B.C. cops stun mentally ill man with Taser gun
"Touch mode" - sounds all warm and fuzzy. The sole intent of using the taser in this mode, however, is "pain compliance." The United Nations has another name for it: "torture".
October 10, 2008
ctvbc.ca
A 37-year-old man is in jail after being subdued by a Taser gun when he allegedly resisted arrest during an incident at the Vancouver General Hospital on Friday, police say.
Vancouver Police Const. Jana McGuinness said in a statement that police were called to the hospital to arrest the man, who she said, was unlawfully at large and is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for breach of parole.
Two officers already at the hospital on an unrelated call, were joined by a third officer, McGuinness said.
When they approached the man, he is alleged to have become violent and suicidal, screaming at officers to shoot him, police said.
According to Vancouver Police, he attempted to kill himself by pulling an electrical cord out of the wall and sticking it in a cup of liquid he was holding.
"When nothing happened, he threw the cup aside and attempted to flip over the heavy hospital bed. The officers tried to calm him down, but he only became more enraged," McGuinness said in the statement.
The man was tackled by the officers, but still continued to struggle, according to police, who said one of the officers used the Taser in touch mode twice on his lower back.
He was handcuffed and then taken to jail following a medical assessment.
3 comments:
It's not just the UN. The same convention has been drafted into national law by every party to the treaty (most countries).
In Canada, torture is defined under s.269.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada. And then the same section bans the use of torture (severe pain) by peace officers:
269.1 (1) Every [Peace Officer] who inflicts [severe pain] on any other person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
The above extract includes some roll-ups in brackets to make it more clear. But the original version says the same thing. It's available on-line for those that wish to review for themselves (perhaps some political and law enforcement leadership might wish to do exactly that).
It really coundn't be more clear that using the various tasers in Touch Torture (aka Drive Stun) mode is a crystal clear violation of this act.
Do not overlook that the M26 and X26 tasers are about 2000 times more powerful than the electrical shock required to induce intense pain.
The laws of Canada do not provide any legal support whatsoever for the typical usage patterns of tasers by police forces in Canada.
If unethical companies started marketing 'The Rack', an 'Iron Maiden', and waterboarding accessories - would the Canadian police forces mindlessly adopt such tools?
These same police forces appear to not even realize that the taser is defined in Canada as a Prohibited Firearm. This designation brings with it many rules and policy requirements that police have been overlooking for nearly a decade.
This situation is simply amazing.
omg the police were calle dby hospital staff, the guy tried to kill himself, he struggled with police and they arrested him. Question how else would you solve this incident. Shot him??? I think the police did just fine considering everything "The man was tackled by the officers, but still continued to struggle, according to police, who said one of the officers used the Taser in touch mode twice on his lower back."
On question, which title would you prefer
"B.C. cops stun mentally ill man with Taser gun" or
"B.C. cops SHOOT mentally ill man with hand gun"
If the man was shot to death would you even post the story or care???
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