92 Resource book on the use of force and firearms in law enforcement For pregnant women and people with heart replacements or weak hearts, the effects can be serious and unpredictable, although the effects are yet to be fully appreciated. Using a taser against people with a pre-existing medical condition, children and people of small stature carries additional risk. The principal difficulties with the deployment of electroshock weapons are that law enforcement personnel on the ground cannot predict the full effect the weapon might have, given their lack of knowledge about the person they are about to use it against. The persons most likely to be at increased risk from any harmful effects of the device include those suffering from the effects of drugs, or those who have been struggling violently and/or present other risk factors. This does not mean that the taser should never be used, but rather that extra care should be taken, and immediate medical assistance should be provided to assess the subject, as the effects may be seriously damaging, or even irreversible.203 One of the concerns with tasers is that they tend to be used as a substitute for lesser uses of force, “with the result that more serious force is used than would be the case if [electroshock weapons] were not available”.204 In fact, over the years there have been reports that the device carries the risk of being lethal,205 and in any case its use can be very painful for the subject. As such, their use should be placed at the high end of the scale of force, and the United Nations Committee against Torture has stated that its use should be restricted to serving as a substitute for potentially lethal weapons, which means that use should be subject to the same criteria as firearms.206 This does not mean electroshock weapons can always substitute for firearms in operational practice, as the taser has a different operational use–for example, it can only be used at a fairly short distance, and its incapacitating effect is usually temporary. THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE AND ELECTROSHOCK WEAPONS The United Nations Committee against Torture has on several occasions raised concerns that the use of electroshock weapons could in some situations amount to torture.a The Committee has, for example, recommended that States: • Refrain from flat distribution and use of electrical discharge weapons by police officials. • Adopt safeguards against misuse of electrical discharge weapons, providing proper training for personnel to prevent their excessive use, and using electrical discharge weapons exclusively in extremely limited situations where there is a real and immediate threat to life or risk of serious injury, as a substitute for lethal weapons. • Ensure that all allegations of excessive or inappropriate use of these weapons are promptly, impartially and thoroughly investigated and that victims obtain redress and fair and adequate compensation. a See CAT/C/PRT/CO/4, para. 14; CAT/C/NLD/CO/5-6, para. 27; CAT/C/AUS/CO/4-5. See College of Policing, Control, restraint and searches, 2013. Walker, Samuel and Carol Ann Archbold, The New World of Police Accountability, Sage Publications, 2014, p.78. 205  This is recognized by TASER company: https://prismic-io.s3.amazonaws.com/axon%2F38b0dca1-458d-4bf89c7f-d58db397174b_axon+final+warranty+terms+and+conditions+-+le+non-us.pdf 206  See Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: United States of America, 36th Session, 1–19 May 2006, para. 35; USA: Stun Weapons in Law Enforcement, Amnesty International, 16 December 2008; Small Arms Survey, 2011. 203  204