Scottish Chief Constable wants more police to carry Tasers

Police should be routinely armed with Tasers, Scotland’s most senior officer has said, as she also backed the rollout of face-scanning technology.

Jo Farrell, Police Scotland’s Chief Constable, said a large increase in the number of officers carrying the weapons was “right and proper”, as it would allow them to protect themselves and the public when faced with violent criminals.

Setting out her new policing plan she insisted was vital to modernise the force, Ms Farrell insisted it would be an “abdication” not to explore use of live facial recognition software, which scans faces of members of the public to identify suspects.

Currently, about 1,700 of more than 16,000 Scottish officers are trained to carry Tasers, a figure she said was “disproportionately low”.

Ms Farrell’s plan, which she set out just over a year after taking on the job, calls for a rollout of the devices “across the operational frontline”.

“On any one response team [of two officers], I would certainly want to see a greater proportion of people carrying Tasers, should they wish to,” Ms Farrell said.

“The feedback I’ve had first-hand is that it has a deterrent effect. People know it’s this big yellow thing attached to your body armour. A person with a weapon is thinking ‘you’re armed with a Taser’.

“I want to, over the next two to three years, see us having an increased number of officers trained and equipped with Tasers.

“I think that’s the right and proper thing to do, both to protect the public and our officers, who we ask to do very difficult jobs.”

Currently, Police Scotland does not use facial recognition technology, which is popular with authoritarian regimes and has also been deployed in the UK, including by the Metropolitan Police.

However, privacy campaigners have raised concerns over its use, with cameras used to scan large crowds of people with faces matched to a police watchlist using artificial intelligence.

A Holyrood committee has also raised concerns that it discriminates against women and ethnic minority groups.

Ms Farrell rejected criticisms of artificial intelligence in policing, questioning why the technology was not controversial in healthcare, where it has been used to detect cancer.

“If within the NHS we all get told AI will help detect cancer quicker, we say ‘that sounds like a good thing’,” she said.

“If I say ‘AI will help us take violent perpetrators off the streets and keep your children safe’, then somehow I need to convince you I’m doing that in an ethical, appropriate way.

“I think it would be an abdication if we don’t explain, explore and keep pushing along this route so people say, ‘I’m confident they are using the technology appropriately, without bias, for the greatest good of keeping people safe’.”

Ms Farrell, previously chief constable of Durham Constabulary, drew up her three-year plan after deciding that Police Scotland had “confusing” and “cluttered” priorities, in a veiled criticism of her predecessor, Sir Iain Livingstone.

She is set to push ahead with plans to close large numbers of local police stations, admitting many were not fit for purpose, and is to hand civilians including “staff investigators” a more prominent role in crime fighting.

She insisted the plans, as well as her policy of no longer investigating all crimes, would free up officers to spend more time in communities.

She revealed that the force has begun “early discussions” around borrowing cash to fund improvements, with public finances at Holyrood under major strain.

Police Scotland pledged that “every community in Scotland would have identifiable local officers” but it is understood the overall number of officers working across the force will not increase.

The use of Tasers has been backed by the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), which represents rank-and-file officers. A survey the SPF carried out in 2021 found 84 per cent of officers wanted the option of carrying a Taser.

Ms Farrell’s plan specifies over 130 milestones to be met by March 2027. She claimed the latest changes were vital so that the force can “evolve to meet existing and new challenges”.

Russell Findlay, justice spokesman for the Scottish Tories, said: “People across Scotland will welcome the Chief Constable’s ambition for a visible police presence in their communities, but that can only happen if SNP ministers stop inflicting extreme cuts to police budgets.

“This pledge also does not address the fact that Police Scotland is forecast to lose officers faster than they can be replaced.”