Nottinghamshire Police has been given a slice of £10m funding for more officers to be armed with Taser.
The force has secured £115k of Home Office money following a successful bid, which will see 140 devices for our Taser trained officers.
The Taser boost will bolster a suite of tactics and training for officers.
It comes as the force has successfully recruited 107 new officers as part of the Government’s Uplift programme. This is on top of 180 officers already recruited into the force in the last year, with plans for further recruitment in the coming months.
The first wave of funding will be made available this financial year allowing the force to start buying the devices now, with the rest bought and the officers trained throughout the following year.
Supt Claire Rukas from Nottinghamshire Police’s Operational Support said: “This funding will mean we will have a significant uplift in the number of Taser trained officers across the force – all within local policing.
“We also know the majority of officer assaults occur in the community so being able to increase coverage across our response and new Reacher teams will be our priority.
“This will allow them to deal with the spontaneous threat posed to the public and our officers alike.”
Nationally nearly 8,000 new Tasers will be issued to officers. This followed a commitment from the Government and also demands from the Police Federation in a bid to reduce attacks on frontline police officers.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford added: “I am a big fan of Taser and I have increased the number of officers who use it. Taser is one part of a suite of both tactics and training we give our officers to protect the public and themselves. I welcome the additional funding for it. This uplift will put us in a strong position regarding the geographic spread of Taser trained officers across the force.”
Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “This funding will increase the suite of tactics officer will have at their disposal to be able to protect both the public and themselves from danger. In recent years the force has more than doubled its use of Taser and this funding will help to increase this further and ultimately keep people safer.”
