The Guàrdia Urbana of Barcelona will become the next police force to acquire electric guns. The municipal police of the Catalan capital presented this Friday its regulations for the use of this type of weapon, which contemplates its use in people with mental health problems in situations of risk of suicide or self-harm, one of the cases advised against by international organizations. human rights.
Broadly speaking, the Guàrdia Urbana’s regulations on the use of what are known as Taser guns follow the line of that of the Mossos d’Esquadra, even in its most controversial aspects. For example, it allows the shooting of adolescents between 15 and 18 years old, since it only prohibits its use in children under 14. It also authorizes its shooting in suicide attempts “as long as it is assessed that it will not cause harm less than the one that is intended to be avoided.” .
The Mossos d’Esquadra have fired 212 shots with Tasers in six years. The only fatality from this type of pistol was precisely a schizophrenia patient who was shot up to six times by the agents during a crisis.
It is precisely in these complex cases of police action where the regulations of the Catalan police on the use of Tasers by the Urbana and the Mossos clash with the recommendations of international organizations on human rights. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe calls for avoiding the use of electric guns on people intoxicated by alcohol or other drugs as well as against the mentally ill, since they may not understand the warnings prior to the use of this type of weapon.
The biggest problem with the use of Tasers is the inability of the agent to know at a glance, for example, if the person who is shot has heart disease, an assumption that, together with alcohol and drug use or psychiatric problems, can entail serious consequences when receiving a low amperage electric shock.
The chief mayor of the Guàrdia Urbana, Pedro Velázquez, has defended that, even in these most complex cases, the agents will use the Taser under the principles of opportunity, necessity and proportionality. However, the regulations do not establish a limit on shots. “Normally, with a single use we think it will be enough, but it will depend on each case,” explained the police official.
Once the regulation is presented to the municipal groups, the municipal government will initially approve it in the coming weeks. Then a period for allegations will open. Once the procedures have been completed, the purchase of the first 22 electric guns will be carried out and the intention is for them to be available at the beginning of 2026.
The regulation also contemplates that all actions with Tasers will be recorded on video and that each shot will be evaluated and audited by police officials. In Spain as a whole, some 280 local police forces have electric guns, of which 78 are in Catalonia.
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