Police watchdog to investigate taser incident
- 00:01:06
- ITN
Police watchdog to investigate taser incident
A mobile phone video of a man being repeatedly tasered by officers is being investigated by the police watchdog. The man appears to be rolling around on the floor in agony after one officer urges his colleagues to stand back before tasering him. As he struggles again during the incident on Sunday night in Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham, he is tasered for a second time. One of the four officers trying to arrest the man is also seen to punch him to the head area before back-up arrives. The video was given to a local radio station and has also been posted on YouTube. A woman behind the camera is heard to say: "Look at his face, did you get that? He don't look like he is resisting." The man, who is shooting the footage, added: "Yeh, I can't wait to put it (the footage) on YouTube." A crowd of 30 to 40 people quickly gathers around the police officers and start questioning their tactics. According to guidelines from the Association of Chief Police Officers, tasers must not be used indiscriminately. Guidelines issued to forces state: "The use of taser is one of a number of tactical options available to an officer who is faced with violence or the threat of violence. "Its purpose is to temporarily incapacitate an individual in order to control the threat that they pose. "It must not be used to inflict severe pain or suffering in the performance of official duties." Nottinghamshire Police said officers were trying to arrest the 40-year-old man after they were called out by door staff at one of the city's nightspots. A police officer was then assaulted and needed hospital treatment. A spokeswoman for the force said no complaint had been made against the officers involved and no-one had been suspended. But the case has been passed voluntarily to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) so they can investigate. The man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and released on police bail.
ITN | June 16, 2009
