POLICE are considering using electrical guns. Forces in England and Wales may soon get the option, if the government accepts the advice of senior officers.

The taser, which paralyses for a few seconds but which does not appear to cause any lasting ill effects, has been tried out by firearms officers in the Metropolitan, Lincolnshire, Thames Valley, Northamptonshire and North Wales forces over the past 12 months.

‘We are monitoring the situation closely with regard to tasers, which have been tested on the mainland,’ said police chief George Le Page.

‘We are actively considering options in relation to tasers as a less-than-lethal option within the Guernsey police force.’

Local officers have in the past used CS spray in difficult situations.

‘It is proved to be a benefit to officers who find themselves in situations where there is violence towards them and has provided them with an option between trying to reason with someone and having to draw their batons,’ said Mr Le Page.

‘That can cause serious harm or injury. The spray has an incapacitating effect; it is unlikely to cause someone permanent damage, whereas with an officer defending themselves with a baton, there is the likelihood that they could sustain an injury. CS spray has proved ideal for the job.’

UK Home Secretary David Blunkett will decide in the next few weeks whether to offer tasers to other forces.

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers of the trial, for the Association of Chief Police Officers, was largely positive and the Met police authority has approved the extension of its use to non-firearms officers in specialist units.

Researchers were surprised at how few times tasers were actually fired during the trial: on all but 19 of the 57 occasions on which they were aimed at someone, the person concerned stopped causing trouble once the red target-dot was trained on them.

If authorised generally in the UK, use of the taser will be at the discretion of each chief constable.