Police tasers withdrawn as trial concludes

LATEST: Taser stun guns will be withdrawn from use tonight as the year-long trial of them in the Auckland and Wellington regions concludes.

Police spokesman Jon Neilson said internal and external reports on the use by officers of the 50,000 volt shock devices would now be compiled and were not expected to be completed until near Christmas.

Whether or not tasers will become a staple part of the police crime fighting arsenal is not likely to be known until next year.

Statistics released this month showed there were 120 incidents where tasers were presented since September last year, but they were discharged only 19 times.

On many other occasions threats of taser use have helped subdue offenders.

The taser trial whipped up a storm of controversy, with MPs and anti-taser groups saying they are too dangerous and will lead to a death.

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira has labelled their use as "racist", claiming they would be used to target Maori and Pacific Islanders.

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples today said he was relieved the stun guns were being withdrawn.

The case for continuing the use of tasers was unfounded, he said.

"The trial should never have happened – given that assaults on police officers have been decreasing."

Dr Sharples said Maori and Pacific Islanders had been disproportionately represented in taser statistics, with 29 per cent of those stunned being Maori and 27 per cent Pacific Islanders.

"Our greatest concern has been with the safety issues around the use of this weapon, for groups who are at particular risk."

Police should instead look for "non-weapons solutions", he said.

Green MP Keith Locke also welcomed the end of the trial.

He said tasers had been used inappropriately at times in the trial – being drawn to induce compliance in suspects rather than purely in dangerous situations.

While no one had died in New Zealand from tasers, there had been fatalities in the United States as a result of their use, he said.

"Tasers represent a more aggressive American style of policing, which doesn't reduce assaults on police and harms police-community relations."

- NZPA