Police stun guns: stun guns, risks, TASER 7 and increasing use

Review of police stun guns: model and make, volts, what the electroshock does to the body, medical risk groups, improper use and interactive statistics on coercion, firing and driving shocks.

The police stun weapon, often called a stun gun or taser, has quickly gone from experimental operations to standard equipment in the Swedish external service. From 2024, at least one police officer in each patrol or group would carry taser weapons on external duty as per PMFS 2021:4. That has made the weapon visible in more interventions, more notifications and more border cases.

Have you been subjected to excessive force by police? In case of acute danger or ongoing threat, call 112. This guide is information and documentation support, not emergency legal advice or

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What is a stun gun?

A stun gun is a hand-held violent device that can be used in two main ways:

• Firing: the weapon fires off two projectiles/arrows stuck in thin wires. When both make contact, current can pass through the body and cause neuromuscular incapacitation, that is, the muscles temporarily lock
.
• Drive shock: the weapon is pressed directly against the body and transmits current in short intervals. The effect is primarily pain and local impact, not the same distance action as a successful firing.
• Coercive: the police point the weapon or use warning function to get the person to follow directions without power necessarily being passed over.

Police describe the weapon as an intermediate between pepper spray/baton and service pistol. The critical question is whether a new intermediate mode actually reduces more dangerous violence, or whether it also lowers the threshold for electrical violence in situations where the person is already under control

What makes do Swedish police use?

The procurement of Swedish electroshock weapons was made as “Conducted Energy Weapons with accessories”. Armatech AB stated in 2022 that the company, together with Axon, received a multi-year framework contract to supply TASER 7 with accessories to Swedish law enforcement, the Riksdag Administration and the Swedish Armed Forces. It is therefore reasonable to describe the police department's new stun weapon as the Axon TASER 7, delivered

For the ownership and supplier ranks behind Armatech, Defensor Group, Flat Capital and former ÖB on Defensor's board of directors, read the related review Armatech, Defensor and police stun guns.

SVT has in several local articles described the weapon as the police's new stun weapon, stating that it emits about 50,000 volts initially. In SVT Sörmland, the police training coordinator explains that the voltage subsequently, once the circuit is established, drops to about 2,500 volts. What matters medically is not just the volt number, but the shape of the current pulse, where the arrows hit, how long the exposure lasts, the person's state of health, and whether the person falls or is

What happens in the body?

A successful firing affects the sensory and motor nervous system. The person experiences intense pain and the muscles can lock for a few seconds. Police describe giving time to check on the person. From the perspective of the person affected, on the other hand, there is a sudden electric shock, pain, loss of body control and often the risk of

The medical risk picture consists of several layers:

• Neuromuscular Incapacitation: the muscles can lock so that the person falls without being able to receive.
• Pain and stress stress: the electric shock can produce strong pain, panic, hyperventilation and stress reaction.
• Skin and soft tissue injuries: arrows can cause wounds, burns, bleeding or infection, especially if they hit sensitive areas.
• Fall injuries: head injury, fracture, tooth injury or drowning risk if the person falls from a height, in traffic, in water or on track.
• Cardiac arrhythmia risk: British SACMILL states that rhythm disturbance, including ventricular capture and, in extreme cases, ventricular fibrillation, is to be seen as a risk for all electroshock weapons, especially when hit across the anterior chest near the heart.
• Implanted cardiac devices: studies on pacemaker and implantable defibrillator describe disorders such as noise reversion, pacing inhibition, and inappropriate defibrillator reaction during exposure, although permanent damage is not always observed.
• Prolonged or repeated exposure: multiple cycles, multiple hits or driving shocks can increase physical and mental strain.

Medically vulnerable people

The risks are not evenly distributed. An electric shock to a healthy, standing adult in a controlled environment is anything other than an electric shock to a sick, drunk, pregnant, thin, elderly, or restrained person in chaos. Particularly vulnerable groups and situations are:

