Death won't spark re-evaluation of Taser, Peel police say

July 20, 2004
JEFF GRAY, Globe and Mail

Peel Regional Police say they have no plans to re-evaluate the use of Taser stun guns, even as questions about their safety surfaced after the death of a 29-year-old Brampton man in a confrontation with police officers on the weekend.

"We stand by their effectiveness," police spokesman Acting Sergeant Craig Platt said yesterday of the weapons, which are meant to deliver non-lethal electric shocks to subdue suspects.

Witnesses said that Jerry Knight, a 29-year-old former boxer, went berserk in the lobby of a Mississauga motel at about 2 a.m. Saturday, throwing and smashing objects.

Police were called, and the province's Special Investigations Unit, looking into the death, said an officer used a Taser to subdue Mr. Knight.

SIU spokeswoman Rose Bliss said yesterday that the cause of death had not been determined, and that more tests are needed before the results of yesterday's postmortem would be known. An officer was designated a subject officer of the investigation, she said, and the Taser was seized.

As with all deaths of people in police custody, a coroner's inquest has been called, and will take place after the SIU completes its probe.

Mr. Knight's friend and former boxing coach, Peter Sjouwerman, 70, said he suspected his onetime protégé, who won a silver medal as a welterweight at the Canadian championships in his late teens, was having trouble with drugs.

Still, Mr. Knight, who kept in shape despite dropping his dream of one day representing Canada at the Olympics, was well liked and a gym fixture, Mr. Sjouwerman said.

"He was a very funny guy, quick to laugh, and he had a great laugh. We were very close."

"There is a percentage of risk in these Tasers -- but on the other hand, in a gun there's a lot more danger. Obviously, there was something wrong that night. . . . Who knows how strong, how bullheaded he was?"

The Peel Regional Police tactical squad has carried Tasers since November, 2002.

Sgt. Platt defended the stun guns as a way to avoid using bullets to stop suspects from hurting police or bystanders: "The firearm is a lethal option. The Taser is a non-lethal option. If we take the Taser away, it's one less option that we have."

Other forces across the Greater Toronto Area -- Toronto's, Halton's, York's and Durham's -- said that specially trained tactical units have been equipped with Tasers.

Durham Regional Police spokesman David Selby said the weapons are not used often by his force but that officers feel they are useful.

"Obviously, the province is going to be looking at this case closely. And obviously, we're going to be looking very closely at that, too.

"We don't want to be using anything that isn't safe."