Taser use forbidden if flammable fuel nearby

Photo / Supplied

Any person who attacks police armed with a petrol can and cigarette lighter is putting himself at risk, Taser or no Taser, says Police Association president Greg O'Connor.

He would not be drawn on whether Western Australian officers should have fired a Taser at glue-sniffer Ronald Mitchell, 36, when he ran at them with a can of petrol and a cigarette lighter this week.

Mitchell suffered third-degree burns to 10 per cent of his body after being Tasered in the tiny Aboriginal community of Warburton, below the Gibson Desert in Western Australia.

Australian police are conducting an internal inquiry into whether the stun-gun caused Mitchell to catch fire.

In theory, the incident would not have occurred here, as police operational guidelines explicitly forbid officers from firing Tasers near accelerants or flammable liquid.

"A stringent set of standard operating procedures has been developed by New Zealand police to ensure the Taser is used appropriately and safely," said police national headquarters spokesman Grant Ogilvie.

Standard operating procedures say Tasers must not be used when:

* A subject has, or is believed to have, doused themselves with any accelerant.

* The proximity of accelerants or flammable liquids or vapours may present a risk of ignition (eg, clandestine labs, petrol stations, etc).

* It is believed that the subject is in possession of explosives.

Meanwhile, Campaign Against the Taser spokeswoman Marie Dyhrberg welcomed the news that operational guidelines prevented New Zealand officers from firing near accelerants.

"At least the potential for this has been considered by NZ police and we have guidelines prohibiting it," she told the Herald.

Police records show Tasers have been "presented" 33 times and discharged five times up until the end of June.

Mr Ogilvie said the five occasions officers had fired Tasers involved offenders who were armed or strongly believed to be in possession of a weapon.

A year-long trial of the stun-gun was conducted in the Wellington, Auckland, Waitemata and Counties-Manakau police districts from September 1, 2006. Tasers were reintroduced permanently to those districts in December 2008 and will be rolled out in other districts this year.

FEARED ZAPPER
* A Taser is an electro muscular incapacitation (EMI) device that uses an electrical discharge to stop the brain sending messages to the body.
* The Taser is the only NZ-approved EMI device.
* It sends a current through probes attached to insulated wires.
* The optimum operating distance for a Taser is 2-5 metres.
* A Tasered person will usually drop to the ground, rendered unable to move while the Taser is discharged.