Overview
- Parliament passed an amendment to the federal use-of-force law authorizing the Bundespolizei to carry and deploy Distanz-Elektroimpulsgeräte (Tasers).
- The move follows Bundespolizei trials that police representatives said were broadly successful and correlated with fewer violent escalations when the devices were visibly carried.
- At an Interior Committee hearing on October 13, experts urged the greatest restraint, warning that Tasers can be lethal and may escalate certain encounters.
- Witnesses disagreed on legal status, with one professor noting 14 federal states classify DEIG as weapons while police unions argued for treating them as a tool of physical force.
- Safeguards under discussion include mandatory bodycam activation during use, regular training and deployment documentation, and medical caution for people with cardiac or psychiatric conditions, with one forensic expert reporting no documented deaths in the literature he examined.