After the City Council purchased 50 Tasers, at a cost of 121,000 euros, for their officers who aren’t permitted to carry firearms, Torrevieja has been told by the Valencian Security Agency that temporary officers are not allowed to carry or to use them.
Indeed the Agency has also said that these same officers should only be employed on administrative or traffic duties.
Their instructions are clear. For the exercise of their duties “the temporary officers do not need to carry personal defence means, and therefore, the use of Taser’s cannot be allowed as an optional defensive means to carry in their vehicles”.
However the ruling has annoyed the Torrevieja authorities who argue that although the interim agents are limited in their functions, their daily work can bring them into situations that involve risk in which they would be required to use a defensive weapon like the one proposed.
The City Council also cites a loophole in the current regulations in which it is stated that patrol cars can carry this type of electric immobilizer as an option.
They also refer to the acquisition of 20 Tasers by the Local Police in Benidorm in 2017 where there were no such limitations issued to their use.
In the meantime the purchase will still go ahead but it is still unclear if the weapons will be issued to temporary agents.
