Arming Gardaí with taser guns would seriously undermine the force’s standing as one of the few unarmed police forces in the world, according to a former assistant commissioner.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) conference will tomorrow hear calls for all frontline gardaí to be handed taser guns.

Delegates at the conference in Westport, county Mayo will hear that assaults on Garda members are increasing – with more than 4,000 recorded in the past five years

Meanwhile, 243 Gardaí were injured after being assaulted on duty last year, a 9% increase on the year before.

On The Hard Shoulder this evening former Garda assistant commissioner Dr Pat Leahy said introducing tasers is a move that should not be made lightly.

“For many years we have lived and thrived nationally and internationally on the fact that we are an unarmed police service,” he said.

“We brought in the Emergency Response Unit and then the Armed Response Units to deal with incidents that were above and beyond the ability or capacity of our frontline Gardaí.

“To make this move to using a taser is a really significant step away from where we have been historically and I would need a really strong convincing argument before I would be prepared to go there.”

Protection

Dr Leahy said Gardaí have already been handed a number of extra tools for dealing with more dangerous situations in recent years – including the introduction of pepper spray.

“The pepper spray is quite effective and still it’s a step down from the taser,” he said. “It’s far more acceptable as a tool to be used in a situation where a garda might have to protect themselves or stop a person from assaulting them.

“This is a really, really different space you are getting into, the use of electricity, and if anybody has ever seen the effect of a taser on a person it is not pretty.

“It would put a whole different shine on how policing is conducted.

“To step into a situation where you are using something that is shaped like a gun, it fires an electric charge through wires at a person and the impact on that person …. It just isn’t what we have stood up to over the years in terms of the values that make us a unique police force almost across the world.”

Unarmed

Ireland is one of 19 countries around the world where the police force is typically unarmed.

Dr Leahy said An Garda Síochána has a really, really strong reputation internationally due to its unarmed nature – warning that the entire structure could be damaged by the introduction of tasers.

“I, along with lots of my colleagues, have worked internationally with the UN and we stand out among other police services across the world by virtue of the fact we are unarmed,” he said.

“That makes us pretty well skilled at engaging with people and communicating with people to talk down situations, to find another way, other than the use of force, to deal with situations and that was recognised by the UN many times.

“I would hate to see something like that damaged like this. I don’t myself - and look, I’m only gone 18 months – think the taser is necessary as a tool across the force at this point in time.

“I think we have sufficient support out there from a firearms perspective and from a pepper spray perspective that really puts us in a position where we can say something serious would have to be changing in society before you would take this momentous step.”

Policing by consent

Dr Leahy said Gardaí are trained to avoid physical conflict wherever possible.

“That’s not always possible but it is the best option,” he said.

“I just don’t think that shooting somebody with a taser and watching them writhing around on the ground is the answer.

“I think there are other less intrusive options that could be explored.”

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