Shock treatment

The British government is going ahead with plans to arm thousands of police officers with electric stun guns, commonly known as Tasers.

The excuse? Home Secretary Jaqui Smith said that, while she is "proud" that the British police force does not carry firearms, she nevertheless wants to give police "the tools they need" to carry out their dangerous work.

So ten thousand more cops are going to have the tools they need to send 50 thousand watts of electricity coursing through the veins of suspected criminals. As Amnesty International notes, Tasers can cause serious injury or even death -- the guns have killed at least three hundred people in North America in recent years.

Most of those Taser victims were not even armed. Which brings up another point -- how will the British people react to the knowledge that their police force is carrying miniature electro-shock machines? Up until this point, British police have been a relatively benign force, at least compared to police in France or the United States. And British criminals, knowing that their police are unarmed, have not needed to arm themselves. Now the balance is shifting.