According to figures released today you're highly unlikely to get 'Tasered' by North Wales Police

Latest figures released by the Home Office reveal Police used Tasers in the UK a record 10,488 times in the last 12 months, a 13 per cent rise on the previous year.

The Taser a pistol-like conductive energy device incapacitates individuals through the use of an electrical current.

It is less lethal than a conventional firearm and provides a tactical option for the police when faced with violence or threats of violence that force is needed to protect the public, themselves or the individual concerned.

Every incident in which Taser is deployed – whether it is fired or not – is recorded by the local police force, and a report is sent to the Home Office for collation.

The data provides information as to Taser’s operational effectiveness, its medical implications, and makes transparent the levels and types of use by the police.

The data released today updates the figures for the months January to June 2014- they reveal Taser’s were used 5107 however, non-discharges account for 81% 

In total, for the 6 months to June 2014 Taser’s were fired at a target 826 times.

The most common use of Taser in this period was in ‘red dot mode’, which accounted for 52% of overall use, this is when the weapon is not fired however, it is deliberately aimed and then partially activated so that a laser red dot is placed onto the subject.

North Wales Police (NWP) used Taser 27 times in the 6 months to June 2014 – an increase of just one versus the same period last year, in the previous 12 months Taser has been used by the Force 70 times.

The most common use by NWP in the 6 months to June 2014 is in ‘Red Dot mode’ some 13 times, while the actual firing into a subject happened just twice.

Using a formula of overall Taser uses (27) per 100 Police Officers, in North Wales that equates to just 2 ‘uses’ per 100 officers, with 1 obviously being lowest – only two forces out of the 43 in the UK had lower usage per 100 officers than NWP, City of London Police and South Wales Police.

The greatest number were in Humberside, eleven Taser uses per 100 officers and Staffordshire ten used per 100 officers.

Get the data: 

Police use of taser statistics, England and Wales: January to June 2014

Usage per 100 officers Formula created by  the Daily Telegraph -thanks for doing the ‘leg work‘