The eviction of Dale Farm was a civil matter, not a criminal one. Therefore and quite simply, the police should not have been leading an assault on its residents with tasers drawn.

Everyone should have the right to live, and the more we see police acting in this way - defending the government's decisions and being the government's enforcing agents rather than keeping the peace and upholding the law - the more we have to worry about in this country.

Get in there .. Show the picture of the protester hitting the Police with the wood that made the Police use the Taser .. Break the Law and Pay the Price .. i fully back the Police and Council, if you dont approve of the actions when you break the law of the land then GET OUT

"Police guidance says that the stun guns should not be used for crowd control."

Indeed. This was an isolated incident where one or two offices were specifically threatened.

@Rich....you sound very excited?, no doubt you where popping one out while you watched it!!, by the sound of it you`re really pleased!!, keep taking your medication!!!.

Of course, you might ask why ACPO - a private body with limited accountability and a built-in conflict of interest - should be setting policy. If you had any investigative journalists, that is.

Leftwingers and Liberals note: ethnic minorities are NOT above the law. Someone in the settled community cannot build without planning permission!!

Perhaps all these handwringers would like to give up their land to accommodate these travellers????

@ Keir
That picture prooves nothing. Hows about you watch this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15368327
Proof that the legal observer wasn´t shot at but a protester armed with a big stick and being told to move was.

@A.Cole....I think you`re confusing this site with the BNP, EDL, NF, Combat 18, sites?, you`re obviously full of hate for any minorities?, I`m slightly confused "Leftwingers and Liberals note"?, calm down!, you sound like a relic from 30s Germany?, no doubt that would of been an ideal place for your views?, you`re not interested in law and order!!, you`re only bothered because it`s travellers!, because you`re full of hate for anyone different!!, very sad.

I do not like the use of Taser to force unwilling subjects to comply - that is the danger of the device; it can be misused in that way.

Having watched the video recorded, available via the BBC, the police were reacting to 'incidents of violence' and 'threats of violence of such severity' that force was needed - a justifiable standard.

It is questionable if the weapon's dispatch was safe to use in this circumstance; against people in a crowded situation. That was not possible to judge from the footage.

As regards the appropriateness of using a Taser against protesters; it should not be used to force subjects to comply if they are passively resisting but if resistance is violent and of such severity force is needed, then that force is legitimate.

If the use of force by the state is legitimate, which is what this entire circumstance is now about, then so too is the measured use of force by the police to resist violent opposition.

If the state's use of force is not legitimate or indeed that state itself is not legitimate then the measure would be about all parties rights to 'enjoy' their property.

On one hand the land's owners should have a right to do as they wish with their land - it is their land after-all. On the other hand the owners of surrounding effected land should have a right to protection from, compensation for and rectification of the proven detrimental effects resulting from inappropriate developments that damages their 'enjoyment' of their property in whatsoever way can be proven (for example a stinking fish factory).

That would be the case in a stateless society and I fancy I know which party would win.

The use of the Taser in that clip looked pretty justified to me. The protester was weilding a fairly substantial piece of wood and also in such a way that if an opening had appeared he could well have jabbed it with enough force to cause a serious injury even with a face shield on the helmet.

It was fired at pretty much point blank range and hit the aimed at protester so to me that points out that there wasnt much danger to anyone else getting hit. The idiot with the stick was also given a short timespan to back off and could clearly see the taser which also imo serves as a warning.

Mind you it also clearly shows that wearing baggy clothing is a good idea if your in that situation as the dart hit the clothing and didnt actually do anything to the "victim" :)

If police begin to use that level of force, then protesters will no doubt gear up to meet it.

Tazers are a stupid escalation of a stupid and unjustified eviction.

It might be rubber bullets and water cannon next? The Police were supposed to stand by in case of violence, not to lead in the eviction.

robert arne saying thatif the police have tasers, then protesters will get more tooled up reminds me of Bernie grant saying tht if the police had guns at riots, the rioters will have handgrenades, to which the police repliedf in that case we'll send the army in.