But officers did not report firing the electrical weapons in any of those cases.
The Children’s Rights Alliance for England says the recorded increase in use of Tasers against children by police forces across England and Wales is “alarming”.
The children’s human rights charity says “being threatened” with a Taser can be extremely frightening for a child even if the weapon is not fired, and has called for a ban on their use on young people.
Home Office figures show Lancashire Constabulary drew Tasers on children aged under 18 on 28 occasions in 2019-20, up from eight the previous year.
But officers did not report firing the electrical weapons in any of those cases. The Children’s Rights Alliance for England says the recorded increase in use of Tasers against children by police forces across England and Wales is “alarming”. The children’s human rights charity says “being threatened” with a Taser can be extremely frightening for a child even if the weapon is not fired, and has called for a ban on their use on young people. Home Office figures show North Wales Police drew Tasers on children aged under 18 on 15 occasions in 2019-20, up from six the previous year.
Taser. POLICE in Essex recorded using Tasers on children on dozens of occasions last year, figures reveal. Home Office figures show Essex Police drew Tasers on children aged under 18 on 36 occasions in 2019/20, up from 21 the previous year. The figure counts the number of times each officer involved in an incident used the device rather than the number of separate incidents or how many children were involved. The age recorded is that perceived by the officer. When fired, Tasers are designed to temporarily incapacitate someone by giving them an electric shock. The figures also show Essex Police reported using a spit and bite guard on children on 38 occasions last year, one of which was on a child under 11 years old.
December 18th, 2020
Governments across the UK should repeal compulsory collective worship, children’s rights bodies from all four nations have told the United Nations.
Humanists UK, Wales Humanists, and Northern Ireland Humanists all contributed evidence to national reports compiled by key children’s rights bodies in each country, with partner organisation Humanist Society Scotland contributing to a similar report in Scotland.
The reports will now be used to shape the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s review of the UK’s children’s rights record.
Collective worship
With this in mind, the reports for Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland (where collective worship is known as ‘religious observance’) say the UN should ask the respective governments when they will repeal these provisions.
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