Norwegian police to start using electroshock weapons from next year

OSLO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian police will from January 1 next year use electroshock weapons as a trial scheme, public broadcaster NRK reported Monday.

"We see that this is a tool of coercion that the police in other countries have used with good results. It gives less damage than some other tools of coercion that the police traditionally use," said Knut Smedsrud, director of emergency preparedness of Norway's Police Directorate.

These weapons, which provide a shock of 50,000 volts, are used by the police in the United States, Finland, Britain and some other countries, the report said.

In Norway, it is to be initially introduced as a two-year trial scheme.

This will be an alternative in cases where Norwegian police currently use firearms, Smedsrud said.

"This happens in several thousand cases per year, so it is absolutely interesting for us to look at electroshock weapons as an alternative. They may also be an alternative to striking and gas weapons in some cases," he added.

Although not being against the use of electroshock weapons in Norway, Amnesty International told NRK that electroshock weapons must be treated as a fatal weapon.

"It is important to accept that electroshock weapons can cause very serious injuries to people. It can even lead to death," said Gerald Folkvord, political adviser in Amnesty International.

"It is to be handled in the same way as a firearm and used only in the same situations as a firearm - and nothing else," he said.

According to Folkvord, when electroshock weapons are used as a useful tool to make the job easier for the police, "it may go wrong" and the relevant international regulations could be broken.

Smedsrud assured that Norwegian police will use electroshock weapons "only when that is necessary", NRK reported. Enditem