According to Delo, the Slovenian police will add 20 X2 model tasers to its list of active-use equipment starting on July 1st 2020. Given the latest incidences of the use of force on the side of the police during peaceful anti-government protests, Mladina magazine wonders whether the adoption of tasers at this time is a government move to target protesters.
The first attempt to introduce tasers occurred under the first Janša’s government, when a two-year trial period was introduced in 2006. The police officers, however, found no need for the use of this equipment and the trial period ended without a single incidence of a taser being used.
In 2017, however, Cerar’s government passed legislation which allows and regulates the use of tasers on the part of the police. According to Mladina, legalization of the use of tasers came as a response to the alleged need to facilitate border protection due to the increased number of illegal crossings.
Last year 25 Slovenian police officers were trained by the American company Axon, the supplier of the devices, and these 25 instructors then further trained 237 police officers in handling the equipment.
According to the Police Tasks and Powers Act, tasers are equipped with a camera, which is active at all times. The use of a taser is justifiable when active resistance or an attack is endangering the life of a police officer or anyone else. Tasers can also be used in the prevention of suicides.
The Police Tasks and Powers Act also allows the use of tasers on elderly, children, sickly, disabled and pregnant women in situations which allow for the use of firearms.
