Policing unchanged by Tasers, says cop

ZAP: Tasers will soon be carried by frontline police. PHOTO/FILE

Although all frontline police officers will soon be armed with Tasers, the change is expected to have minimal impact on day-to-day policing, with a senior Wairarapa officer saying it will still be "business as usual".

Under an initiative announced by police last week, appropriately trained officers will be able to carry Tasers at all times.

Currently, frontline officers can access Tasers from a lockbox in police vehicles when required.

The rollout of up to 600 additional units across New Zealand is still being planned and the number of Tasers for Wairarapa is yet to be finalised.

Wairarapa Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton said regulations around the use of Tasers would remain the same and the only thing that was changing was their accessibility.

"We'll still just deploy as per normal. They will become more accessible but the same risk assessment will apply."

The threshold for using a Taser was very high, with staff only using them in situations involving grievous bodily harm, serious injury or death, Mr Sutton said.

During his recent stint as acting area commander in Wairarapa, he was aware of only two instances when a Taser was presented. In both instances the Taser had not been activated.

"It's very rare. It's a very high threshold for their use. Every time it is deployed, and that doesn't mean activated, a report has to be completed and there's a lot of reviews that sit behind that as well.

"We might be carrying more resources but at the end of the day we are still working hard to keep people's trust and confidence in us." He was unsure when the Taser rollout would reach Wairarapa.

Nationally, police have access to about 1000 Tasers. Between 400-600 new devices will be purchased as part of the initiative.

Between March 2010 and December 2014, police around the country showed Tasers 3656 times and discharged the devices 542 times.

In March this year, a man with a head injury was Tasered by Wairarapa police when he attacked an officer after being involved in a car crash near Lake Ferry.

In 2012, a Pahiatua man was Tasered after assaulting an officer who was trying to arrest him, and in 2011 an Eketahuna man was Tasered after threatening police with a shovel at a party.