But don't count on it

The Policing Board in the UK

has formally endorsed the chief constable's decision to deploy Taser stun guns[, the BBC reports].

Twelve guns were given to specialist police teams in a pilot scheme in January. ...

The chief constable will decide if the weapon should be used on a permanent basis after an equality impact assessment is completed.

The decision was taken in the face of a legal challenge to be heard in January and a call by Sinn Féin for the action to be deferred until after the judicial review.

In defense of the move, police officials pulled out the usual clichés:

The DUP's Peter Weir said it was a "logical move".

"Would the opponents of Tasers rather that police officers were forced to use handguns in every situation where a Taser should be used?

"Or perhaps they would like to make it impossible for the police to use necessary and proportionate force in order to defend innocent members of the public?"

This kind of sneering dismissal is not only bullshit, it's not even original bullshit. It's run of the mill bullshit that presents guns as the only alternative to tasers and suggests that opposition to tasers equals opposition to public safety. It really reads, "You're either with us or you're with the criminals! Why do you hate innocent members of the public?"

But if the record of tasers was one demonstrating that it only gets used in cases where otherwise guns would be used, there would be minimal opposition. The point, the point, the point - the point that never seems to register with these chowderheads is that tasers are frequently, mostly, used not as an alternative to deadly force, but as an alternative to any force, often enough to no force. Used instead as a means of domination, of humiliation, of intimidation, as punishment for resistance, as a convenience rather than a necessity.

Meanwhile, Great Britain is not the only place experiencing tasermania. Police in the Australian state of New South Wales are expanding their deployment of tasers.

Specially-trained police officers at this year’s Bathurst 1000 [auto race] will be equipped with taser stun guns after Commissioner Andrew Scipione yesterday announced the weapons would be issued to general duties police officers across the state. ...

Until yesterday, the weapon was restricted to the NSW Police Force’s riot squad and elite tactical operations unit, but now general officers with special training will be able to carry the weapon.

As has become typical, the decision to expand the use of tasers, which were described by local police commander Lionel White as "just another tool," came before, not after, a NSW Ombudsman report into their safety, which is not expected to be presented to the NSW parliament until later this month.

Footnote: Scipione said tough police procedures would avert the sort of deaths that have been associated with the weapons.

“We have really strong ... procedures that govern the way we use these devices and it can’t happen here[," he said.]

They had "strong procedures" in New York, too.