Investigation into complaint about use of Taser - Hampshire Constabulary, September 2021

A complaint was made to Hampshire Constabulary concerning the use of Taser on a vulnerable 24-year-old man in Eastleigh in September 2021. Having reviewed the evidence, Hampshire Constabulary referred the conduct of the officer who had deployed Taser to the IOPC for investigation. 

We determined the officer should be investigated regarding an allegation of the use of excessive force.

During the investigation, we obtained CCTV footage of the incident, body worn video (BWV) camera footage from two policers involved in the incident, recordings of phone calls and radio transmissions, statements from eye- witnesses and documentation about the incident. We also took an account from the man who had been Tasered.

The officer who deployed his Taser was interviewed under the misconduct caution and fully answered all questions put to him about the incident.

Our investigation concluded in December 2022.

The investigation concluded that there was no indication that any police officer had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system, and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. In this case, the investigation did not identify learning.