Plans to equip Tasers to all of Canberra's frontline police have drawn opposition from civil libertarians, who fear they may be overused and deployed prematurely.
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But the police union has welcomed Labor's pledge to fund a wider Taser rollout, saying it will give officers another non-lethal option to subdue violent offenders.
Both major parties are now pledging to fund the expansion the use of Tasers to officers below the rank of sergeant, and the Australian Federal Police has signalled it is moving in that direction.
Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers told ABC radio on Tuesday that the "growing threat environment" and threats to police had made him rethink the need for more than just sergeants to be equipped with the weapon.
"Labor's pledge would be to roll those Tasers out to all frontline constables, including sergeants, so an extra 350 people will be armed with something that is a much less lethal option than a firearm," he said.
"It will allow police to much better protect themselves against what we consider to be an imminent threat against police, but also to be able to use a much less lethal force against violent offenders on our streets."
Crime rates are dropping the ACT, and the latest criminal justice statistical profile showed reported offences had dropped significantly since mid-2015, and were trending downward over the past five years.
Civil Liberties Australia vice-president Tim Vines said he remained opposed to a wider rollout of Tasers, and called for a review of their use to date by ACT Policing.
"We've seen around Australia and around the world, that although Tasers are supposed to be used as a second to last resort … we've seen that they have been used where other de-escalation strategies could have worked," he said.
Mr Vines warned the weapons had proved lethal when used on individuals with underlying medical conditions, and those significantly affected by drugs and alcohol.
He said Tasers needed to be accompanied by best practice training, transparency, and use by experienced officers.
The devices will be fitted with video cameras, activated when they are drawn, and their use is subject to oversight, including internal reviews and scrutiny by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
The Australian Federal Police Association rejected any assertion that Tasers were used indiscriminately.
AFPA president Angela Smith told the ABC the expansion of Taser use was a "long time coming".
"We don't use anything indiscriminately, and again for people to feel comfortable with this, it comes down to training, and the Tasers have a video camera attached to them, and that's a level of oversight that the community can be happy with," she said.
