Wiesbaden (dpa / lhe) – According to a proposal by the FDP state parliamentary group, Hesse’s police should have a taser in every patrol car. The liberals are in favor of a nationwide introduction of stun guns, said spokesman Stefan Müller on Tuesday in Wiesbaden. A taser can stop an attacker without the officers having to shoot. The tool closes the gap between the firearm and the baton or pepper spray, explained Müller.
So far, the Hessian police only have around 40 tasers at their disposal, although the distance electro-pulse devices are part of the modern equipment. “Other state police forces in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, have long recognized this and equipped their security forces accordingly,” said Müller. The threat of using the taser is often enough to get aggressive perpetrators to see things.
Training on Tasers should be part of the training at the Hessian police academy, Müller suggested. The area-wide equipment of the strips should then take place step by step. The FDP parliamentary group expects a need of 700 to 800 devices and costs of around five million euros.
The stun gun can incapacitate a person for several seconds. Two arrows connected to the weapon by wires are shot at a person and electrical impulses are transmitted to the body. The Hessian police have been using Tasers since 2019, before that there was a trial run.
