The blows are “electric impulse”. But it is a full-fledged weapon. From Monday 14 March, after years of experimentation and disputes in the procedures, it enters in all respects in the endowments of the State Police, Arma dei Carabinieri and Guardia Finanza. The go-ahead was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Luciana Lamorgese. “Thanks to the adoption of the device, the police forces will be able to manage critical and dangerous situations more effectively and safely,” said the owner of the Interior Ministry.
“High deterrence capacity”
Vincenzo Nicolì, head of the Territorial Control service of the PS department led by Lamberto Giannini explains: «The long experiments carried out have shown a great deterrence capacity of this instrument. To be used, if necessary, when it is necessary to deal with the so-called non-collaborative subject “. In short, the taser is more persuasive than the gun: “We have at least 70% of the cases, during the experimentation, of subjects who succumbed only to seeing the electric impulse weapon in the agent’s hand or at most after the first signal visible and sound ».
“Violent quarrels and conflicts on the rise”
The new weapon may be a more suitable response to the changing social criminal scenario. “Violent quarrels and conflicts are on the rise – says the head of the State Police – situations that may arise from trivial reasons and degenerate with a high intensity of ongoing or threatened violence”. In these cases, the gun is not said to be useful: «The subject, especially in a state of alteration, may believe that the agent is not using it. This is how his criminal action continues ». In front of the electric gun, however, there is little to doubt. So the taser, after being shown and announced by a voice warning, is used immediately if the violent does not give up. The effect is known: the subject suffers an electric shock and a temporary paralysis.
Use with all caution
The electric impulse weapon is intended for the 14 metropolitan cities and in Caserta, Brindisi, Reggio Emilia and Padua. From May the use will be gradually extended to the departments throughout the national territory. “When colleagues are called in for an intervention, the operations room evaluates the use of the electric pulse gun – explains Nicolì – if so, it immediately sends the agents with the taser on the spot”. According to the guidelines of the PS department it is a “weapon of its own”. The recommended distance for an effective shot is from 3 to 7 meters, the impulse instrument “must be shown without being challenged to make the subject desist from the conduct in progress”. If the attempt fails, the shot is fired. But it is necessary “to consider as far as possible the context of the intervention and the risks associated with the person’s fall after it has been tapped”. Agents are now awaited to prove the facts.