The force could extend its use of the high-voltage guns if given the go-ahead by the Government's medical advisors.
GMP was one of the first forces in the country to give the weapons to firearms officers at the beginning of 2005 in a bid to save lives in critical situations where they would previously have had no option but to shoot a suspect.
And as the video shows, Chief Constable Michael Todd was so convinced of their safety he volunteered to be shot with a Taser by one of his own officers.
Now after Home Secretary John Reid has announced he is considering piloting the use of Tasers among officers who are not part of an armed unit, Greater Manchester police Chief Constable has said he would be happy for the weapon to be used on a trial basis by currently unarmed police officers here.
He said: "Tasers can save people's lives, that of the police officer and the member of the public. We at GMP have saved several people's lives. We had one person in particular who came out of a house with a firearm.
"Immediately afterwards he told the officers he didn't know why he had done what he did and thanked them for shooting him with a Taser.
Incidnets
"We have also had incidents in the last couple of months where people have been running down the streets with dangerous weapons like a Samurai sword.
"We are not talking about giving Tasers to every single police officer, but perhaps those based in the tactical aid unit, after training has been given. It could provide extra security and safety for officers and the public.
"Sometimes the threat is so great that the only option is for an officer to put themselves at extreme risk or we have to use a firearm."
When Tasers were first used by the police, there was some opposition from groups like Amnesty International which cited fatal cases involving the police in America.
But police maintain they are safe, cause no long-lasting damage and offer a safer and more preferable alternative to a gun in many situations.
The Tasers work by firing metal barbs into the skin which then discharge a 50,000 volt electrical charge which is designed to temporarily disable someone long enough to allow police to detain them safely.
Intention
John Reid announced his intention to look a piloting the extended use of Tasers if medical advisors agree, at the Police Federation annual conference in Blackpool.
He is also understood to be considering widen the type of situations in which they can be legally used. At the moment, a very specific and rigid set of restrictions applies.
The Defence Scientific Advisory Council Sub-Committee on the Medical Evaluation of Less Lethal Weapons (Domill) are expected to report back to the Government next month.
According to a Home Office spokesman, if the go-ahead is given trials could begin in September.
It is not yet known which areas would be chosen.
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Mmmm... the officer 'firing' looked to be having too much fun - did he win the sweepstake?
Its like shooting your boss. Sounds fun!
Why is it when it comes to media shots in the paper i see lots of police and yet it takes weeks to see this many police in the area i live?
Err wasn't this done (& shown) a couple of years back??
Recycling old news now too eh!!
I saw a volunteer policeman being pepper sprayed on a tv programme. He didn't like it at all!
I assume the Chief Constable is fit and in good health .
If you give someone a new toy they will want to use it .
How will the first innocent with a weak heart fare ?
Only an inquest may probably tell .
An innocent person with a good or weak heart has nothing to fear from a taser Paul. You only run this risk if you a threat to your own or someone elses safety and all other measures but the next level which is the use of lethal weapons have been discounted. So if you have a weak heart and have been tasered you should have thought about that before you misbehaved!!!! All I want to know is when Toddy will test the new Glock or Keckler Koch weapons that the force gets? Now that I would pay to see. The man has stood by while the goverment has ruined the policing in Manchester. Can I pull the trigger????
I'd think twice about giving some of them a pen never mind a taser!!!
Give all the Police proper Guns,and get respect back on the streets, get rid of the yobbos, you dont see many people in places like Spain taking the Police on do you??
plus they (Spanish police) give the Yobs (again usually drunk brits)a good hiding as well, not a talking to! lets get the scum off the streets, better still shoot them! and save us money in putting them in Jail, sorry HOTEL! Its got to happen. we have all had enough of being prisoners in our homes, and frightened when our children go out!!
I hope this is meant to be a motivational video for all Officers..Police Authority Please make sure the use of this weapon throughout G.M.P. is made compulsory...Might improve the service we get.
