By Rachel Tiffen
Police have threatened more than 1500 people with Tasers since they were rolled out two years ago, but they've only pulled the trigger about 200 times.
Two years ago, Benjamin Easton took a sledgehammer to Wellington's Manners Mall to protest road changes. Police moved in to threaten him with Tasers.
But Easton says they didn’t bother him.
“It was inconsequential. I was engaged. From my point of view I was concentrating on what I had to do.”
Police say Easton’s response was unusual and in most cases the threat's enough.
Police operations national manager, Superintendant Barry Taylor, says the taser is a “really effective tool”.
“It helps de-escalate any situation we get into. As you can see by the number of shows versus discharges, the general public are seeing it as a deterrent.”
Australian and New Zealand police, as well as Taser experts from around the world, are in Wellington for the annual Australasian Taser Conference, here to compare notes on what's working and what's not.
The New South Wales ombudsman is calling for an overhaul of Taser use in the state after a student died after being tasered. The Brazilian student was high on LSD when Australian police chased him down, Tasered him nine times and restrained him using pepper spray, drive stuns and a baton.
Medical experts say his death was complex but the Taser played a part.
Here in New Zealand, of 212 people Tasered in two years, 13 have been injured. Five of those injuries were minor, seven were moderate and one was severe.
Police say the severe injury was a man in the Waikato who fell after being Tasered and needed stitches to the head.
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