Data on Taser usage from January 2013 to July 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.030484

I note you seek access to the following information:

1) The number of times a Taser was discharged by Met Police officers, per year, from 2013 to 2023 (inclusive)

2) The total number of serving officers within the Met Police who are trained to carry a Taser, for each year between 2013 and 2023 (inclusive)*

3) Please also clarify whether the number in 2) is likely to be the same as the number who actually carry Tasers?

4) For the last 12 months, please give a full breakdown of the instances in which Tasers were used by the Met Police. Please give the ages of people they were fired at and reasons they were discharged, as well as whether the incident was referred to the IOPC and what the IOPC ruling/action was, if any

5) If time and resources allow following the above, please give the breakdown described in 4) for as long a time frame as possible, working backwards from the last year *I appreciate this may need to be a single date snapshot, e.g. the total number existing in the force as of 1 January each year

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 21 – Information reasonably accessible by other means

Reason for decision

The information requested has been identified as being accessible via other means as it is already published. Where information is already in the public domain we are not required to re-publish the data; instead public authorities are required to direct you to the information, which we have done in this instance.

This action is in accordance with section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act

Q4 - For the last 12 months, please give a full breakdown of the instances in which Tasers were used by the Met Police. Please give the ages of people they were fired at and reasons they were discharged, as well as whether the incident was referred to the IOPC and what the IOPC ruling/action was, if any

All use of Force data for the MPS is published on the London Data Store dating back to when recording of Use of Force was introduced in April 2017. It covers all seven uses of Taser, Drawn, Aimed, Red-dotted, Arced, Fired, Drive Stun and Angle Drive Stun, the data is also broken down into the national Use of Force age brackets.

Disclosure

Q1 - The number of times a Taser was discharged by Met Police officers, per year, from 2013 to 2023 (inclusive)

The Use of Force data set is published on the London Data Store: recording was introduced in April 2017.

Q2 - The total number of serving officers within the Met Police who are trained to carry a Taser, for each year between 2013 and 2023 (inclusive)*

Year	Number of Taser trained officers (figure includes both AFOs and STOs).
2017	4541
2018	5545
2019	6467
2020	7500
2021	8533*
2022	7500
2023	7591

* Data recording anomalies were identified, this figure is likely to be closer to 7,500.

Q3 - Please also clarify whether the number in 2) is likely to be the same as the number who actually carry Tasers?

The above figures are the amount of officers trained to carry a Taser, and we expect them to carry them operationally where required. Sometimes STO’s may move to a role where they are no longer required to carry Taser operationally, and therefore no longer carry.

Q5 - If time and resources allow following the above, please give the breakdown described in 4) for as long a time frame as possible, working backwards from the last year *I appreciate this may need to be a single date snapshot, e.g. the total number existing in the force as of 1 January each year

As above all data is published on the London Data Store since Use of Force recording was introduced in April 2017.