ARMED police who attend incidents in Wyre Forest have are among the first to be equipped with controversial stun guns.
West Mercia Constabulary's armed response unit now carry Taser guns, which fires an electrical cord which "incapacitates" a suspect using a 50,000 volt charge.
The force is the first in the West Midlands and one of the first in the country to use the devices, which Amnesty International has said are "potentially lethal".
Inspector John Alder of West Mercia's firearms school said: "The Taser is subject to the same levels of training, authorisation and deployment as all other weapons.
"Importantly, it provides police officers responsible for managing and responding to armed incidents with another option to resolve them without resort to firearms. It is not a replacement for the use of firearms in all situations we may encounter."
He said the Taser had undergone "rigorous" tests to ensure their safety.
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