Police Taser 7500 London police carry them

How do you expect the police to protect the public from these nut jobs I go they aren't armed?

The 2 injured officer injuries sound horrific.... trying to stop this guy from hurting others

That argument no longer holds water I am afraid.

Tasers can kill. They are classed as less-lethal not non-lethal weapons. There are very good reasons outlined by other posters as to why it's not a good idea for every officer to have them.

If that was my daughter whose hand nearly got cut off I would be apoplectic that she wasn't given an adequate defence. Tasers don't kill so they should be included in the kit of police officers,give them a fighting chance.

back then it was very very rare that people went out carrying a sword or machete.

It's still incredibly rare.

They seem to have managed OK all these years without being armed so maybe not. Although if a lunatic was running at me or my children with a sword, I'd want an armed officer so.....hard to know. I wonder how many of the injured were hurt yesterday AFTER the unarmed police came on the scene? Because, realistically, they couldn't do much (and I know they tried and were amazingly brave, I would never do that job, totally thankless). But until officers with tasers/guns got there, there wasn't much police could do other than act as human shields. They are not paid enough or treated well enough to be expected to do that.

This is an extremely difficult situation. Off the cuff, yes, it makes sense for all police officers to have them but I listened to LBC this morning and the amount of horrifying stop and search stories that suggest there is gross potential for misuse and police should not be given them.

All the people who don’t want the police to be armed with anything other than a book of nice things to say when someone is running at them with a sword….who do you think is going to apply for these jobs in the future? Them? Their children or partners ? ( clue : virtually nobody)

News flash... Criminals are already armed.

No, we're policed by consent in this country and I think it's better that use of weapons by the police is strictly controlled and scrutinised.

Tasers can kill and have been used inappropriately, particularly on minorities and the mentally unwell. The police have lost a lot of my trust in the last few years.

I would much prefer specialised units are called in for these sorts of rare incidents, than the police start carrying tasers routinely.

I saw a discussion about this on TV and I actually agree a truncheon is useless as the difference in policing the streets today as opposed to the 80s/90s, and before, is back then it was very very rare that people went out carrying a sword or machete.

Because there's no need...

I think the bravery of those police officers yesterday was absolutely amazing. They all put their lives on the line, that was quite obvious from the videos that were released. They were all heroes.

Arm the police...arm the criminals... It will spiral.

If they know all police have firearms, the criminals will "need" to do so as well.

Well, these people are there to protect us from bigger threats, so surely it makes sense that they can actually protect us efficiently?!

When they were introduced, I remember being told that tasers would be used as a less-lethal alternative where previously a firearm would have had to be used. We were told that only highly-trained officers would get them, and we wouldn't have to worry about people being tased willy-nilly because officers would be taking tasers as seriously as guns. This was presumably to reassure us and gain public acceptance. I was sceptical about these assurances, because even if there was no initial attempt at deception, and it really was the intention at that point for them to be used as a safer alternative to firearms, this is what happens — a gradual creep towards wider acceptability and a push for more general use. No thanks.

I'd say they should all have them I'm surprised they don't!

As a pp says there, the offender was only going to be stopped by a taser or a firearm. He was literally on the rampage and seemingly not targeting anyone in particular so anyone in his path was at risk.

I think they should all be trained in their useage and then officers can opt out if they don’t want to carry one.

If the reason they don’t want to carry them is the lack of protection from above when they need to use them, that needs to be addressed too.

Honestly, the things we ask them to run towards on their own with so little protection sickens me.

They have retractable truncheons and I think all have pava spray but only a taser or a bullet is going to stop someone with a knife that size intent on doing harm.

I was an officer for 14 years, I didn’t want the responsibility that came with carrying a taser, especially knowing how little support & protection is given to officers who carry firearms and are in a situation when they have to use them.

I thought that when I saw the footage of the first officers on the scene yesterday and all they could do was ask the man to drop the sword. What would they have done if he had run at them? He had already wounded two officers.

I was surprised they didn’t have tasers but I don’t know what training is involved and why all officers don’t have them. They don’t even appear to have truncheons or anything they could use in defence.

Surely it has to be reviewed now with the number of knife attacks, gang violence and random killings.

No, I don't want the police carrying more weapons more often.

All police in big cities should have tasers.

They're a firearm so no, they shouldn't be available for every officer.