Volunteer police officers in England and Wales will soon be allowed to use Tasers.
Priti Patel will say in a speech to police that special constables should be able to use the electric stun guns if they complete the specific training.
The Home Office said it would ensure they are not “at a disadvantage” when facing attackers.
There are around 8,900 volunteer officers in England and Wales, who have the same powers and uniforms as paid officers.
Deployment of Tasers among volunteer officers will be an operational decision for each of the 43 individual police forces.
Conductive Energy Devices, known by their brand name Taser, fire a high-voltage shock to temporarily disable a suspect, and are often used to deal with violent or potentially violent people at a distance.
They were introduced in the UK in 2003, initially limited to firearms officers.
Their use was extended in 2008, to non-firearms officers who complete the required training.
Plans to further expand their use to volunteer officers will be announced by Patel on Tuesday, in a speech to the annual conference of the Police Federation – the professional association representing officers.
To carry a Taser, “specials” will have to have completed 12 months’ service and 200 duty hours after they have achieved “directed patrol status”.
According to the College of Policing, this intermediate status allows volunteer officers to be deployed “in a supervised or managed environment, either on their own or as part of a team”.
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