Police in Durham used Tasers more than 300 times in a year - the highest of all the force's in the North-East.

Latest Home Office data shows that Durham Constabulary drew Tasers 348 times in the year to March 2020, though officers only discharged the electric shock weapons on 47 occasions.

Northumbria Police drew Tasers 343 times, discharging them 51 times, while Cleveland Police drew them 330 times, discharging them 21 times. In North Yorkshire, officers drew them 214 times but only discharged them on 33 occasions.

The figures count the number of times officers involved in an incident used their Taser rather than the number of separate incidents.

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Tasers were made available to every frontline officer in Durham Constabulary in 2019 in a bid to offer more protection to the public and the police.

The Northern Echo: Durham Police’s Chief Constable Jo FarrellDurham Police’s Chief Constable Jo Farrell

Durham Constabulary Chief Constable Jo Farrell said Tasers allow officers to "swiftly and safely" subdue violent suspects to protect the public.

“We need to make sure that our officers have the tools they need to protect the public and protect themselves," Farrell added.

In a recent report, the Independent Office for Police Conduct raised serious concerns around the unnecessary or unsafe use of the devices by forces across England and Wales, particularly against non-white or vulnerable people and children.

The police watchdog made 17 recommendations to bodies including the Home Office, the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council, calling for improvements to the national guidance, training, scrutiny and monitoring of Taser use.

The IOPC report warned that police risked losing public confidence if concerns around Taser use were not thoroughly addressed.

IOPC director Michael Lockwood said forces must be able to justify the circumstances in which Tasers are deployed and must respond to a national disproportionality in use against black people.

Across England and Wales, black people were eight times more likely to be subject to use of Taser than white people in 2019-20, according to the IOPC report.

However the figures for Durham Constabulary show that white people were involved in 334 incidents of Taser use over the same period, compared to six involving black people, though this largely represents the local population, according to the latest estimates at police force level.

The National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing said it is conducting a review to understand and tackle the racial disproportionalities in Taser use nationally.

Oliver Feeley-Sprague, of human rights campaign group Amnesty International, said: “Tasers can be effective if used by well-trained officers to prevent loss of life or serious injury but they’re open to misuse and over-use."

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