Page 5128 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 27 October 2010
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(1) notes with concern the recent Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission report which identified that in the two years since tasers were issued to all general duty police officers:
(a) police use of firearms has doubled;
(b) injuries to police officers have increased 22 per cent; and
(c) tasers have been used, contrary to policy, as a tool to enforce compliance with the confronting example of the unarmed, non-threatening man who was tasered 13 times while surrounded by nine police officers for failing to comply with a strip search;
(2) notes locally:
(a) the current ACT taser deployment model which only issues tasers to members of the Specialist Response and Security Tactical Response team;
(b) the current ACT police review into an expanded use of tasers; and
(c) the ACT Minister for Police and Emergency Services’ 2008 statement that increasing transparency relating to use of force employed by police has the potential to reduce public scepticism of police and increase public confidence in law enforcement;
(3) calls on the ACT Government to publicly report on:
(a) the results of the police review;
(b) the current level of de-escalation and non-weapons based training provided to all ACT police;
(c) details of the taser training provided to members of the Specialist Response and Security Tactical Response team and how this compares to other jurisdictions’ training requirements;
(d) the use of force continuum adopted by ACT police; and
(e) all use of force incidents involving a handgun, taser, oleoresin capsicum spray or baton; and
(4) calls on the ACT Government to commit to not expanding the taser deployment model until it has passed a motion in the Assembly agreeing to the expansion.
I am pleased to bring this motion on for debate today. I think it is an issue of some considerable interest in the community and has certainly had some significant recent media discussion.
At the heart of what I am calling for today is a full debate on tasers before the government and the police authorise an expanded rollout to all general duty police
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