Taser use by police in England and Wales reaches record high
Tasers were deployed in 23,000 incidents in the 12 months to the end of March.
Published
Last updated
The use of Taser stun guns by police forces in England and Wales reached a record high last year, new figures show.
The weapons were fired on 2,500 occasions between April 1 2018 and March 31 2019, which is thought to be the highest number recorded.
In most cases, the devices were aimed at a suspect without being fired.
The deployment figure is up by more than a third on the year to March 2018 and double the 2016 total.
The weapons – also known as Conductive Energy Devices (CED) – were first trialled in UK police forces in 2003, and a roll-out to all forces was completed in 2013.
