Fatality forces Taser rethink

QUEENSLAND police will trial alternatives to the US-made Taser stun gun, possibly breaking its hold on Australian law enforcement.

QUEENSLAND police will trial alternatives to the US-made Taser stun gun, possibly breaking its hold on Australian law enforcement, after a man died in a confrontation with officers armed with one of the devices.

Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said alternative weapons would have to be considered because a review of Taser operations had found there was no restriction on the number of times the 50,000-volt shots could be fired in a single incident.

The joint police-Crime and Misconduct Commission review was ordered after the death of north Queensland man Antonio Galeano in June.

Data downloaded from the Taser used on Galeano, 39, who died of a heart attack while in handcuffs, showed he had been stunned 28 times after confronting police with a metal bar.

Mr Atkinson and state Police Minister Neil Roberts, who took over the portfolio this year, admitted yesterday there had been no assessment of medical evidence about the Tasers when they were approved for use by the Queensland Police Service.

Former police minister Judy Spence last year controversially approved the rollout of 3000 Tasers just six months into a year-long trial.

Mr Roberts defended the decision, saying the review found policy and training in the stun gun's use was "fundamentally sound", despite 28 recommendations to overhaul their operation.

Queensland police are expected to soon trial Taser's emerging competitor, the US-manufactured Stinger S-200AT, which is used by thousands of police in the US.

Australian distributor Robert Nioa, of Nioa Defence, said the Stinger could be set to three modes -- manual, semi-automatic and automatic -- and the voltage cycles were variable.

He said the Stinger was safer because the Taser uses 75per cent more current to incapacitate a person.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said the state government rushed its trial of Tasers at the request of police union officials who were seeking re-election.

Additional reporting: Debbie Guest