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Tasers don't make cops reckless: inquest

Police are not more likely to put themselves in danger just because they are carrying a Taser, an inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano has heard.

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Source: AAP


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Police are not more likely to put themselves in danger just because they are carrying a Taser, an inquest has heard.

Inspector Wayne Hutchings told the Brisbane Coroners Court that police equipped with the weapons still needed to make the same judgment calls about the safety of individual situations.

"Having the Taser doesn't make the police go in any quicker than they necessarily would otherwise," he said.

"It just gives them another option."

Insp Hutchings was giving evidence in an inquest into the death of Antonio Galeano, which resumed on Tuesday.

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Mr Galeano, 39, died in June 2009 after police were called to a disturbance at his girlfriend's house in the town of Brandon in north Queensland.

Senior Sergeant Craig Myles has admitted tasering Mr Galeano eight times, although the Taser he used registered 28 50,000-volt applications.

Snr Sgt Myles has given evidence that he thought his use of the Taser was justified, and that he didn't believe the weapons were designed to hurt but to merely incapacitate.

He also told the court earlier this year that he'd received only limited training about the application of force to people like Mr Galeano, who was in a state of "excited delirium" because of mental illness and drug use.

Insp Hutchings told the court the Taser training policy had since been overhauled.

"We've seen better usage of the Taser since the new policy and training was introduced," he said.

He told the court further training would be desirable, but would be impractical given the current restraints on police resources.

The inquest continues.


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