The suggestion was made by Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe during an appearance on LBC radio.
Discussing increasing the availability of Tasers, the Commissioner told a firearms officer who called the show: “One of the options is every police car, another one might be one of our response cars.”
London Assembly Members Dee Doocey and Jenny Jones, both of whom also serve on the Metropolitan Police Authority, have criticised Hogan-Howe’s comments.
Liberal Democrat AM Dee Doocey warned that moving “from a relatively small number of highly-trained police officers being armed with a Taser, to a situation where 6,500 police cars in London routinely carry them on everyday patrols would do irreparable damage to the reputation of our unarmed police service.”
Jones, who is also the Green Party Mayoral candidate, said: “Over the last few years the Metropolitan Police Authority has limited the use of tasers over the years, for very sound ethical and health reasons. Although I admire some of the new Commissioner’s plans, in this area an urgent rethink is required.”
