Tasers used 131 times by police in West Midlands already this year

Eleven of the incidents involved people aged under 17, according to WMP Chief Constable David Thompson.

But he said the Taser was not a piece of equipment that should be used regularly or by every officer.

Last month an IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) was launched after former Aston Villa striker Dalian Atkinson died after he was Tasered in Telford.

Mr Thompson said he wanted to maintain the current state of play whereby Tasers are only used by officers trained to 'a tight threshold'.

"They are not issued to all officers and those who are issued with the weapons have to pass a training course that is regularly refreshed," he said.

"I don't think it will ever be used by all officers. It is a piece of equipment that requires specialist skills and aptitude."

Mr Thompson said the force carried out reviews every time a Taser was used.

The 131 recorded incidents included one Taser usage on someone over the age of 60, while the figure includes an unspecified number of incidents where Tasers were pointed but not actually fired. The number of times WMP has deployed Tasers is down by 19 on the same period last year.

Mr Atkinson's family has called for all officers equipped with Tasers to be issued with body cameras as standard issue, after it emerged the two officers involved had no cameras.

Earlier this week the issue was brought up in the House of Commons by Telford MP Lucy Allan. She said that all police carrying 'any sort of weapon' should wear bodycams to protect both police and public

Home Office Minister Brandon Lewis said the deployment of body-worn video was 'an operational matter for the police'.