There's dozens of videos of UK police detaining people carrying machetes and other weapons without lethal force. A police officer shooting at someone coming at them with a melee weapon is a combination of laziness and cowardice IMO.
I've been on raids with British police where the suspect has a violent criminal history. They just put on helmets and had shields ready in the van. No guns, no tasers, just batons and pepper spray. On one occasion the suspect had previously gotten arrested for brandishing nunchucks in public, and in the pre-raid briefing the sergeant said "if he comes at you with them, just retreat and wait for him to either knock himself out or tire himself out, then hit him a bit". He was only semi-joking.
It absolutely comes down to better training. Even failing that, I see no reason why a taser could not have been used in this situation. And ultimately if a police officer gets injured, tough shit: it's what they get paid for and they're well aware of the risks when they sign up. Maybe ditching the "shoot anyone who poses a marginal threat" mentality would be good for the police too, I reckon there'd be a lot less power hungry cops in the states.
I've been on raids with British police where the suspect has a violent criminal history. They just put on helmets and had shields ready in the van. No guns, no tasers, just batons and pepper spray. On one occasion the suspect had previously gotten arrested for brandishing nunchucks in public, and in the pre-raid briefing the sergeant said "if he comes at you with them, just retreat and wait for him to either knock himself out or tire himself out, then hit him a bit". He was only semi-joking.
It absolutely comes down to better training. Even failing that, I see no reason why a taser could not have been used in this situation. And ultimately if a police officer gets injured, tough shit: it's what they get paid for and they're well aware of the risks when they sign up. Maybe ditching the "shoot anyone who poses a marginal threat" mentality would be good for the police too, I reckon there'd be a lot less power hungry cops in the states.