Taser use to be 'at discretion' of Jersey police officers

Uniformed officers will be allowed to use a Taser without special permission on a one-year trial basis

Police officers in Jersey will be allowed to use Tasers without requiring special permission.

Since their introduction in 2014 only authorised firearms officers have been permitted to deploy a Taser stun gun.

Under the new rules any use of a Taser by uniformed officers should be recorded, "where practicable", via body-worn cameras.

The Minister of Home Affairs Len Norman said it would provide "a less lethal" option at "violent" incidents.

Members of the States Assembly approved the changes by 34 votes to one.

They agreed that the use of a Taser at an officer's "discretion" would only apply to those who had completed a two-year probationary period, and were trained to a "national standard".

The new procedures will be implemented on a one-year trial basis, in response to amendments put forward by the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel.

'Preserve life'

At the end of the trial year, the Minister of Home Affairs will be required to submit a report to the States examining it success.

The report must include a breakdown of the gender, age, and ethnic background of people on whom a Taser was used, as well as the number of times a Taser was deployed by an officer on their own.

It will also set out where the equipment was used on a person suffering from a mental health crisis.

Between 2014 and 2019 Tasers were used by the States of Jersey Police (SOJP) 294 times, but were only fired on five occasions.

In his proposition Mr Norman said: "Changing how Tasers are deployed would allow the SOJP to increase the range of tactical options available to it and provide a 'less lethal' option than other firearms when responding to violent incidents."

He added that "the overarching principle" was to "save and preserve life".