Explainer: When do Singapore police use tasers and what precautions do they take when doing so?

SINGAPORE, June 20 — A 31-year-old man was tasered and then arrested by the police on June 13 after he allegedly assaulted an on-duty auxiliary police officer with a metal bar.

Since then, there have been questions about whether the police had deployed the stun gun safely.

In a video clip of the incident posted online, the man could be seen shouting at two police officers while apparently pointing a metal bar in their direction.

After he moved towards the officers up a short flight of stairs, an officer was seen firing a taser at him, causing the man to land heavily on his back, before being handcuffed.

The man was taken conscious to the hospital.

Some comments on TODAY’s Facebook page suggested that tasering the man as he walked up the flight of steps could have resulted in him suffering serious injury.

Others said that the police might have tasered him in that location because he was advancing towards them.

TODAY explains how and when the police use tasers, and what precautions they take when doing so.

How do tasers work?

Responding to queries from TODAY yesterday, the Singapore Police Force said that the police here first used a taser in 2008.

The taser is a conducted electrical weapon, or a stun device, that uses propelled wires or direct contact to conduct energy to affect sensory and motor functions of a person’s nervous system.

“It provides a ranged and less lethal force option that could reduce injuries to suspects and officers when effecting arrest without engaging in close combat through use of baton or unarmed tactics.”

The police now uses the Taser X26P, which was first released in 2013.

The first taser was developed in 1974 and the device has been used by law enforcement as an alternative to deadly force since the 1990s.

News agency Reuters reported that the gun-shaped weapon uses compressed nitrogen to fire a pair of barbed darts that are connected to the taser by thin wires.

The darts then embed in the skin, emitting a pulsed current that causes a neuromuscular response that paralyses the subject for several seconds, so that the police will have a window to subdue the subject and apply handcuffs.

What happens when someone gets stunned by a taser?

The Business Insider news website reported that strikes from taser guns can cause severe, uncontrollable contraction of muscles, which can be very painful for the suspect or target.

The taser’s common X26 model administers a shock of about 1.9 milliamperes, which is “well below” the 10 milliamps needed to cause a severe electric shock.

However, being exposed to electricity can cause ventricular fibrillation, a serious type of irregular heartbeat.

Some studies have attributed the deaths after a Taser X26 shock to cardiac arrest.

However, the police in Singapore said in a response to news channel CNA last year that since its use of tasers in 2008, the deployment of the weapon by officers has not resulted in cardiac arrest or death.

“In the unlikely event of a cardiac arrest, officers are first-aid-trained to manage persons suffering from a cardiac arrest prior to the arrival of emergency medical services,” they told CNA.

Another risk of using a taser, as some TODAY readers have suggested, is the danger of the suspect falling down and injuring themselves after the initial shock.

In what situations should tasers be used?

The police said that when officers are faced with a situation where the taser is required, they will consider “a range and combination of factors”.

These include “the proportionality of the force to be applied vis-a-vis the perceived threat posed by a subject, in addition to the safety of members of the public and fellow officers, as well as the safety of the subject on which force is to be applied”.

For instance, during an assault involving a man slashing a woman with a chopper along Beach Road last year, the police used a taser to subdue the man after he was cornered, and the safety of police officers and bystanders were not compromised.

There is also the possibility of lethal force, that officers may take should the situation escalate, the police added.

“In situations where there is an imminent threat of grievous hurt or death present, officers may also have to take decisive action and deploy their firearms in order to stop the threat.”

This includes situations where the suspect is charging at the police officer with a weapon.

For instance, last year, the police responded to the case of a 64-year-old man in Bendemeer who was wielding a knife. There were taser shots fired at the man, who still continued to charge at police officers with the knife.

It was only then that one officer fired a gunshot at the man, killing him.

What precautions did the police take in latest case?

For the case of the 31-year-old suspect in the recent case, there had been various factors that led to the eventual use of the taser.

First, the man had already allegedly assaulted and caused hurt to an auxiliary police officer with a metal bar before the police arrived at the scene.

The police said that the man refused to heed officers’ repeated instructions to stop his aggressive behaviour and chose to advance towards officers with the metal bar in hand even after their arrival.

“After repeated warnings, officers deployed the taser as their immediate priority was to prevent the subject from causing further harm to other bystanders and officers.”

As to what precautions had been taken in case someone was injured from a fall after being stunned by a taser, the police said that their officers were “also trained to administer first aid whenever necessary, should a subject require any immediate medical attention”.

For the specific case of this suspect, Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedics at scene attended to him before he was taken conscious to a hospital, the police added.

On the Singapore Police Force’s website, it is stated that all cases involving the use of firearms and tasers are “reviewed thoroughly to ensure that they’re in accordance with the police’s doctrines and training”.

Officers are also required to undergo annual re-certification tests and training to maintain their proficiency in using the equipment. — TODAY