HUNDREDS of police in Herefordshire are trained to use tasers, and new figures have revealed how often these tasers are used.

The full roll-out of tasers in West Mercia Police was in 2013, after a decade of trials around the UK.

Police chiefs insist tasers are effective in de-escalating dangerous situations, with the devices delivering a high-voltage electric shock. Officers must decide whether using a taser is legal, proportionate and necessary in a situation. 

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The National Police Chiefs' Council says force is "rarely used" during officers' day-to-day duties.

Officers have used their tasers 73 times in Herefordshire since 2013, West Mercia Police statistics obtained by the Hereford Times via Freedom of Information request show.

276 officers in Herefordshire are trained to use tasers.

In Herefordshire, tasers are only used on average seven times a year.

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West Mercia Police refused to break down where in Herefordshire tasers had been used, citing data protection and saying revealing such data could lead to identification of individuals involved in the incidents.

As well as firing the taser, police can use the technique of letting out the red laser dot as a deterrent to de-escalate situations before they discharge the device.

Figures provided by the police from 2021 to 2023, when tasers were used just seven times altogether, detail firings only, while data from before 2021, when 64 uses of tasers were recorded, includes both firings and the red dot function.