Vancouver police department buying 70 more tasers

November 19, 2007
Canadian Press

VANCOUVER - In the midst of a controversy about their use, the Vancouver Police Department says it's getting 70 more Taser stun guns. Department spokesman Const. Tim Fanning said Monday the new shipment will allow all 110 officers trained to use Tasers to have one. "The reason we put this request in ... is so that there's more accountability so each Taser is issued to the officers that are trained, so that they have their own personal issue rather than going into a pool," said Fanning. The department currently has 40 of the devices and the new Tasers are expected to arrive in the next month. Questions surrounding the use of Tasers has heightened in recent weeks after a Polish immigrant died at Vancouver airport last month after being struck by the weapon. Fanning said the force uses weapons such as Tasers on violent suspects in a way intended to protect both them and the officers. "They were developed and brought into use by the police to try and reduce injury to everybody involved in a police call," he said. The Arizona-based company that makes Tasers says there is no proof the device has ever caused a death.