Civil rights groups warn against garda use of tasers

In a potentially significant change to how Irish police operate, 128 gardaí will be issues with Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs), more commonly known as tasers. A taser is a weapon designed to incapacitate through use of two small darts that send an electric shock into the person who has been shot with them. The devices are typically marketed by companies and police forces as a means of neutralising a supposed threat in a way that is safer than alternative methods, such as use of batons, police dog or traditional firearms.

However, the pain and loss of muscular control that result from the shock can leave the targeted person at risk of injury as they fall. There have been cases of people killed by tasers, in some cases as a result of a heart attack.

Gardaí do not routinely carry guns, instead claiming to operate with a ‘policing by consent’ model. Only specialist units are permitted to carry firearms, such as the Emergency Response Unit and the Armed Support Unit. The former are intended for the likes counter-terrorism and hostage rescue work. The latter support unarmed gardaí in high-risk situations, such as when they are confronted by someone with a knife or gun.

Garda taser plan: civil liberties group warns of dangers

The deployment of tasers is set to start as a six-month pilot, though Joe O’Brien, Executive Director at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) warned of the potential for going beyond the initial trial phase without proper review:

There appears to be a pattern of Government equipping Gardaí with new tools on a pilot basis, then moving swiftly to a national rollout, without independent assessment of whether the tool is working to achieve its intended purpose. The bodyworn cameras pilot has become what ICCL warned against – an opening to introduce new technology nationwide, without publishing pilot findings or carefully weighing up the evidence for and against. We in ICCL are clear: tasers are not the Christmas gift Gardaí need.

He also argued that investigation into the implications of taser use should be done in advance, rather than using the Irish public as guinea pigs:

News reports say that senior Gardaí and Department of Justice officials want to determine how tasers work and how they impact the Garda’s relationship with the public. This research and analysis should be done prior to tasers being introduced – not on our streets in live situations.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly had in September mentioned the possibility of taser introduction, based on the number of gardaí receiving injuries. It is true that the number of assaults on gardaí has been rising in recent years, with a steady climb from 224 in 2018, up to 316 in 2022. There was then an alarming spike to 470 in 2023, in part caused by large scale racist rioting in November of that year, in which 60 gardaí were injured. The figures have decreased again since, with 2025 likely to feature around 300 assaults (156 were recorded mid-year). Crime is also going down.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan told press today that the:

…brave men and women who put on their uniform every day are often faced now with increased levels of abuse on the streets, levels of attacks.

He said “tasers in certain instances can play an important role.” Predictably, police representatives welcomed the arrival of CEDs. Previous surveys of British police found 90% support for being given the weapons. RTE quotes Vice President of the Garda Representative Association Niall Hodgins saying:

We have been calling for them for a number of years… today is a good news day for the guards.

The great thing about these tasers is that they can very much contribute to the de-escalation of the more violent and aggressive encounters that our members are experiencing year-on-year.

Tasers – another violent tool to suppress legitimate dissent

The other possibility is that the state is looking for additional means to crack down on an increasingly restive population. Racist riots continue to break out, while anti-genocide protesters are calling for an end to Zionist atrocities in Gaza are adopting more dramatic actions to try and end the Irish government’s participation in war crimes. The activities of the Palestine activists ought to be welcomed, but instead the Garda has been deploying brutal and illegal means to suppress peaceful demonstrations. Tasers in this context are likely to simply be an additional threat to legitimate political activism.

The ICCL pointed out that tasers are not actually tools of de-escalation, and are in fact typically used against the most vulnerable:

Internationally, tasers have been repeatedly used against people experiencing mental health crises and in extreme cases have led to death. Tasers are not an effective de-escalation tool in all situations. In fact, international evidence has shown that they can escalate a situation, particularly when people are experiencing mental health crises.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is the police complaints watchdog for England and Wales, cited the “disproportionate use of Tasers against Black people” as an additional reason to be concerned about their use. A 2021 study examining 101 incidents of taser use found 22% of those attacked with the device were Black, despite Black people only making up 4% of the population. This mirrors the same disparity related to ethnicity shown in use of stop and search powers.

Case of Britain shows runaway use

The figures in England and Wales show a horrifying acceleration in use of the devices, climbing from 10,380 in 2013 to 33,531 in 2022/23, as an ever-increasing number of tasers were issued, and more officers trained in their deployment. This equates to roughly 1 taser use for every 1,843 people in the latest figures. The North of Ireland has seen a more circumspect rollout, with just 282 uses in 2024/25 (1 use for every 6,843 people), and a relatively small increase over the past decade. Note that ‘use’ includes simply drawing the weapon with no discharge, and instances where the taser is actually fired. In the North of Ireland the calculus for use of the device is different; while relatively few tasers are available, all officers are issued with a Glock 17 pistol.

And Garda Síochána enjoy relatively high levels of consent by world standards, with 89% saying they trust police. It’s questionable whether it’s ever healthy to place too much faith in enforcers who exercise the state’s will regardless of whether its laws are for good or ill, but clearly the relationship between government and citizen is healthier when the former isn’t deploying potentially deadly weaponry in the faces of the latter at every opportunity. As the ICCL point out, “tasers are dangerous weapons”, and their arrival would “completely change policing in Ireland, and the relationship between Gardaí and local communities.”

Featured image via the Canary