UK-Police
The number of Taser stun gun uses and discharges by police has dramatically increased as more trained officers gain the authority to use them, according to new figures published by the Home Office Monday.

The statistics show that from the first half of the controversial trails since they were extended to 10 police forces last September, the number of Taser usages up to the end of February this year was 252 but of these 236 were in last three months.

Of these, Tasers were said to have been discharged, when the 50,000 -volt bares were fired, in 31 situations, of which all but six were in the last three months.

The Home Office insisted that the use of the stun guns, without being fired, indicated that "drawing or aiming the Taser is enough of a deterrent in most situations."
Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said the stun guns "contributed to resolving incidents without injury where otherwise there would have been a real possibility of someone being seriously injured or killed." "In most cases they have not needed to be fired; drawing or aiming the Taser has been enough of a deterrent," McNulty said, quoting the pilot figures.

Tasers were originally introduced in Britain in 2004 but only for authorised firearms officers. The 12-month test that last September extends to specially trained units who are not firearm officers, but could face similarly violent circumstances.

The use of the stun guns has raised health and safety concerns, but McNulty insisted that the government will closely monitor the trial to evaluate the "benefits against any risks."
Amnesty International has described Tasers as been potentially lethal, warning that there have numerous deaths in the US because they have been misused.