West Australian police have again defended their use of
Tasers after a man who had doused a house in petrol caught on
fire when officers used a stun gun against him.
It was the second time in six months that a man was severely
burnt after being stunned by a Taser in the state.
Police said a 44-year-old man had locked himself inside a
house in the Perth suburb of Forrestfield and threatened to
burn it down.
They said he had spread fuel inside the house and thrown a
petrol can at police, soaking a constable's shirt and pants.
The Taser was used when he walked toward the kitchen saying
he was going to fetch some matches.
In July, a Warburton man caught alight after being tasered by
police who were responding to reports of petrol sniffing in
the remote desert community.
The man, a known petrol sniffer, allegedly ran from a house
at the officers carrying a container believed to contain fuel
and a cigarette lighter.
Police said they asked the man to stop but he continued
running toward them, before they used the Taser.
Acting metropolitan region commander Nigel White said on
Tuesday that officers had been warned clearly about using
Tasers in the vicinity of flammable liquids and fumes after
the Warburton incident.
He said an investigation into the Forrestfield incident would
determine whether a Taser had been justified.
"We've also got to remember that if the officers had drawn
their pistols this person may not be in Royal Perth Hospital
at the moment; he may not have survived," Mr White told ABC
radio.
"It all gets down to the circumstances at the time and the
officers are autonomous in making that decision.
"We are certainly pushing it to our officers that they have
to be very wary in the vicinity of flammable liquids and
fumes ... that certainly came out of the Warburton
experience.
"We have to keep pushing the message that they have to be
absolutely 100 per cent sure when they're discharging their
Tasers, but it is a very, very important non-lethal force
option."
Mr White said most officers handled their Tasers responsibly,
but there were instances of improper use.
"One of the most sickening ones was a female officer waving a
Taser at a bloke in the water who wouldn't get into the
police boat," he said.
"She said, `Get into the boat or I'll whack you with this.'
"That, in my opinion, was a gross misuse of police power."
He said while the Taser could not be classified as a
defensive tool, it helped police avoid the risk of serious
injury.
He said three reviews had been held into Taser procedures in
WA and another one was to be held shortly, overseen by a UK
expert in options for non-lethal force.
