Following a change in UK law, volunteer police officers in Kent are being armed with Taser stun guns for the first time.
All frontline Kent officers – paid ‘regulars’ and volunteer ‘specials’ – can now request to carry the equipment as soon as they have completed training. 1 in 4 regular officers in Kent are now trained to carry a taser weapon.
The first group of six ‘specials’ have just been trained to use the weapon. The specials say that carrying a Taser had provided them with “further reassurance”, especially when attending incidents involving “knives and other weapons”.
the public want us to be visible and they want us to deal with violent offenders
One special said “I’ve been a special for the last seven years. We’re out there with our regular counterparts, facing the same sort of threat, risk and harm as them. Taser is a form of equipment that can further keep ourselves and members of the public safe.”
Chief Constable Alan Pughsley says he took the decision to give special constables “the same operational tools to protect themselves and the public”.
He said ““Special constables in Kent do everything that my frontline regular officers do. So, they should be afforded the same operational tools to protect themselves and, in turn, the public. It’s the same training, it’s the same rigour, it’s the same scrutiny. They are as equipped and professional to use Tasers as my regular officers are.”
