At-a-glance: Taser use in Australia

5 Oct 2010, 11:56 am   -   Source: SBS and other sources
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Taser use in Australian law enforcement is varied across all States and Territories. (AAP)

Taser use in Australian law enforcement is varied across all States and Territories. (AAP)

Find out what is a Taser and when and where it can be used in Australia.

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What is a Taser and when and where can it be used in Australia?

A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles.

Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation” and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption (EMD) technology".

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Taser use in Australia

Taser use in Australian law enforcement is varied across all States and Territories.

Possession, ownership and use of a stun gun (including Tasers) by civilians is considerably restricted, if not illegal in all States and Territories.

The importation into Australia is restricted with permits being required.

• Australian Federal Police - used only by officers attached to the Specialist Response and Security Team.

• New South Wales - Used by general duties (patrol), supervisors/duty officers and specialist officers attached to the Tactical Operations Unit and Public Order and Riot Squad.

• Northern Territory - Used by both general duties (patrol) and the Territory Response Group.

• Queensland - Used by both general duties (patrol) and Special Emergency Response Team.

• South Australia - Used only by the Special Tasks and Rescue Group with a general roll out to other police being trialled.

• Tasmania - Used only by the Special Operations Group

• Victoria - Used only by the Critical Incident Response Team and Special Operations Group.

• Western Australia - Used by both general duties (patrol) and the Tactical Response Group.

Taser use guidelines

SBS approached NSW Police, Queensland Police, ACT Police and the AFP asking to be provided a copy of the Taser use guidelines. Unfortunately no guidelines have been provided.

ACT Police told SBS that the guidelines are not public documents.

Queensland Police say they are trained to use tasers as a part of the situational use of force model, which means they make a risk assessment of a situation, and decide which is the most appropriate response.

Tasers have proven to be particularly helpful when dealing with dangerous or violent situations where people are threatening self harm or harming others, Queesland Police say.

They have allowed police to resolve these issues without injury to officers or the general public.

In many instances, they have been used successfully in situations where previously a firearm may have been used, they say.

The 2008 Queensland Police's guidelines say officers should consider all the 'use of force' option available to them and all the circumstances of the incident when determining whether to use Tasers.

Tasers should not be used: 

-against persons offering passive resistance

-as a crowd control measure

-punitively for purposes of coercion or as a prod to make a person move

-on suspects where there is a likelihood of significant secondary injuries from a fall

-against juveniles, females and elderly persons

NSW Police told SBS that they have 1,856 tasercams in use.

Between 3rd October 2008 to 4th July 2010 they recorded 1.059 incidents of use of taser.

-61per cent involved draw and cover
-18 per cent involved discharging barbs (Firing the Taser)
-8 per cent involved using the taser in drive stun mode
-13 per cent were accidental discharges

Associated factors:

Alcohol was involved in 37 per cent
Mental illness was involved in 15 per cent
Domestic violence involved in 13 per cent

How does a taser work?

Someone struck by a Taser experiences stimulation of his or her sensory nerves and motor nerves, resulting in strong involuntary muscle contractions.

The Taser fires two small dart-like electrodes, which stay connected to the main unit by conductive wire as they are propelled by small compressed nitrogen charges similar to some air gun or paintball marker propellants.

Tasers do not rely only on pain compliance, except when used in Drive Stun mode, and are thus preferred by some law enforcement over non-Taser stun guns and other electronic control weapons.

At the present time, there are two main police models, the M26 and X26.

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Your Comments

Police Thugs

jan doe - from canberra, 6 months ago

Words cannot express my sorrow for the families Of Mr Galeano and Roberto Laudisio Curti , Both murdered by Australian Police Thugs with Tasers. These devices should be banned and also capsicum spray. The usual method of police killing is by firearms, as in England guns should not be carried by Street police. These police thugs were probably the school Bullies and now they Can have fun zapping as it is called innocent or harmless Citizens, see the footage of Kempsey Police zapping a young aboriginal boy 14 years hiding under a caravan. The mentality of police in general is under the average IQ of the Nation. They delight in torture and pushing their weight around, and on their spare time go to music Festivals, and Nimbin's Mardi-Grass to Pick on Hippies with a joint , because they have the Law behind them. Sniffer dogs must be banned also, how many bombs have they flushed out? Fascism has a face in Australia and the Law-Makers and the Police are the enforcers, these morons are a blight on Humanity. The Police are getting worse and worse and I would like to see any police person who kills a Citizen be charged with Murder or Manslaughter, A.S.A.P. They think they are above the Law.

Re: John

Bet - from Canberra, 2 years ago

Maybe it was just the other way around and wikipedia copied it from this page...?

plagiarism

john - from dandenong, 2 years ago

pretty sure this was ripped right off wiki! Maybe your paragraphs are arranged in a different fashion, but overall SBS gets a big F with a three day suspension

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