Charities: Police hide the details of Taser use

Police Scotland should publish more information about officers’ use of tasers after the national force was accused of hiding the data on its website.

A report to the Scottish Police Authority also called for more training for officers on the possible medical risks of using the restraint device and for the public to be better informed of the risks.

The report by the authority’s Taser Advisory Group featured input from groups such as Scottish Autism, Amnesty International and Epilepsy Scotland. It called for “improved training around interacting and communicating with persons who are vulnerable”.

It said there was a lack of knowledge about the longer-term psychological effects on people who have been Tasered, adding: “Work should be undertaken to establish the reasons behind the higher use on those in mental health crisis and what can be done to mitigate this. Police Scotland should publish more detailed Taser deployment data and make it more readily accessible.

“It was highlighted that current data provided publicly appears to have been published silently in an obscure part of the Police Scotland website and that it is insufficient and difficult to find and access.”

The report comes as the national force rolls out plans to increase the number of officers armed with tasers from around 500 to 2,000 over the next three years. Joanna Panese, practice and community development lead at Scottish Autism, called for greater awareness of autism among police officers. She said: “We are committed to promoting the importance of relevant training, knowledge and understanding of autism among police officers.”

Scots police Taser children as young as 12 as outcry grows

Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International UK’s Scotland programme director, said: “Taser use is undeniably on the rise, and there has been a massive uplift in Specially Trained Officers. Against this backdrop transparency from Police Scotland and scrutiny from civil society and the public is vital.” In January, we reported Police Scotland Tasered two children in nine months as the number of times officers drew the weapons on under-18s doubled. Human rights organisations called for every incident to be scrutinised.

Epilepsy Scotland’s chief executive Lesslie Young sits on the SPA advisory group and said: “My experience is positive. Police Scotland are working hard to consult and listen to organisations.”

Maggie Chapman MSP, Scottish Greens’ justice spokeswoman, said: “Tasers are powerful and potentially lethal and their use should never be normalised. The short and long-term impact can be extremely serious, particularly when used against people with medical conditions or who are in vulnerable positions.”

Chief Superintendent Thom McLoughlin said the force would address any points raised by the group. He said: “Taser will only be used when it’s proportionate and necessary and the mere presence of the device de-escalates over 85% of situations.

“A vulnerable person is still capable of harming themselves, members of the public and police officers, particularly if armed, and our priority is removing the risk to themselves and others.”