Police have no plans to replace current Taser model
Police are at a loss as to what to do with the stun gun’s taser.
They say they haven’t “made any decisions” about replacing them, and have no plans to try a new taser or body-worn camera.
According to the Official Information Act (OIA) response, the Taser X2 model used by police is nearing the end of its life and will no longer be supported by US manufacturer Axon.
However, it remains unclear what the deadline will be, with police telling RNZ:
Old tasers had cameras built in, but since 2017 many police in the US, UK and Australia have Adding a body-worn camera (BWC) Instead, record tasers and other footage.
smart holster
Axon’s “smart” holster automatically turns on body camera recording when you draw your gun.
Police here say they stay up to date with the technology and are talking to Axon, one of the two largest stun gun makers in the world, about options and testing.
“At this time, there are no plans to test a new taser or body-worn camera,” acting deputy commissioner Jason Guthrie said in a statement.
“We are still looking at options.”
Guthrie said he will consult the community once he makes a decision next year.
Wearable camera market dominated by security and sports models growing at an amazing rate – It is projected to reach $700 billion in 2027, up from $3 billion worldwide two years ago.
Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market.
In the UK more shops adopt them for safety reasonsand also in this country, for bailiffs, with the Ministry of Justice Introducing body cameras this week.
“Generally Positive”
Ann New Zealand Police Internal Report A paper on improving frontline safety, released last year under the OIA, is inconclusive about the combination of tasers and body cameras.
The purpose of the report was to “understand the risks and consequences of introducing a new Taser without a Tasercam and using a body camera instead.”
“The risk of not recording a Taser encounter on video is one less type of evidence as to how the Taser was used,” it said.
The tension is between civil rights and privacy concerns and police accountability and transparency. According to research.
The first of the report’s 13 major findings was that there were surprisingly few studies comparing results from Tasers and body cameras with those from Tasers and Tasers, and those that were there were skewed toward the United States. That was it.
Other findings show that body cameras sometimes reduce police use of force, sometimes not, and sometimes actually increase it. The same was true for assaults on police.
The use of body cameras reduced public dissatisfaction with civil servants and “could improve public perceptions of procedural justice.”
“Public perception of the use of BWC by police is generally positive, with the public using the technology to increase police transparency and accountability,” the NZ Police report said. says.
The main problem was saving the footage.
“Due to the amount of data to store, many international jurisdictions are choosing to store data in cloud-based third-party systems.”
Such storage can cost millions of dollars.
There were significant downsides to using Tasers against “vulnerable populations”, but it was unclear what effect the cameras had on this.
“Evidence on the impact of BWC on marginalized groups is limited, but there is some evidence to suggest that the presence of cameras had little impact on reducing racial disparities.”
“What’s best for the public?”
Tech creep was another concern.
Body camera footage can be used for more than evidence gathering, as advanced artificial intelligence is applied to the camera’s “facial recognition and predictive policing algorithms.”
“Concerns have been raised about how these technologies may be used with BWC data, leading to recommendations that the use of such technologies should be prohibited.”
Despite the police report, “the decision comes down to two questions: what is best for the public and what is best for the police?” Since then, the police have rarely spoken publicly about body cameras.
Instead, acting deputy commissioner Jason Guthrie emphasized that decisions about where to go next are based on “rigorous internal processes and a fair and robust procurement process.”
“This includes ensuring that technology works as intended, is safe, preserves privacy, ethics and human rights, and most importantly, improves the safety of staff and the public, ensuring that staff, various Includes input from relevant experts, communities, and other government agencies.
“As we select and purchase devices for our staff, we share that information with our community so they understand what we are doing to keep people and staff safe,” he said. said.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/478170/no-plans-for-police-to-replace-current-taser-model Police have no plans to replace current Taser model