Media Release

For Immediate Release
03 March 2015

Second assault within hours prompts repeat call for Tasers on belts

Police Association President Greg O’Connor has repeated the call for the routine wearing of Tasers after a second police officer was viciously attacked within hours of the first.

The second incident in central Wellington yesterday saw an officer hit on the head several times with a glass bottle by a robbery suspect. The officer required stitches to his head and is recovering at home.

“This was another situation where an officer has had to confront a violent offender without a Taser on his hip,” Mr O’Connor said.

“The Police Association reiterates our call - it is time for every frontline police officer to be permanently armed with a Taser on their hip.”

“These attacks are happening too frequently to ignore and illustrate the volatile situations officers operate in every day. Police must be equipped with the right tools to defend themselves and the public when violent incidents arise from routine policing tasks,” Mr O’Connor said.

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