ABSTRACT
This chapter complements the substantive critique of laws, policy, and training offered in Chapter 6 by providing a more conceptual critique of two foundational myths that underpin these mechanisms. These are: the myth that decision making around projectile electric-shock weapons (and other forms of force) are an individual responsibility for individual officers, and a complementary myth that such weapons are neutral ‘tools’. The chapter challenges these two myths head-on. I explore the possibility that, far from being individualised, decision making is impacted by police culture, by officer safety training, and by projectile electric-shock weapons. In order to do this, I pick up the invitation from Actor Network Theory and the concept of generalised symmetry to consider the ways in which technologies may be able to make others do things. I demonstrate that three influences— the presence of projectile electric-shock weapons, culture, and training—may combine to make officers more likely to use the weapon and call into question the sufficiency of current guidance. Theoretically, too, I demonstrate that such findings have implications for the literatures on police discretion and police subculture, which have traditionally been very human centric.
