North's ombudsman rules out use of stun guns

The Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman said today she had not identified a need for controversial stun guns to be introduced by police.

The Chief Constable of the PSNI Hugh Orde is investigating whether he should add Taser guns to the armoury of his officers, as a number of UK police services have.

Human rights campaigners have urged Chief Constable Orde to learn from the experiences of the use of the Taser – which dispenses a powerful electric shock – in the United States and bin his plans for its introduction.

Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan attended a seminar last week during which Amnesty International said more than 200 people had died in the US since 2001 after being targeted with a Taser.

Representatives of the Policing Board, the PSNI and local political parties also attended – both Sinn Féin and the SDLP said the stun gun plan should be dropped.

Tasers have been introduced by a number of British police services and just last week another used it for the first time.

Ms O’Loan would be responsible for investigating any complaints against the police in the North from the public about the use of Tasers.

She said: “I have no say over whether the police choose to introduce Tasers or not. It is a policing decision which they will make.

“The only situation where I might look at the introduction of something more in terms of the use of force would be if, in the course of my investigations I had become aware of a deficiency or a gap in the process available to the police.”

The PSNI had used CS Spray, batons and firearms, she said on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence, adding: ”If it were that I found that there was a need for something like a Taser I would feel entitled to say it. I have not identified such a gap yet.”