Garda use of tasers a 'dangerous step for community policing', human rights group says

Garda Kelly Smyth demonstrating at Store Street Garda Station in Dublin as An Garda Síochána launched a pilot programme deploying tasers to frontline uniformed gardaí. Picture: Leah Farrell /  RollingNews.ie

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has criticised the wider rollout of tasers among members of An Garda Síochána, saying it marks a “significant shift in our model of policing by consent”.

The council sounded the alarm as 128 uniform gardaí have been issued with tasers amid concerns over the rising number of assaults on Garda members.

The uniformed gardaí will be authorised to carry tasers while on operational duties, and members from Kevin Street, Store Street, Pearse Street stations in Dublin, and Waterford Garda stations have been chosen as part of a pilot scheme.

The gardaí equipped with tasers will also use body-worn cameras, with a national policy on the use of such cameras currently at the public consultation stage.

All of the gardaí have undergone a three-day taser training course which, An Garda Síochána said, was grounded in the principles of the Irish constitution and European Convention on Human Rights.

It comes as an average of 299 garda members were the victim of assault in each of the last 10 years. There was a significant increase in 2023, with 470 assaults recorded, before falling in 2024.

“I want to be very clear: human rights, proportionality, and community safety are at the heart of how we police,” acting deputy commissioner Paul Cleary said ahead of their rollout.

Tasers will only be used where there is a clear, immediate threat that cannot be managed in any safer way. And we will record every use for strict oversight.

“This isn’t about changing the culture of Irish policing. It isn’t about arming gardaí. And it isn’t about increasing force. This is about preventing harm.” 

The deployment of the tasers has been criticised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, which expressed its “deep concern” at a “dangerous step for community policing”.

“Introducing tasers into frontline community policing marks a significant shift in our model of policing by consent — and it’s a shift which the public have not had any input into,” its executive director Joe O’Brien said.

“We are concerned that overlaying this taser pilot on top of the body-worn camera pilot, which is already in operation, is poor research practice.

“Conducting two pilots concurrently will confuse any results, and prevent the robust evaluation necessary. If use-of-force patterns change during this six-month trial, it will be impossible to know which intervention caused the change.” 

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan brought a memo to Cabinet earlier this month regarding the tasers, and the ICCL also criticised the speed at which they have now been rolled out.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

It cited a 2021 review of the use of tasers in England and Wales, which found when more officers were trained in their use, their use increased, and they were used disproportionately against black people and other minority communities.

While tasers have been in use here since 2007, they had only been issued to specialist garda members, such as regional armed support units. On average, they have been deployed twice a month over the last five years.

Political sources suggested the trial would be similar to that of body-worn cameras, which have been credited recently with “de-escalating situations and being very useful”.