Blue coloured hard plastic inert stun gun with black coloured hard plastic holster. A label on underside has various warning regarding the inbuilt laser and the makers' details "Taser International Scottsdale AZ. USA".
Use
To use to train officers in the use of a Taser
Context
In 2003 the Uk Police began to trail the use of Taser incapacitant stun guns. These two fire prongs at a person which are attached by wires to the gun and can deliver electric shocks, rendering a suspect temporarily incapacitated so that they can be safely restrained. The Tasers have laser sights to make targeting easier. The trials were successful and in September 2004 the Home Office authorised the use of Tasers authorised police firearms officers. They were first issued by Sussex Police in 2005.
The rationale behind their use was that the police needed a non lethal alternative to firearms in circumstances where incapacitant spray was ineffective or inappropriate.
In 2013 Sussex Police extended the availability of Tasers to 160 patrol officers who were not authorised firearms users. This was in order to make them more easily available to front line staff. Since then more officers have been trained and as of 2020 Sussex Police had 1,100 Tasers available to be used, though obviously not all at the same time.
This Taser is an X2 variant which was first introduced in the UK in 2017. Normally Tasers are coloured yellow but this one is blue because it is a training version. It is exactly the same as a "live" version but cannot fire live cartridges or deliver a shock. It does however have a laser sight and battery. These blue versions are used to train officers to get used to handling and aiming. They are coloured blue so that there is never any confusion as to whether an officer being trained has a "live" and potentially dangerous Taser in error.
