Cabinet of Ministers approves expansion of grounds for use of stun guns by police
Kyiv • UNN
The government has supported a draft law that expands the grounds for the use of stun guns by police. Three new grounds and a ban on use in certain areas of the body have been added.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft law that improves the use of stun guns by police. In particular, the document proposes to expand the list of grounds for the use of stun guns. This was reported by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Bohdan Drapyatyi, UNN reports.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the draft Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Article 45 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the National Police of Ukraine’ to improve the legal grounds and peculiarities of the use of special means" developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
The document proposes to add to Article 45 (Use of Special Means) in paragraph 6 three grounds for the use of electroshock devices of contact and contact-remote action:
- during the detention of a person suspected of committing a criminal offense and resisting or trying to escape;
- during the detention of a person who physically resists a police officer;
- during the detention of a person trying to escape from custody.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reminded that the current law currently provides only two grounds for the use of stun guns by police:
- to repel an attack on a police officer, other person and/or protected object;
- to repel an animal attack that threatens the life or health of a person or a police officer.
The expansion of the legal grounds for the use of stun guns by police officers is due to the fact that this special device, when used in exceptional cases, can significantly reduce the risk of injury to the offender or the onset of a lethal outcome, unlike the use of firearms
He also added that the draft law, in particular, proposes to prohibit police officers from using electroshock devices in the areas of the head, neck, and genitals.
