Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) has spoken out clearly in favor of the further use of so-called Tasers by the police. Since 2017, the police have been testing the electric shock guns in Berlin. Now Spranger announced on Friday: “The taser has to stay. For me, it’s not a question of “if” but of implementation.” Tasers have proven to be effective, especially in preventing suicide and avoiding police officers having to fire their pistols. How tasers should be used in the future will be decided when the test run ends in December and then evaluated.
There had recently been reports that it was doubtful whether the weapons should be used permanently by all police officers.
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Tasers shoot small darts on thin wires a few meters away. If the arrows hit a person, they receive an electric shock that paralyzes them for a few seconds. Tasers are controversial because there have been cases in the United States where people with a heart defect are said to have died. In Berlin, they have so far been equated with a firearm and are only permitted in extreme emergencies.
In the test run, 23 Tasers are currently being used by 60 police officers in inner-city districts. In the past year, police officers used a taser eight times, for example against aggressive suspects with knives and to prevent suicide. In many other cases, police officers only threatened to be deployed and, according to the information, calmed down the situation. (dpa)
