- The City Hall will buy two T10 electric guns, but the police have asked for another six. The excuse for their use is the alleged increase in the use of white weapons by detainees. The Foral Police of Navarra has launched the process to obtain 150 taser guns that are increasingly the local policemen that have had the units of the Ertzaintza RAPID since 2017.
The City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz is going to buy taser guns "when it has money" for this, as explained by the Security Council. The councillor has ratified his decision to purchase these weapons, which he already expressed in July his intention to acquire them. During the summer, a young man attacked an ertzaina with a glass bottle, and the City Hall had already taken advantage of it to announce that he intended to take on new weapons.
The police themselves have asked the City Hall to buy taser guns and the government, after analyzing "the advantages and disadvantages", has decided that it will buy them. The Local Police considers that electric pistols can "increase security and have a deterrent effect", and considers as justification that "an explosion of white weapons is taking place".
At the moment, the consistory has shown its commitment to buy two pistols from the T10 model, but the police want to buy a total of eight: The number of two teams is "deficient", according to his words. The two taser guns will cost EUR 18,800 and, as you have explained, they will have a camera to record both the image and the audio.
Taser guns everywhere
More and more police forces are getting the new taser guns. Municipal police officers of Navarra have achieved electric arsenals in localities such as Azagra, Peralta, Balterra, Cascante, Corella, Falces, Funes, Pamplona/Iruña, San Adrián or Centrón, among others. These weapons are also spreading in Bizkaia: In Basauri, municipal agents already have taser guns, and in Barakaldo, Durango and Trapagaran city councils plan to implement the measure.
The units of the Ertzaintza RAPID have been authorized to use these weapons since 2017, and have already been used to do so. For example, in March, the Ertzainas used the taser gun in Astigarraga (Gipuzkoa) to attack a person who had suffered a psychotic outbreak in the municipality: The man, who lost his life in a brutal police intervention, has been arrested.
For its part, the Foral Police of Navarra will soon acquire 150 taser guns, for which it will initiate the necessary regulatory change. The Civil Guard is also deploying electric pistols in other localities in Navarre.