By Gavin Mackintosh-
The IOPC is to investigate the use of stun guns by Birmingham Police as part of a probe into police brutality.
The use of the weapons is forming part of an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into six allegations of over-use of force by the West Midlands police on black men in the city.
Lawyers from the action against state and police legal unit of Bindmans law firm, along with Inquest, the charity that investigates state-related deaths called for an urgent review of stun guns across UK police forces.
The IOPC said it was conducting a “full, fair and thorough” inquiry into several West Midlands officers.The inquiry includes claims that black men were wrongly shot with stun guns by a rogue officer, the IOPC said.
The inquiry started in April after video emerged of a police officer apparently beating a 15-year-old boy in the Newtown area. The officer was suspended from the West Midlands force after footage emerged of him knocking the boy down with a punch before kicking him.
The IOPC investigation is also examining CCTV footage from the previous day showing the same officer beating a black cyclist. The officer is alleged to be seen dragging the 44-year-old male off his bike before pulling down the man’s protective face mask.
The video also appears to depict a female colleague holding the man down while the male officer appeared to punch the cyclist three times in the back.
Further footage emerged of an incident on 27 February in the Handsworth area of Birmingham where Trevalie Wyse, a 30-year-old local black man, had witnessed a car crash.
The same officer in the April incidents is seen ordering a black man to the ground, despite him just being a bystander. He was subsequently shot with a stun gun for failing to get down on the floor.
Wyse later described being shot with the weapon: “I was hit in the stomach and in the throat. I passed out – when you’re being Tasered, it’s not a nice feeling … It’s disgraceful, there was no reason to do that whatsoever.”
On the use of the weapons by the West Midlands force and excessive police actions in general, Joseph Morgan, a solicitor with Bindmans, said: “The recent incident in Birmingham highlights the dangers of arming rank-and-file officers with Tasers.
Police guidance on the use of Tasers is vague and leaves much to the judgement of individual officers. With the significant government rollout of Tasers to police forces leading to a rapid increase in their use in recent years, it is to be expected that instances of police officers overzealously using Tasers against members of the public would also increase.”
The head of the West Midlands force’s professional standards department, Chief Supt Chris Todd, said: “Serving and protecting the public is paramount and it is vital that our communities have trust and confidence in everything that we do.”
Derrick Campbell, the IOPC’s director in the region, said: “I would like to reassure communities in the West Midlands that full, fair and thorough independent investigations are under way into all of these incidents and the conduct matters brought to our attention by the force.”