figures obtained by the Express & Star through the Freedom of Information Act show officers in the region have deployed stun guns, in some form, on a total of 341 occasions since the start of January.

On 210 of those occasions, officers only aimed the sight’s red dot at their target without firing, which senior police believe shows the weapons act most effectively as a deterrent to criminals.

Walsall has proved the Taser capital of the region so far this year, after 27 suspects were shot and the weapon was aimed but not fired by officers in the borough another 83 times. They were drawn only by Walsall officers on 27 other occasions.

Thirteen suspects have been shot this year by Wolverhampton police, who drew stun guns on 17 other occasions and aimed them 40 times.

Dudley police fired the guns three times and drew them twice, while aiming them at six different people without shooting.

Just eight people have been shot with the weapons across Birmingham this year and stun guns have been aimed at suspects on the only two occasions they have been deployed in Sandwell. West Midlands Police spokeswoman Pav Shergill said: “West Midlands Police successfully piloted the use of Tasers with a limited number of officers last year. Following the successful trial period, the use of tasers was rolled out across the force this year. As a result, the deployment of Tasers has increased along with the number of officers trained to use Tasers.

Safer

“It is recognised nationally that Tasers, compared with conventional firearms, are safer for the police and for the public, particularly in situations where there has been a real possibility of someone being seriously injured or killed.

“In many cases, Tasers have contributed to resolving incidents without injury. In a significant proportion of cases they have not even needed to be fired — drawing or aiming the Taser has been enough of a deterrent.”

There are now more of the weapons on the region’s streets than ever before, with the force having been handed 600 extra last year as part of an £8 million Government roll-out — more than any other force in the country.

West Midlands Police previously had just 55 between 2006 and 2008, which were only allowed to be used by specialist firearms officers.

But since last October, trained frontline officers from the force’s Operations Support Unit can also deploy Tasers.

The weapons were fired four times in 2009 compared to 18 in 2006.