Taser pilot for gardaí begins in Dublin and Waterford as assaults increase
Ellen O'Donoghue
A taser pilot among members of An Garda Síochána is to begin today.
Officers at Store Street and Pearse Street Garda stations in Dublin, as well as stations in Waterford, are to be given the equipment on a trial basis.
The tasers have been introduced in a bid to reduce the number of assaults against officers after an increase in recent years.
A total of 128 uniform gardaí have been specially trained on how to use the devices, and must log every use during their policing.
It is the first time frontline gardaí will get to use them, after they were previously reserved for use by the Armed Support and Emergency Response units.
Joe O’Brien, Executive Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, told Newstalk that Gardaí have a good relationship with the public because of their lack of weapons.
"What’s being proposed here, in a very rushed manner, I would say as well, is a fundamental shift really in the relationship between the Irish police force and the public. It’s been done in quite a rushed manner, without proper debate, without consultation, not really clear what the aimed-for purpose is, we’ve heard bits and pieces," Mr O'Brien said.
Irish Council of Civil Liberties spokesperson Emily Williams added that people need more information about how and when the tasers will be used.
"While we do welcome the safeguards that have been announced regarding the use of tasers, including mandatory recording to Fiosrú, the three-day training and the recording of usage for oversight purposes, we still don’t have clear parameters on when they will be used," she said.
Ms Williams added that tasers may have the opposite desired effect on the public.
"We’ve seen research which found that the use of tasers can actually increase violence against police, and may not be an effective deterrent to reduce violence, so what this means is that the use of tasers may not actually solve the problem which the guards seek to achieve."
