§ Mr. Gregory CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in establishing an alternative to the plastic baton round for use in quelling civil disturbances in Northern Ireland. [186488]
§ Mr. PearsonThe report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland recommended that "an immediate and substantial investment should be made in a research programme to find an acceptable, effective and less potentially lethal alternative to the Plastic Baton Round".
In response, a Northern Ireland Office led steering group was set up. The fourth report of the steering group, published on 29 January this year, concluded that there was no commercially available product that met these criteria and that the focus should be on the development of two distinct new projectiles: the Attenuating Energy Projectile (AEP) and the Discriminating Irritant Projectile (DIP). Detailed research has concluded that both of these rounds represent a less potentially lethal alternative.
The Government remains committed to developing an effective, less potentially lethal alternative and, as announced, it is hoped that the AEP will be ready for operational deployment before summer 2005. The Government are also committed to equipping the PSNI with a broader range of public order equipment that might reduce the need to resort to the use of this new projectile.
The ACPO guidance on the use of baton rounds published on 8 December 2003 makes clear that baton rounds should only be used in a public order situation where other policing methods to restore or sustain public order have failed or must be unlikely to succeed, and where the use of the round is judged necessary to reduce a serious risk of loss of life or serious injury. It also states that baton rounds are designed to provide a less lethal option in dealing with threats of serious violence and provide an effective means by which individuals armed with petrol bombs or other weapons can be kept at a distance, contained or dispersed.