Happy Birthday, Bob

Today would have been my brother Robert's 48th birthday. This one's for you, Bob!

Last week, I happened upon this former Vancouver police officer's blog:

Tasers Aren't the Enemy

All week long, I've been thinking about how to respond to this man. I wanted to tell Leo that the cops were not under attack by some loser with a knife but rather they tasered my brother as he lay on his back on the floor in a medical emergency. I wanted to tell him that the police are *not* using the taser as an alternative to "refrain from using the type of lethal force they would have previously had to use in so many instances." The 13 Vancouver police officers present when Bob died were not in any credible danger and would not have been justified in using lethal force on Bob. I wanted to tell him that tasers are no longer being referred to as "non-lethal" - the manufacturer would prefer we call them "less-lethal". I wanted to tell him that the report Neal Hall was referring to in his article in the Vancouver Sun was the Amnesty International report released in May 2007, entitled "CANADA: Inappropriate and Excessive Use of Tasers." I wanted him to know that we had hoped the jury at the coroner's inquest would agree on some reasonable recommendations which may have helped to prevent similar tragedies. There was so much I wanted to say to Leo Knight.

Instead, I think it's appropriate to share a quote from an article published in the Calgary Herald on September 24, 2006, entitled "The Shocking Truth About Tasers."

"Leo Knight, a former Vancouver police officer and securities expert who now runs a security company, agrees these cases suggest Tasers can lead to lazy policing, highlighting the fact some officers aren't being properly instructed. "Tasers can be too easy to fall back on -- especially if the proper training isn't there. They should only be used in serious incidents where officers are in danger . . . some of these cases would indicate that isn't happening." ... Knight says as hard as police departments try to train officers, there are members who shoot before they should. "It's just the law of averages. You're always going to get a few people who just don't follow the rules."

BINGO, Leo - you hit the nail on the head.