Less lethal: how do you avoid 'lawful but awful' incidents?

As UK policing awaits the outcome of an overdue national officer safety review Gary Mason reports on the findings of a recent international symposium that discussed emerging trends in the use of less lethal weapons and tactics.

It may seem surprising to state that there remains a degree of uncertainty about the use of tasers within UK policing. At the beginning of this year the Home Office released figures which showed that 8,000 more officers would be trained and equipped...