PLANS to increase the number of Taser-trained police in North Yorkshire from 40 to 80 per cent of frontline officers would cost close to £1 million, it has been revealed.

The county’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan today released a new survey which asks members of the public for their views on the use of Tasers by frontline police.

The survey reveals that training and maintaining the current number of Taser-trained officers costs more than £160,000 per year.

To increase the number of Taser-trained frontline police to 80 per cent of the force could take five years and would cost more than £900,000, with a further £180,000 per year thereafter.

Mrs Mulligan said she was releasing the survey in a bid to understand the public’s view on whether more Tasers were needed, as well asking questions surrounding safety and how safe people currently feel in their community.

At present about 40 per cent of uniformed, frontline police officers in North Yorkshire carry Tasers. Officers are licensed and trained to use them in a range of different scenarios.

In the last 12 months in North Yorkshire, Tasers were used 226 times to manage an incident, which included drawing, aiming and ‘red dotting’ - aiming a laser point showing where a Taser would hit. A Taser was used to fire at a person on 38 occasions.