MPA approves less lethal weapons for Met

78/02
19 July 2002

At the first meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee held today, members gave the go-ahead for the baton gun weapon system for the Met.

Toby Harris, Chair of the MPA said:

“The MPA has a responsibility to make sure that decisions affecting policing in London are accountable and transparent. Therefore, we had to be absolutely certain that all aspects had been considered and checks and balances were in place, before we fully approved the baton gun.

“Members had legitimate concerns and it was very helpful that some were able to attend a demonstration of the system at Hounslow Public Order Centre. They were impressed by the accuracy of the weapon but stressed that training for the use of this weapon needs to be robust and adequate.

“After 6 months there will be an evaluation of the system which will be presented to the MPA.”

Following the last meeting of the Full Authority on 27 June, when the system had been approved in principle, several members of the MPA attended a demonstration of the baton gun and spoke to officers from Hounslow Public Order Centre about the system. The demonstration was intended to give members a fuller briefing on the capabilities of the baton gun, as well as the opportunity to speak to officers about when the weapon would be used, training and community liaison.

The members who attended this demonstration reported their findings to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee and on their recommendation the committee supported the introduction of the baton gun to the Met.

The Met will adopt ACPO guidelines which are already in place elsewhere in the UK mainland. The initial plan is for two baton guns to be made available in each of the SO19 Armed Response Vehicle supervisor’s vehicles. The officer in charge of the incident scene will consider in the prevailing circumstances whether the baton gun should be used. It will only be issued to appropriately trained SO19 ARV staff.

Notes to editors

1. The MPS will be introducing the L104A1 Baton Gun with XL118 optical sight, firing a L21A1 plastic impact projectile (baton round). These three elements combine to form a highly accurate single shot weapon system with an 'illuminated red dot' aiming sight and back-up fixed aiming sight. The baton round used is designed to have standard kinetic properties at all distances between 1 and 50 metres.

2. Although this new system fires a plastic impact projectile, hence the term baton gun, it should not be confused with the older, less accurate, black powder type baton guns previously in service for serious public disorder.

3. This baton gun is the first of the new generation technologies to be approved as a 'less lethal' option by the Home Office and recommended for introduction as such by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). It has also been favourably received as a 'less lethal' option by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA). These recommendations followed extensive scientific evaluation by the Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB) and independent medical evaluation by the Defence Scientific Advisory Council on the Medical Implications of 'Less Lethal' Options (DOMIL).

4. These baton guns have already been introduced into service as a 'less lethal' option in self-defence and arrest and restraint scenarios by a number of UK police forces. They have been operationally deployed in this capacity a number of times and have been fired twice, the first shooting being in North Wales on 27 February 2002 and the second in Surrey on 7 April 2002. Both these incidents are under investigation. They have also been brought into use in Northern Ireland; in all these firings there have been no fatalities, unlike previous generations of baton gun.

5. Following consideration of the evaluation referred to in paragraph 5 and the creation of appropriate guidelines and training (in harmony with ACPO), the MPS 'less lethal' options working group, chaired by Commander Baker, recommended the introduction of the baton gun as a 'less lethal' option to Management Board in May 2002. Management Board took an 'in principle' decision to introduce the baton gun into service and look for support from the MPA in this decision.

6. Each baton gun costs £1082 and a box of 100 rounds of ammunition costs £450; these costs will be met from existing budgets.

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