Tasers Are Vital For Cops To Protect Themselves Says Police Union Chief

2 September 2019, 13:05 | Updated: 2 September 2019, 13:32

Assaults on police occur on an "hourly basis, not a daily basis," the Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation told LBC's as he called for all officers to be trained on the device.

Ken Marsh, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation was speaking to Nick Ferrari, who is launching a campaign called Time for Tasers, looking to guarantee funding so that any police officer who wants one can be equipped with the electric devices.

The Police Union Chair said that his colleagues "have a right to go home and feel safe each day, as you would expect, and it's just not happening."

When it comes to the Met Police, Mr Marsh said there were only 6,000 tasers while there were almost 30,000 officers. He described the Taser as a "fantastic piece of kit."

He explained the Taser was a "great deterrent" for those who "want to show violence towards police" because people "change the way they feel once that red dot's on them."

The Met Police say one of the stages of Taser use is "red dotting" when the device is pointed at someone with the red dot laser sight active so a red dot appears on the person it’s pointed at.

Mr Marsh said he would support new officers entering the service being taser trained "from the beginning."

"I think this is a piece of equipment that you're gonna gradually see more of, and we want our colleagues, our new colleagues coming in to be supported fully."

He said his message to police chiefs was for them to "look very carefully at what's happening across the country in relation to assaults on our [police] colleagues."

He warned that assaults on police were "overwhelmingly" increasing.

Watch the whole informed exchange in the video at the top of the page, or click here to find out more about Nick Ferrari's Time for Tasers campaign.