YouTube footage of a Nottingham police officer using a Taser gun on a drunk man refusing arrest has sparked outrage online in the UK this week, with the latest news claiming that UK police forces already have 10,000 Tasers in use.
After watching the footage, it is easy to see why the use of these devices – that shoot a whopping 50,000 volts shock into the victim via two metal pins that stab into the body – is now being investigated the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
UK govt orders 10,000 Tasers
"Last winter Jacqui Smith – still the Home Secretary – said that she would place an order for 10,000 stun guns for officers across England and Wales," notes the Guardian.
The order for 10,000 Tasers from the UK government was, "so large, in fact, that it merited a mention in Taser's latest financial report, which pointed out that a "significant shipment... to the UK government" had boosted the company's $10.5m profit for the first three months of 2009."
Perhaps the only good thing to emerge from this story is the way in which a mobile phone video camera and YouTube have been used as successful counter-surveillance tech by those members of the public standing nearby the attack in Nottingham.
