Fifty more police officers from neighbourhood and rural teams have now completed the training and are equipped with Taser, in a first for Northamptonshire.
Last year, 100 additional officers were trained and equipped in frontline response and proactive team teams.
Now, officers from the neighbourhood teams will join the number who can deploy Taser. Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold invested funding for the additional training required.
Chief Constable Nick Adderley, said: “Nationally and locally there has been an increase in knife related crime. It therefore makes complete sense that the officers that are out in the communities are equipped and able to respond to incidents quickly and effectively. Extending Taser capability allows us to do that.”
Stephen Mold said: “Northamptonshire Police officers must be able to protect the public and keep themselves safe from anyone intent on causing harm.
“I was keen to make this investment and support the Chief Constable’s view that training more officers to use Taser will give them a real and visible deterrent in situations where they believe that someone’s safety is under threat.”
Between September 2017 and October 2018, Northamptonshire Police used Taser on 317 occasions although it was only actually fired 21 times.
