Met police firearms

[Techie1 + 2,024]

Policing Minister says officers will have best and most appropriate technology.

Police forces have been given approval to use a new taser model rather than the existing obsolete devices.

Policing Minister Brandon Lewis announced today the Home Office has authorised use of the X2 model, which forces can replace their old X26 tasers.

He said: “This government is committed to giving the police the tools they need to do their job effectively, and where modern specialist equipment like CEDs [conductive energy devices] are used, to ensure our officers have access to the best and most appropriate technology.

“The decision to authorise the taser X2 follows stringent consideration of strategic, ethical, operational and societal issues, including an assessment of environmental factors.”

While the X26's work sufficiently, they are no longer manufactured or sold.

SACMILL, the scientific advisory body which assessed whether the less lethal weapons should be approved for use, have recommended that body worn video cameras should be worn by all officers using the devices.

Matt Spencer, managing director of Taser UK, said: “We are confident that the X2 can help to make police officers more effective at dealing with the increased threat that they face on a daily basis.

"More than 20 years of science and research has gone into Taser technology to make the X2 the most proven and most tested less-lethal technology available in the UK.

“This announcement demonstrates the important contribution our technology is making to help the police keep the public safe.

“With the X2’s improved internal accounting logs and ability to work hand-in-hand with body-worn video it can deliver extra layers of accountability that the public and the police rightly expect and deserve.

"We’re proud of how we have adapted and improved our technology to meet the needs of the police and those who hold them to account on behalf of the public."

The company has previously said that the X2 has a 25 per cent chance of working as intended first time than the X26. 

A new data collection system for use for any time “significant force” is used by police is also to be introduced from April.

This will mean that forces should publish the ethnicity, age, location and outcome of the individual it is used on.

Mr Lewis said: “The information should report on the situations when physical restraint is used, as well as the type of equipment, such as handcuffs, batons, sprays and conductive energy devices.”

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[Growley + 2,436]

Well that's ultimately good news. They still have their faults, but for the most part we'll probably see the percentage of activations which are successful go up.

[Cathedral Bobby + 1,174]

They should immediately be rolled out to every officer who works the streets who wants to carry one.

[NCFPA 79]

I wonder if the met will continue to conduct taser courses now using the X26 or it will all be put on hold until the new ones arrive? Ultimately everyone will need re training/refresher on the new X2?


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[Klaus 585]

6 hours ago, NCFPA said:

I wonder if the met will continue to conduct taser courses now using the X26 or it will all be put on hold until the new ones arrive? Ultimately everyone will need re training/refresher on the new X2?


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It'll still probably be a year or so before the X2s find their way down to borough, they'll probably continue for now. There's also the question of what to do with all the old ones. Should they be retained?

[Inbtsiyp + 347]

I was told by Taser instructors that we have training x2s already in stock in the Met.

The course will be a two day conversion for officers already trained.

Taser trainers believe that borough should get new ones first but they reckon TSG and firearms will be first.


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[Growley + 2,436]

1 hour ago, Bacon_sandwich said:

Taser trainers believe that borough should get new ones first but they reckon TSG and firearms will be first.

Ultimately it makes little sense to update the kit of borough officers first; it would make them better equipped than the services supporting them.

[Inbtsiyp + 347]

Ultimately it makes little sense to update the kit of borough officers first; it would make them better equipped than the services supporting them.

My understanding is there are a number of reasons behind this beliefs. I do not have facts and figures but this is what was alluded to. I will keep them short and sweet.

Borough officers deploy Taser more often than firearms and TSG

Borough officers tend to have less tactical options available to them as standard and as a back up if Taser fails. The new Taser has an increased rate of first time effectiveness that would obviously be a great thing for borough officers who have less options to fall back on.

Changes to borough Taser deployments are possible where single taser officers paired with a non taser officer and possibly even single taser officers on their own will become more common. TSG and Firearms will never be single crewed. The ability for an officer to quickly fire a second cartridge is needed more when single crewed than when working with multiple officers also equipped with taser.

With just these points taken into consideration borough officers receiving the X2 first makes sense.


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[NCFPA 79]

My understanding is there are a number of reasons behind this beliefs. I do not have facts and figures but this is what was alluded to. I will keep them short and sweet.

Borough officers deploy Taser more often than firearms and TSG

Borough officers tend to have less tactical options available to them as standard and as a back up if Taser fails. The new Taser has an increased rate of first time effectiveness that would obviously be a great thing for borough officers who have less options to fall back on.

Changes to borough Taser deployments are possible where single taser officers paired with a non taser officer and possibly even single taser officers on their own will become more common. TSG and Firearms will never be single crewed. The ability for an officer to quickly fire a second cartridge is needed more when single crewed than when working with multiple officers also equipped with taser.

With just these points taken into consideration borough officers receiving the X2 first makes sense.


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All of those reasons make perfect sense, I've always welcomed 1 taser trained officers per a car because then most cars would have some sort of taser capability with around 8-10 trained on the teams.


