Robocop Here We Come

Your article requires signing up to read, but I've seen the gist of it in other articles and understand the concern - not about tasers themselves, but about them being used more readily than a gun would. While this is a very valid concern and one that needs to be policed, I am wary of being anti-tasers. Let's face it; mentally ill or not, if someone presents a danger to someone, they need to be restrained. In the unfortunate event of that happening, surely it is better that they be tasered than shot with bullets - really the only option for people presenting a serious and immediate risk.

I FULLY support very tight controls on these weapons, perhaps the same amount of paperwork that makes cops hesitant to fire their guns unless absolutely necessary. But is there a reason why we should not be looking for non-lethal forms of disabling a dangerous person, instead of sticking with lethal forms just in case they get misused? Surely it is preferable to have non-lethal weapons used on people - especially those not in control - and then to ensure they are used responsibly, than to not use them at all and leave them to continue getting shot when there's no other way to restrain them (e.g. they're armed and unable to be grabbed).

Hey Strypey, Good to see you read the comments above, they are targeted at people like you. As they rightly said, find another soap box, this ones gone flat.

Constable zaps himself and innocent teen with Taser.

A constable who took a Taser to a central Auckland domestic dispute wound up shocking himself and a 16-year-old and later pepper-spraying an innocent 21-year-old woman. The constable accidentally blasted himself with the Taser's 50,000 volts as he reloaded the weapon while trying to stun a man at the centre of the domestic incident on October 1. One shot accidentally struck the man's teenage son.

After five attempts to hit the man, the officer eventually used pepper spray. This hit the man's 21-year-old daughter, also an unintended target. The man eventually gave himself up. The constable, who had had Taser training, was not injured.

The weapon is the police's much-vaunted alternative to firearms and is being tested by 170 frontline police in Auckland and Wellington. Police revealed details of the incident after Weekend Herald inquiries.

Detective Inspector Bernie Hollewand of Auckland City police confirmed that the constable fired the Taser five times - three times loaded with cartridges and twice in "contact" mode, where it is used like a cattle prod. The first shot hit the son. Mr Hollewand said the officer claimed that just as the red laser sight was on the man's chest, he pulled his son across him.

It is believed that at one point the officer received a jolt after putting his hand in the Taser. "The constable did remove one of the cartridges before a five-second discharge cycle was complete and he did feel in his hand that the device was arcing 50,000 volts".

But an official police update of the Taser trial, published on October 17, makes no mention of the constable firing five times, or missing his target, zapping himself or hitting the boy. It simply says a man was contained after the Taser was fired.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad also did not mention the incident when he appeared before a Parliamentary committee, saying frontline officers supported the introduction of the weapon, and yesterday National Party police spokesman Simon Power wanted to know why.

Police media officer Jon Neilson said the fact a Taser had been fired more than once in a single incident was not "relevant".