UK's highest use of Taser guns in West Midlands

In six months, records show the guns were fired by regional officers on 120 occasions.

Metropolitan Police fired the guns 114 times, while Greater Manchester Police was the third highest force with officers firing 90 times.

Staffordshire Police, meanwhile, fired 27 times and officers from West Mercia shot them on 16 occasions.

See also: Staffordshire Police to wear cameras after taser probe.

When it came to the amount of times Tasers were used or brandished, West Midlands was ranked the third highest force in the country. Between January and June this year, guns were used/brandished by the force on 452 occasions. Fourth highest was Staffordshire Police with 199.

London's Met Police came out on top, using Tasers 992 times and Greater Manchester was second on the list, with 476 occasions.

Tasers were used/brandished by West Mercia Police a total of 117 times.

Across the country, the stun guns were used 5,107 times - up from 1,267 compared to the same period in 2009 - and fired on 826 occasions.

Supt Darren Miles from West Midlands Police said: "Taser provides an additional option to resolve situations, including the threat of violence, which can come from any section of the public.

"Officers have to justify using Taser, in the same way as they judge the use of CS spray or batons.

"In many cases, Taser has contributed to resolving incidents without injury - simply drawing or aiming the Taser has been enough of a deterrent.

"Taser use is recorded every time a Taser is removed from its holster during an operational incident. From January to June this year, over 70 per cent of the incidents where Taser was used it was not fired."

A probe was launched into Staffordshire Police's usage of Taser guns when previous figures came out in July. The data showed Taser guns were brandished 619 times in nine years by Staffordshire police officers - the highest rate in the country.

But the investigation concluded the amount of times guns were fired was one of the lowest in the country. The report did recommend that police officers should wear body cameras in future when they brandish the guns.

Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis said today: "It's part of my job to ensure the police act appropriately in the way Taser is used in Staffordshire.

"That's why two months ago I asked the independent Ethic, Transparency and Audit (ETA) Panel to conduct a thorough review of Taser use after a report by the Independent Police and Complaints Commission (IPCC) showed that Staffordshire appeared to have the highest use in the country in 2013.

"I'm satisfied that police in Staffordshire keep the discharge of Taser to a minimum and in very specific circumstances. As with bodycams, the use of Taser as a deterrent actually reduces potential violence often stopping trouble before it starts.

"The upshot of the review was that Taser discharge rate in Staffordshire was significantly lower than most other places - as are the rate of complaints from the public about Taser use."

The latest figures show that usage of the weapons is down compared to the previous six months. From July to December 2013, West Midlands Police used Tasers 471 times and in Staffordshire it was 263.

Every time a Taser is brandished, a record of its use is made by a police officer and a document is completed.

The Taser is a pistol-like conductive energy device that can incapacitate an individual through the use of an electrical current.

The Home Office and the police undertook rigorous testing of Taser, including submitting it for independent medical assessment, before they were introduced.