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[Cathedral Bobby + 1,174]

I know this post might not be popular with officers currently equipped with the x26 but a simple risk assessment process should be engaged. Those at greatest risk and who do not currently have a taser should be prioritised for the x2 rollout. Once these officers are trained and equipped then those officers who currently have the x26 should have a refresher and be supplied with the x2, as they still have a level of protection, which officers without tasers don't.

[stewie_griffin + 484]

I have an x26 which is ok.

A colleague has the x2. The cool thing about the x2 is the button which makes the ends spark up kind of like 'Behave or you're going to get it.' The downside is that it's a bit big.

[Growley + 2,436]

1 hour ago, Bacon_sandwich said:

My understanding is there are a number of reasons behind this beliefs. I do not have facts and figures but this is what was alluded to. I will keep them short and sweet.

Borough officers deploy Taser more often than firearms and TSG

That makes sense considering call volume, and the fact that our customers tend to adjust their attitude depending on their perception of who they're dealing with.

1 hour ago, Bacon_sandwich said:

Borough officers tend to have less tactical options available to them as standard and as a back up if Taser fails. The new Taser has an increased rate of first time effectiveness that would obviously be a great thing for borough officers who have less options to fall back on.

This makes considerably less sense, considering the TSG also have limited options if taser fails in everyday use. Unless it's a taser callout or building search, where shields will be involved, TSG have no special advantage other than throwing a few more people in the way of the knife.

1 hour ago, Bacon_sandwich said:

Changes to borough Taser deployments are possible where single taser officers paired with a non taser officer and possibly even single taser officers on their own will become more common. TSG and Firearms will never be single crewed. The ability for an officer to quickly fire a second cartridge is needed more when single crewed than when working with multiple officers also equipped with taser.

Not wanting to go into op info, so I'll limit what I say, but 'multiple officers also equipped with taser' isn't as compelling an argument as you might think.

[Inbtsiyp + 347]

Not wanting to go into op info, so I'll limit what I say, but 'multiple officers also equipped with taser' isn't as compelling an argument as you might think.

 

They are not my arguments I am just repeating them.

 

The TSG having more tactical options admittedly is a weak argument but not necessarily untrue. Those options might not always be readily available either However shields and number of officers for example are going to be a lot more readily available for TSG than borough officers.

 

I do understand it will not always be the case, probably even more often than not it will not be the case but sometimes it will be the case and as such that has to be taken into consideration.

 

As for multiple officers being equipped with single shot taser and one officer being equipped with duel shot Taser I believe that is a strong argument.

 

Taser as it stands has a high failure rate for first time activation for a number of reasons. The X2 overcomes a lot of these reasons for first time failure and on top of that allows an officer a second activation opportunity immediately after the first without reloading.

 

This significantly increases the chance of an effective activation again for a number of reasons. Part of this increase is because of the way the two cartridges work together. So even if only one probe from each cartridge attaches to the subject, providing you have the probe spread it will cause incapacitation.

 

Take this into an environment where you have one officer either on his own or crewed with another without Taser. A scenario more likely found with borough officers. This increase in effectiveness is vital.

 

Put it into a TSG environment where there will almost never be a case where there is just one officer with Taser.

 

Yes the increased first time successful activation from a single taser would be valuable and desirable and the chance to carry out a second activation from the same taser without reloading again would be valuable and desirable. I would argue however both not quite as valuable and desirable as when you are single crewed because there will more likely be with TSG another officer that can activate if the first shot fails and potentially even another officer that can activate should the second shot fail while other officers are reloading ready for another activation.

 

I know they are far from perfect arguments and I am sure there are hundreds of scenarios that can be thought of that de bunk what I have said.

 

None the less in the absence of being able to equip every officer with the X2 immediately there has to be a rationale for deciding who gets what and when. Above are some of the rationale I have heard from the people that train officers to use Taser in the Met.

 

 

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[Zulu 22 + 4,576]

You would need it more in the Provincial Forces simply  because if you needed assistance it can be anything from 15 minutes to an hour away. That is if it is there in the first place.  If you are not a Taser equipped officer then you are on your own and have to learn how to adapt.

[Hades + 1,693]

On 02/03/2017 at 21:25, NCFPA said:

I wonder if the met will continue to conduct taser courses now using the X26 or it will all be put on hold until the new ones arrive? Ultimately everyone will need re training/refresher on the new X2?


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Not specific to the Met, but as i understand it at the moment in my force we will almost certainly be training new STOs on the x2, while currently authorised STOs and AFOs (and new AFOs) will have refresher training on the x26 as we have sufficient stocks of them to last some time yet.  There will only be a gradual transition over to X2.  As the x26s reach their end of life teams currently using them will move across to the x2.   The only caveat to that will be if we're able to secure some significant funding to purchase a large number of x2s for the tactical firearms unit  (which is being worked on)