Vic police watchdog warns against Tasers

Victoria's police union has defended the ability of its police officers to deal with violent situations after the police watchdog accused them of being poorly trained.

The Office of Police Integrity (OPI) will release a report in the next month attacking the force over high numbers of police shootings.

Police Association secretary Senior Sergeant Greg Davies said the force was well trained.

"They're not only at the police academy in their initial training but trained in an ongoing way twice a year quite rigorously in defusing violent situations, which they are confronted with every day," he said.

The report, which is a wide-ranging analysis of Victoria Police's use of force, will also recommend officers not be given Taser stun guns, OPI spokesman Paul Conroy said.

Snr Sgt Davies said he thought the report should support a campaign for Tasers since they are a non-lethal alternative to guns and would reduce shootings.

He also defended the ability of Victorian police officers to "defuse violent situations".

Victorian police shot as many people as NSW and Queensland combined between 1990 and 2004 but also had a reputation for its use of force in the 1980s.

There was insufficient emphasis on alternative uses of force and insufficient monitoring and analysis of use of force, Mr Conroy said.

"The education and training is not focused properly and insufficient," he told AAP on Monday.

"The police are not in a space to be issued with Tasers.

"A lot of work needs to be done in training needs."

Two recent incidents including the fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy and non-fatal shooting of a 50-year-old prompted calls for police to be armed with Tasers.

The coroner is investigating the teenager's death and police are conducting an internal investigation into the incident involving the 50-year-old.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Senior Constable Michelle Arouff said on Monday the force would not comment because the report had not been released and was "still in draft form".

However, chief commissioner Simon Overland has already said publicly this year he was concerned about the number of police shootings and better training for officers might be needed.

He also opposes officers being issued with Tasers, which fire two barbs with electric wires attached, other than to specialist units which already use them.

Snr Sgt Davies asked why the report was leaked a month before its release.

"We do have some issues with the fact that reports are released-leaked from the OPI and then nobody butters up to answer questions about it," he told reporters on Monday.

The OPI was embarrassed last month by the collapse of its legal case against former police union strongman Paul Mullett.