France abandoned its chokehold ban less than a week after announcing it
- Last week, French officials planned to ban police from using chokeholds, the potentially lethal detention tactic that has gained global attention since the police killing of George Floyd.
- That ban will no longer be considered, the Associated Press reported.
- But French police forces will begin using the Taser, a less-lethal stun gun, with more regularity.
- The weapon is used most prominently by police forces in the United States and has gained wider use across Europe in recent years.
Roiled by anti-racist protests after the American police killing of George Floyd, France announced a ban on police chokeholds, the detention tactic that an officer used against Floyd.
That proposed ban was taken off the table on Monday, the Associated Press reported, amid pressure from French police who said the chokehold was essential for their work.
Protests that began in Minneapolis following Floyd's killing have expanded across the world, including in France, where police have clashed with protesters in Paris.
Less than a week after announcing its consideration of the ban, France unveiled another police reform: Wider use of the Taser, a weapon described by its manufacturer, Axon, describes as an opportunity to "make the bullet obsolete."
Axon's Taser is used most prominently in the United States, where some 400,000 police officers, or about half of all American police, carry the less-lethal weapon, NPR reported last year. Now the stun gun is gaining popularity among European police forces.
About 15,000 officers in France, or 6.25% of the total police force, carry the gun, according to the Associated Press, which found that Taser usage has shot up from 1,400 firings in 2017 to 2,349 in 2019. Police shot and killed one person with a Taser in 2019, according to a government police-oversight report, and severely injured three others.
Police outfits in Italy, the Netherlands, Wales, and England are using the Taser with increasing regularity.
Police in the United Kingdom have the longest history with the stun gun, which was first deployed in 2003.
There is a growing concern "about its disproportionate use against black men and those with mental health issues," said Michael Gordon, director-general of the UK Independent Office for Police Conduct, last month.
"The IOPC recognises that the use of Taser is important in helping officers respond to often dangerous and challenging situations," Gordon added.
Between March 2018 and March 2019, British police, most of whom do not carry handguns or assault rifles, fired 2,700 Taser rounds. As in the United States, Black citizens are more likely than white ones to be killed by a Taser.
From 2001 through 2012, American police killed more than 500 people after using Tasers, Amnesty International reported, calling for "stricter guidelines for their use."
"What is most disturbing about the police use of Tasers is that the majority of those who later died were not a serious threat when they were shocked by police," Susan Lee, then the Americas Program Director at Amnesty International, said.
Weeks after the police killing of Floyd, Axon CEO and founder Rick Smith said the company was committed to the imperatives of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"We must engage in difficult conversations and become actively anti-racist," Smith said. "Today, we want to share the first steps Axon is committing to in order to eliminate systemic inequity, racism, and injustice."
"We are adding one more vision: Eradicate racism and excessive force in the justice system," he added.
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