Green MP Keith Locke comments on Police Association release

"It is absurd for the Police Association to say that "no incidents have been reported" indicating "inappropriate use".

The Green Party, the Campaign Against the Tasers, the Maori Party and the mental health community have all pointed to problem incidents. Mental health advocates are particularly concerned that there is now a tendency to use the taser on a mentally disturbed person, or "laser paint" him or her, rather than police and community people working together to calm down the affected person, as has traditionally been the case.

"It is also important to assess how much extra or unnecessary fear is induced in the community when the police are carrying this weaponry, capable of inflicting a 50,000 volt shock - and how much this undermines police/community relations.

"A proper assessment would also go beyond the physical harm caused in the relatively few number of taser use incidents in New Zealand, to further inspection of the ongoing deaths in the United States and Canada, which tasers have contributed to.

Keith Locke MP
Green Party Human Rights spokesperson

ENDS

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