POLICE in West Yorkshire used stun guns more than 800 times in a year – and disproportionately against black people, figures suggest.

An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report raised serious concerns around the unnecessary or unsafe use of the devices by forces across England and Wales, particularly against non-white or vulnerable people and children.

It highlighted disproportionate use of electroshock weapons against black people, a matter being reviewed by the National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing (NPCC).

Home Office data shows West Yorkshire Police drew stun guns 868 times in a year to March 2020, though officers only discharged the electric shock weapons on 80 occasions.

The figures show where the subject's ethnicity was recorded, 636 incidents of stun gun use involved white people, compared to 70 involving black people. It meant black people were involved in 8% of all incidents, despite representing 1.9% of the population.

The figures count the number of times officers involved in an incident used their stun gun rather than the number of separate incidents.

Across England and Wales, black people were eight times more likely to be subject to use of electroshock weapons than white people in 2019-20, according to the IOPC report.

Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi, NPCC lead for less lethal weapons, said tackling racial disproportionality in stun gun use is a policing priority.

She said: "We do not yet understand the reason for this and that’s why this disproportionality is being reviewed. Policing is not easy and in many violent situations I believe Taser is a viable less lethal option for officers between using a baton and the lethal force of a gun."

Oliver Feeley-Sprague, spokesperson for Amnesty International, said: “The police have a disturbing track record of disproportionately using (elctroshock weapons) against black people and those in mental distress.

“In some circumstances, (stun guns) can be effective to prevent loss of life or serious injury, but they’re open to misuse and over-use."

West Yorkshire Police Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Tyron Joyce, said: “Police officers and staff seek to protect the public and do so under some challenging circumstances, often under the threat of violence. This is simply unacceptable but unfortunately is an operational reality.

“Officers must only use a (stun gun) when absolutely necessary, often when facing a serious risk of violence. This may range from the person of concern, other members of the public or officers responding to an incident.

“A (stun gun) was only fired on a small amount of cases (less than 10%) meaning that the act of simply drawing a (stun gun) was a significant enough deterrent to bring the incident to a conclusion. In every case a senior officer reviewed the circumstances around the incident to ensure it was appropriate and necessary in the circumstances.”

Brian Booth, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “The IOPC struggles to maintain any credibility with the rank and file officer - and this report will do very little to reverse the situation. The report does not take into account the unpredictable nature of policing situations.”