50,000 volt zap

16th March 2010

Northland police hope new high-voltage stun guns will keep them safer on the streets and deter criminals.

Officers most likely to be called first to emergency situations will undergo rigorous training before they are cleared to use Tasers on the streets.

The intensive training is scheduled to start on Monday but a date has yet to be set when officers will be able to fire the weapon.

It delivers a 50,000-volt zap.

Senior officers hope the new weapon will make police safer on the beat. The frequency of assaults on them has increased and two Northland officers have recently been seriously injured.

Northland District Taser co-ordinator, Inspector Murray Hodson, said the taser was an effective, non-lethal tool which would help police resolve serious situations.

"We're hoping it has a significant impact on crime and lessens the number of times our officers are assaulted," Mr Hodson said.

"Offenders today don't care if you are male or female. There are people out there willing to have a go at police and they don't care about the consequences or the injuries caused."

Forty-two tasers will be distributed throughout Northland and 175 staff will be trained to use them.

 The lightweight hand-held Taser delivers a jolt of electricity through a pair of wires into two silver probes, propelled by compressed air from up to 7 metres away.

The jolt stuns the targeted person by causing an uncontrollable contraction of the muscle tissue.

 Taser stands for Thomas A Swift Electric Rifle.

 It is named after a series of children's science-fiction novels written in the early 20th century featuring the young genius inventor Tom Swift.
 

"The public can be reassured this device is going to be used sensibly. Staff will be trained to the highest level," Mr Hodson said.

The base of the Taser houses a video and audio recorder, activated by the officer when they have told an offender to stop and issued a warning that the Taser might be used.

The officer would hold down the trigger for five seconds and then release.

Once  officers  were certain they had the offender under control they would remove the two probes and the offender would be given medical treatment.

Officers in the Mid and Far North will be the first to be trained. Staff in Whangarei are currently having firearms training.

The Tasers will not be carried on the hip but instead locked in a safe box in 35 designated police vehicles across the region.

During a trial in Auckland and Wellington out of 132 instances where the Taser were drawn, 92 per cent were successfully resolved without the Taser being discharged. Police fired a Taser on 10 occasions.