• Heart disease: known rhythm disturbance, ischemic heart disease, heart failure or other structural heart disease can make an electrical impact and stress reaction more dangerous.
• Pacemaker or ICD: electrical interference can affect sensing or trigger unwanted reactions. The person should receive medical assessment if the shock has passed near the chest or if
symptoms occur.
• Low body weight or thin physique: SACMILL points out that shorter distances between skin and heart can increase concern when hit across the chest area.
• Pregnancy: falls, abdominal trauma, stress and unclear fetal impact mean that caution should be the starting point.
• Children and young people: smaller bodies, higher vulnerability and greater risk of falling mean that the proportionality assessment must be particularly rigorous. The police magazine example in which a 15-year-old girl was hit after a phone was mistaken for weapons shows the problem concretely.
• Elderly and frail people: greater risk of fracture, head injury, heart problems and complications after falls.
• Epilepsy or neurological disease: pain, stress, falls and electrical impacts can worsen conditions or trigger seizures in some people.
• Intoxication, drugs or withdrawal: stimulants, alcohol, overheating and heavy agitation can burden the heart and metabolism. SACMILL describes particular concerns where heart function is compromised by drugs or addictive drugs
.
• Mental illness or panic: the shock can produce trauma, flashbacks, distrust of authorities and reinforced fear in future police contacts.
• People in water, traffic, stairs, at altitude or tracks: the greatest risk is then often not the electricity itself, but the uncontrolled fall or the environment.
• Persons already restrained or lying on their stomachs: PMFS 2021:4 prohibits use when police have control over the person. In addition to the legal, there is a risk of panic, a feeling of lack of oxygen and injury when the person is unable
to protect themselves.

Rules: significant violence, not tools of convenience

PMFS 2021:4 states that the right of police to use force is contained in section 10 of the Police Act and that in the defensibility assessment it should be taken into account that stun guns involve a significant measure of the use of force. The regulations also clearly regulate:

• § 14: use occurs by thrusting or firing.
• Section 15: coercion may take place only when the conditions for propelling/firing are met or can be assumed to occur.
• Section 16: the police officer shall, unless it is inappropriate or ineffective, state that he is a police officer and intends to use stun guns.
• § 17: the weapon may not be used when the police have control over the person.
• § 18: the weapon may not be used against a person who only resists passively through body weight.
• § 19: the weapon may not be used if the circumstances imply a risk of serious injury, other than to prevent danger to life or health.
• § 23: the use must be documented in detail, including why the violence was necessary and why the electroshock weapon was used.

SVT also reiterates that police regulations/training materials say that the face, neck, neck and genitals should be avoided. It's not a detail. If a stun gun is used against the neck/neck of a person who is lying down and is passive, the question doesn't just become “did it hurt?” unless the violence had a lawful and proportionate basis at all

When the use lacks a proven legal basis

There are already Swedish examples where the use has been deemed incorrect or indefensible:

• Stockholm District Court, January 2026: a police officer was convicted of assault after driving thrusts to the head, neck and neck area of a man lying on the ground. The court found that, to all intents and purposes, the man was under control and that the violence was not necessary or proportionate
.
• SVT's films from Stockholm: SVT describes two films in which police officers use stun guns against the necks of lying, arrested persons. Lawyer Linus Gardell says there is no reason to use stun guns in such situations, especially not against the neck.
• Police magazine's AD case: a police officer fired stun guns at a 15-year-old girl after perceiving a mobile phone as a weapon. The Police Personnel Responsibility Board judged that she was on her way away, did not pose a concrete threat and that conditions for ECV were lacking. The police union is pushing the opposite line in the Employment Tribunal
.

One should be precise: each individual case is decided by the circumstances on the ground. However, it is factually correct that Swedish cases already show electroshock weapons fired or used in situations where the court or liability board judged that there was no legal/defensible basis

The statistics: use is increasing rapidly

SVT's statistics from the Swedish Police Authority show a clear increase between 2024 and 2025:

• The Kingdom of 2024: 2,854 imposing, 767 firings, 572 driving thrusts.
• The Kingdom of 2025: 3,877 coercive, 1,025 firings, 793 thrust thrusts.

The interactive D3 graph on the statistics page shows national statistics divided into coercive, firing and driving shock. It doesn't just show more weapons in circulation. It shows that an aid said to fill the gap between baton and gun is already being used thousands of times

What should you document if you have been exposed?

• Where did the arrows or drive bump hit? Photograph marks and wounds
.
• Were you standing, lying down, restrained, handcuffed, or moving away?
• Did the police have control over you under section 17?
• Did you get a warning under section 16?
• Was there a risk environment: stairs, height, traffic, water, tracks, flammable environment?
• Do you have heart disease, pacemaker/ICD, epilepsy, pregnancy, neurological disease, or other risk factor? Seek care and ask for a journal entry.
• Request the Section 23 report, incident report, bodycam if available, and any footage from the scene.

Sources

• SVT Stockholm: Sharp increase in cases of police using stun guns
• SVT Jönköping: So many times the police have used the new stun gun
• Police newspaper: Taser becomes question before Labour Court
• Swedish Radio: This is how police use stun guns, step by step
• PMFS 2021:4, Police Authority regulations on electroshock weapons
• Armatech: framework agreement with Axon on TASER 7
• SACMILL: medical statement for TASER 7