Police use Tasers four times, report reveals

Belleville, Ontario - Population 45,986 - has 6 tasers - "used" the taser 18 times, discharged it *only* 9 times last year

Waterloo, Ontario - Population 97,475 - has ?? tasers - discharged 29 times last year

Chatham, Ontario - Population 108,177 - has ?? tasers - used seven times and "only in specific circumstances" last year

Kingston, Ontario - Population 114,195 - has 34 tasers - fired them 4 times last year

April 23, 2009
ROB TRIPP, Kingston Whig Standard

Kingston Police officers fired electric stun guns four times last year, according to a report presented today at Police Service Board meeting on the use of force by officers in 2008.

The Taser shootings were among 40 uses of force, including seven incidents in which guns were fired to euthanize deer that had been hit by vehicles.

Pepper spray was used seven times. A baton was used once. A Taser was drawn from a holster by an officer five times without being fired.

Police Chief Stephen Tanner also revealed that a second round of laboratory testing has been completed on Tasers used by Kingston Police. A second weapon was found to be operating outside specifications.

The gun was not pulsing properly and will be sent to the American manufacturer, either for repair or replacement.

Last month, Tanner said tests on 19 of the department’s 34 Tasers found that all are discharging the correct amount of electricity, but one was not pulsing properly.

The weapons are designed to deliver 50,000 volts of electricity that briefly incapacitates a person.

Tanner said Kingston Police have one more Taser to be tested.