NSW Ombudsman calls for Taser overhaul

23 Oct 2012, 7:44 pm   -   Source: AAP
The NSW Ombudsman has recommended an overhaul of Taser rules after the death of a Brazilian student. (AAP)

The NSW Ombudsman has recommended an overhaul of Taser rules after the death of a Brazilian student. (AAP)

The NSW Ombudsman has identified 80 instances where police deployed a Taser on individuals who were not a threat.

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NSW police need to overhaul their use of Tasers after numerous incidents of brutality, misuse and two deaths involving the weapons in the past two years, an ombudsman's report says.

NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour tabled his report - How are Taser weapons used by the NSW Police Force? - in state parliament on Tuesday.

The report reviewed 556 incidents between June 2010 and November 2010 and found the devices were used inappropriately on 80 occasions.

In 27 cases, police were not under serious threat and should not have fired the weapon at all.

Police tasered people who were handcuffed or fleeing, and in some cases victims were tasered repeatedly - actions that Mr Barbour said should be outlawed.

The report makes 46 recommendations about how police should use a Taser and how they should improve Taser training for general duties officers.

"(Taser) can present significant safety and medical risks, and there is a justifiable public concern about the potential for unsafe and inappropriate use," Mr Barbour states in the report.

A recent coronial inquest into the death of Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti, which was not considered in the ombudsman's report, heard the young Brazilian struggled with 11 officers who fired their Tasers up to 14 times.

Some of those instances were drive-stuns, a practice Mr Barbour also condemned.

Such usage involves applying the Taser directly to the skin, as opposed to discharging the barbs from a distance.

NSW Greens MP and justice spokesman David Shoebridge said it was "remarkable" the ombudsman's report had failed to consider the evidence given at the Curti inquest, which wrapped up hearings on Friday.

"One of the clear options for limiting Taser use by police is to withdraw them from general duties officers and limit them to specially trained squads," Mr Shoebridge said in a statement.

Mr Curti's family issued a statement in response to the ombudsman's report.

"The family said many of the recommendations related to the way in which Taser (sic) was used on the night Roberto died," Mr Curti's brother-in-law Michael Reynolds said.

"The family feels that several of the ombudsman's recommendations are a step in the right direction."

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the report highlighted areas where officers could "improve" their use of Tasers.

"We say quite clearly, these devices cannot and will not be used as a compliance device," Mr Scipione said at a media conference on Tuesday.

He said the proper use of Tasers was "drilled" into the minds of police officers, who lost their Taser accreditation if they used the device inappropriately.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher said the recommendations would enhance the work of NSW police.

The Police Association of NSW (PANSW) said assaults and injuries to officers had plummeted since the introduction of Tasers.

"In most instances, an officer simply drawing their Taser is enough to defuse a situation," PANSW president Scott Weber said in a statement.

The ombudsman has asked the government to respond to the report's recommendations within three months.

NSW Coroner Mary Jerram will hand down her findings on Mr Curti on November 14.

The second Taser-related death canvassed in the report is that of Ba Thinh Le in October 2010.

Two police officers fired a Taser at Mr Le during an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Sefton, in Sydney's west.

As the stun gun probes hit him, he fell forward onto a road, lost consciousness and could not be revived.

The NSW State Coroner in November 2011 ruled that the cause of Mr Le's death was undetermined.

An inquest into his death heard evidence that Mr Le was Hepatitis C positive, had drugs in his system and a high concentration of alcohol in his blood when he was tasered.

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