VANCOUVER _ Police chiefs are defending the Tasers at a B.C. public inquiry into use of the shock weapons.

Bob Rich, president of the B.C. Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police, says they save lives and prevent injuries to officers.

Rich says police are aware that the electrical shock weapons cause pain and that people have died, but he also says Tasers have been used for almost 10 years in B.C.

Vancouver Police Department Chief Jim Chu says Tasers were used about 100 times in total last year by Vancouver officers _ about 0.4 per cent of the thousands of police service calls in 2007.

Port Moody chief Brad Parker says one reason Taser use is on the rise is that many more officers are carrying them.

The B.C. inquiry is looking into the general use of Tasers by law enforcement officers following the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport last fall. © 2008 The Canadian Press