France Tests Electric Weapons for Security Officers on Paris Trains and Metro

SNCF security officer. (Wikimedia Commons/Kevin.B)

JAKARTA - Several hundred officers tasked with guarding train security in Paris and the Paris metro will be armed with electric stun weapons on an experimental basis in an effort to improve security, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Thursday.

Electric stun guns are designed to incapacitate suspects temporarily with an electric shock before police arrest them.

However, the use of these weapons by police has become controversial and has been linked to many deaths, with human rights groups claiming that the weapons can be fatal if misused. Taser, the largest manufacturer of electric shock weapons, insists that its products are safe.

Speaking to TF1 television station, Tabarot said the use of electric shock weapons could be a "correct" and "proportional" response to acts of violence on public transport.

He explained that 10 percent of train police or around 300 to 400 officers would be allowed to carry the weapon "in the coming weeks."

"Our citizens demand security in transportation," Tabarot said, adding that law enforcement officers must "be able to protect themselves and protect passengers," AFP reported (20/2).

"To improve control over high-risk situations, reduce the use of firearms, or limit the risk of physical injury to third parties and SNCF internal security agents and Paris public transport authorities, they may be allowed to carry electric stun guns," reads a decree from the interior and transport ministries published on Thursday in the official journal of new laws.

Authorization to carry these "non-lethal" weapons is granted "experimentally" for a period of three years from the date the decree takes effect, the journal's note reads.

A source at the transport ministry said: "In some countries, Tasers have proven effective."

In France, this measure will come into force after the publication of an order defining the detailed procedures, and after prior training for the officers concerned, the ministry told AFP.

"At the end of the process, an assessment of the system will be carried out," the ministry added.

It is known that the French national railway operator, SNCF, has 3,000 officers in its internal railway police service, while the capital's metro and bus operator, RATP, has around 1,000 security officers.

All of the officers are trained and authorized to carry deadly weapons.