Taser use by police was up in Brampton and Mississauga last year compared to 2015 as more and more officers are being equipped with the weapon.

All front-line Peel Regional Police officers will be carrying Tasers by 2020.

The Peel Police Services Board approved last year the expansion of the number of Tasers issued to include all sworn police officers. It was decided the training, purchase and issuance of Tasers to all Peel officers would take place over a five-year period, 2016 to 2020.

Front-line officers will be issued an X2 Taser (the latest model) to be carried on patrol, while a pool of Tasers will be kept for use by officers working in various specialty bureaus and specialty units, according to a report to the board Sept. 29 by Deputy Chief Dave Jarvis.

Currently, the department has 433 Tasers in use, with 291 being carried by front-line officers and another 142 in a pool for specialty bureaus and units, according to a report to the board Sept. 29 by Deputy Chief Dave Jarvis.

Police plan to train 400 officers a year in the next three years, and 300 in the final year, to coincide with the ongoing purchase of additional Tasers, generically called conducted energy weapons (CEWs).

Last year, 133 Peel officers deployed Tasers, and another 231 drew Tasers but did not deploy them, in a total of 290 incidents. In some of those 290 incidents, more than one officer drew/fired Tasers. There were 34 injuries either directly or indirectly related to the Taser.

The previous year, Tasers were either deployed or drawn in 237 incidents.

The increase in 2016 was anticipated because of the increase in the number of Tasers available to front-line officers, according to the report.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services changed Use of Force Guidelines for Tasers in 2013 to allow all front-line officers in Ontario to carry the weapon.