Taser (96A/22)
Request
1) Does your force record which part(s) of the body a conducted energy device (CED, e.g. TASER) makes contact with when discharged?
2) If so, I would like the number of instances where one of your officers has hit or made contact with an individual’s chest area with a CED/TASER from 1 January 2019 until the 1st January 2022. If this requires effort to separate the results or you do not have data for that exact date range, please send the raw data.
3) Can I also have total number of times that a CED/TASER has been discharged by your officers from 1 January 2019 until the 1st January 2022? NB: ‘Discharge’ should include all instances of firing, as well as the use of drive-stun and angle drive-stun functions. As before, if this requires effort to separate the results or you do not have data for that exact date range, please send the raw data.
Response
- Does your force record which part(s) of the body a conducted energy device (CED, e.g. TASER) makes contact with when discharged?
West Midlands Police does record body contact points where taser barbs hit. However, this only commenced 27/07/2020.
- If so, I would like the number of instances where one of your officers has hit or made contact with an individual’s chest area with a CED/TASER from 1 January 2019 until the 1st January 2022. If this requires effort to separate the results or you do not have data for that exact date range, please send the raw data.
2019 – Information not held
2020 – 32 (as stated only recorded from 27/07/20)
2021 – 112
(Figures include Front right chest, front left chest, front right shoulder and front left shoulder)
- Can I also have total number of times that a CED/TASER has been discharged by your officers from 1 January 2019 until the 1st January 2022? NB: ‘Discharge’ should include all instances of firing, as well as the use of drive-stun and angle drive-stun functions. As before, if this requires effort to separate the results or you do not have data for that exact date range, please send the raw data.
2019 – 244
2020 – 251
2021 – 811
(All above figures include Firings, Arced, Drive Stun and Angled Drive Stun)
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are considered when interpreting those data.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be considered when those data are used.
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