The story behind the headline is:
Now the police have upped the stakes by issuing tasers to all and sundry within the police force, more criminals are likely to carry guns and be more prepared to use them.
It will all end in a big massive shoot out with no winners.
I would like to have believed that the authorities would have had more sense than to raise the game in such a way. Especially when doing so has had such disastrous consequences in other areas (police chases for example)
Can I have a Go?
taser guns ummmm the police will be running the rish if the person has a good or weak heart as its not the voltage that can kill its the ampature and just a small dose can lead to death several hours after.
CS gas is mutch better as it stings like hell,makes you blind for a period and god does it make your eyes water and your nose burn.
Sadly cs gas does not work on everyone and to use it you have to be really close and away from any sort of breeze or it becomes inaccurate. The use of guns has not got worse because the police now have a firearms dept. its because the yobs see tham as fashion items and there is now no deterrent for using a firearm let alone carrying one. Lets bring back proper punishment and less rehabilitation, it's been tried and does not work lets use harsh sentances again.
now that type of article is just pandering to us....where's the video footage? ;)
Enigma, you sound like you would rather mask a problem than solve it.
That is the problem with modern society, hang 'em and flog 'em does not work, never did and never will.
ALL COPS SHOULD HAVE ONE IT WOULD SLOW ANYONE DOWN WHO HAS A KNIFE OR A GUN AND WOULD KEEP THE COPS FROM GETTING KILLED IN A LOT OF SITUATIONS, AND SEND THEM HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES AT THE END OF THE SHIFT.
Anyone with a 'pacemaker' fitted better be a very, very good boy.
A very old saying my dad had?
""He said that he couldnt fight, but he could stop the ones who thought they could?""
Britain has a strong tradition of police presence without firearms.
The taser as demonstrated in the video appears to;
1) Puncture or make non-trivial permanent contact with the target.
2) Inflict noticeable non-trivial pain.
3) Has measurable calibre size projectiles.
The taser should thus probably be considered a firearms weapon, and not a weapon of restraint.
The batton, contrary to popular belief, is suppose to be a weapon of restraint and not a Keystone Kops style combat weapon.
Also the suggestion by the actions of the target are that the taser is a tool of restraint but the demonstration penalizes the cooperative suspect.
Compare "Stop or I'll shoot",
to "Taser, Taser", stand still while I subdue you.
The professional usage should be along the lines of ordering the suspect to drop to the floor so that he/she can be handcuffed.
It should not be a required part of the restraint procedure that the taser actually be shot.
The demonstration is thus not very helpful, because it is a demonstration upon a cooperative suspect and thus a poor demonstration of police brutallity than of how the taser is useful to the policeperson faced with an uncooperative possibly armed suspect.
The Chief Constable should do his best, even considering legal action
(ie an appeal to the upper-house of government) against the government in the most extreme situation, to ensure that he has enough resources to maintain adequate police numbers so that the use of armed officers can be kept to a minimum.
Leadership by example!.
If all the cops were armed, then the yobs would think twice about stabbing them. Better still, deterent sentencing and unpleasant jails would do the trick. The old fashioned Three to a cell and a bucket was much more effective than todays cushy jails
gato, you have hit the nail on the head, you are perfectly correct, they will think twice before they use knives.
And when they have thought twice, they will come to the conclusion that knives are no longer an option so they will use guns instead.
I live in country where the police, and many others, have anything from pistols to grenade launchers. There was a recent incident where a policemen was shot dead. Being armed didn't help him much.
Jake, How was I masking a problem? I just said lets have harsh senences no one but you mentioned hanging etc. long sentences in jails that do not have TVs and games etc and no parole is what I was thinking but hey when has a hanged person ever committed another crime so maybe you have found something there! Sadly the scum already use guns so your arguments do not really hold water with the minimal amount of armed police that we have. The truth is that crime levels have risen dramatically since we started using soft punishments so lets get tough again!
Enigma, the prison population is the highest that it has ever been, so I am afraid that it is the hard line approach of putting everybody in prison that has made things worse.