Statement from Assistant Commissioner Mark McAdie: "NT Police currently have 139 Tasers compared to 74 originally introduced in January 2008. However, due to maintenance and servicing requirements, approximately 15 of these are non operational at any one time. The Taser review was an internal operational review and it was never intended that the review would be made public because it relates to the tactics that police use in violent situations. It is our view that it is not in the interests of the safety of our police members to reveal these methodologies. The NT Police, like all police forces, are given the task by government of resolving violent incidents across the NT. In order to do this effectively police officers are empowered to use a range of force options, including the use of lethal force. Naturally, there are both legislative and policy restrictions on how this force might be used and the executive management of the Police Force is continuously monitoring the available options to ensure that every violent incident can be resolved using the least amount of force appropriate to that particular situation, consistent with our duty to provide our members with a safe system of work. We are satisfied that the risks relating to the Taser do not arise from the electrical discharge of the Taser, but from the effect of that discharge (loss of muscle control) which is also the primary means by which the Taser allows us to achieve our aim: resolution of the incident though the use of the least possible force.
The Taser was used on 79 occasions during the 13 month period. The Taser was not directly applied to the subject 39 out of these 79 occasions - this means that the Taser was used in a manner where the subject was warned, the Taser was drawn but not discharged, the Taser was aimed but not discharged or the Taser was discharged but was not in contact with the subject when this occurred. The electrical discharge of the Taser was therefore applied to a person approximately once every ten days. As stated previously, Taser has largely resulted in no injuries. However one person subject to Taser use was given in-patient treatment for an injury which was unrelated to the use of the Taser. The Taser was used in 18 geographical locations across the Territory between one and 17 times over the 13 months. The locations ranged from remote communities to use in the urban environments of Darwin and Alice Springs. The Northern Territory Police have taken a conservative approach to the use of Taser in the Northern Territory and our policy for Taser use complies with recommendations made by Amnesty International, the UN "Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials" and the "UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials".