Matthias Monroy

Five German states are using ‘distance electro-pulse devices’ in patrol duty, with more to follow. The Federal Police are also trialling their introduction in Berlin.

In Germany, the police have been using Tasers since the turn of the millennium, but until a few years ago they were deployed almost exclusively by special units. In Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, this is currently set to remain the case – despite the drumbeat of police unions. However, more and more federal states are introducing the weapons, known as ‘ranged electro-pulse devices’, into police enforcement and patrol duty.

Rhineland-Palatinate was the first to do so in 2018, followed by Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Brandenburg. In Bremen, they are reserved for special forces, but after a pilot project, the regular police are also to be equipped – this has already been implemented in Bremerhaven. In Bavaria, the weapon is available to all ‘closed units’ in addition to special units, and the extension to patrol duty has been under discussion for years. In Hamburg and Berlin, the introduction is imminent after several years of testing. In the capital, the Federal Police are also currently trialling the use of Tasers at four police departments.

Tasers use high gas pressure to fire two electrodes that are attached to wires and penetrate a few millimetres under the skin. The manufacturer states that the range is over seven metres. If both darts hit, an electric pulse of up to 50,000 volts causes the victim’s muscles to spasm. It can also be used in ‘contact mode’, where the device is held directly against the target’s body without firing the electrodes.

However, the mere sight of the weapon is said to have an intimidating effect. This occurs after the Taser has been activated after being drawn from the holster. An electric beam appears between the electrodes, accompanied by a coloured laser that marks the target.

A recent survey by ‘nd’ shows the statistics for 2023 and proves that the threat of a Taser was sufficient in over two thirds of all cases. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous federal state, they were used in 1,348 cases, 1,087 of which were mere threats. In Rhineland-Palatinate, there were 393 deployments, 335 of which were threats. In Saarland, there were 31 deployments, whereby the mere sight of the Taser was enough on 15 occasions. Bavaria reported a total of 102 deployments in 2023, most of which also only resulted in a threat only. The police in Brandenburg drew their Tasers in 252 cases in 2023. At the end of December, dpa published a survey for the year 2024, which recorded similar figures for all federal states up to the third quarter.

North Rhine-Westphalia probably has the highest number of Tasers. Following the completion of a pilot project and a coalition agreement between the CDU and the Greens, at least 1,360 devices were procured from 2022, with total costs including training amounting to at least €8.5 million. The manufacturer is likely to earn a similar amount in the other federal states. The global market for Tasers is dominated by the US company Axon, which is also responsible for their widespread distribution in Germany.

Sometimes, however, firing the Taser darts does not lead to the desired goal. Rhineland-Palatinate states that 55 of the 393 deployments in 2023 were unsuccessful, citing ‘malfunction/missing shot/clothing/other’ as the reasons.

The weapon is not without risk, even from a police perspective; it can have fatal consequences for the elderly, pregnant women and people with health problems and should therefore not be used against these population groups. However, the rule is proving to be useless, as in the vast majority of cases the police are not aware of any pre-existing medical conditions of those affected.

An expert report on the use of Tasers presented to the Düsseldorf state parliament in last November summarised that ‘overall, consequential damage to health is rare and usually less severe than after the use of firearms, for example, but it can occur’. In most cases, the firing is accompanied by injuries, such as superficial skin injuries caused by the electrodes. However, injuries also occur due to a fall after becoming paralysed. The federal states are required to send these figures to the German Police College every year. In response to a request from ‘nd’, Rhineland-Palatinate reported 162 ‘superficial skin injuries from darts/electrodes’, 27 from ‘falls’ and three from ‘electric shocks’ in 393 deployments in 2023. The police in North Rhine-Westphalia recorded one in eleven cases of injury caused by ‘fall consequences’.

Since 2018, the magazine CILIP/Bürgerrechte und Polizei has recorded a total of ten deaths after being shot with Tasers, including one each in Bavaria and Lower Saxony, two in Hesse, three in Rhineland-Palatinate and three in North Rhine-Westphalia. Most of the incidents occurred in residential buildings, often involving people in exceptional mental states or under the influence of drugs. Unlike the CILIP count, however, the cause of death in none of the cases is officially attributed by the authorities to the ‘distance electro-pulse devices’. The victims died as a result of cardiac or circulatory arrest, organ failure or other measures in connection with the deployment.

• 13.01.2018, Fulda: A man fired a small-calibre weapon in his home, which is why a SWAT team was called. The victim was tasered and died four days later. The Taser is said to have been a ‘contributory factor’.
• 22 October 2018, Nuremberg: A man who was allegedly rioting and under the influence of drugs was overpowered by a SWAT team. After being tasered and later sedated, he collapsed and died.
• 18.01.2019, Pirmasens: A man was to be taken to a psychiatric clinic and put up massive resistance. A Taser was used in contact mode. The victim collapsed on the way to hospital and died in the emergency room. Cause of death was a heart attack according to the post-mortem examination.
• 30.04.2019, Frankfurt: An overweight diabetic with a mental illness resisted urgently needed medication. After being tasered, he collapsed and later died in hospital of pneumonia and septicaemia. A direct connection with the Taser was officially not established.
• 03.10.2021, Garbsen: A man called the emergency services and threatened arriving police officers with a knife. A SWAT team used a Taser, whereupon he later died in hospital. The cause was allegedly multiple organ failure as a result of alcohol withdrawal.
• 06.10.2021, Neustadt: A man who was shouting in the street and attacking residents was subdued by police with a Taser. The cause of his subsequent death is said to have been a heart attack.
• 19.10.2022, Dortmund: A homeless man resisted a police officer and died after being tasered. The cause given was a serious heart condition accompanied by alcohol intoxication.
• 05.11.2023, Cologne: An alleged rioter was overpowered by a SWAT team with a Taser in an apartment block. After being administered a drug by an emergency doctor, he collapsed and died.
• 06.01.2024, Mülheim/Ruhr: A Guinean died after a police operation in an initial reception centre following two Taser deployments. According to the autopsy, the cause of death was cardiovascular failure.
• 30.04.2024, Landstuhl: A man went on the rampage in his flat and attacked police officers. After being tasered, he lost consciousness and died. The cause of death could not be clearly determined morphologically, but a cardiac arrhythmia was suspected.

The police argue that Tasers could close the gap between batons, pepper spray and firearms. In the police laws of the federal states, however, they are sometimes categorised as ‘firearms’ in this respect, which means higher thresholds for their use. Right-wing police unions in particular, such as the DpolG, are therefore calling for Tasers to be treated like other weapons categorised as ‘non-lethal weapons’.