Tasering in London a wakeup call for our generation

September 28, 2011
High School Perspective
By Cole Froude, Tillsonburg News

September 22, was a shocking and disturbing day for all teenagers across our region.

A 17-year old adolescent male was involved in a fight that started at approximately 12 p.m., in downtown London. The 17-year-old - whose name has yet to be released - picked up a lawn chair to defend himself against a brutal attack against him.

A nearby police officer saw the event unfold and rushed to the scene, pulled out his taser and open fired on the 17-year-old.

The youth took a direct hit to the head and chest. All the action was caught on a cell phone recording device and immediately uploaded to the popular video sharing site YouTube.

This caused a heated debate over the past few days, arguments over excessive use of force and responsible policing blew up the comment sections of the video, causing the most talked about event of the day.

The 17-year-old's mother has launched a lawsuit against the London Police Department. "He was only sent to the hospital because of the tasering," she said in a public statement.

The police officer who fired the taser did not use any means of communication to calm down the situation.

Is that morally right? A police officer can't arrest you for no reason but tasering you without any notice is okay?

London police Chief Duncan said that, "We are not required to issue a warning before tasering."

Really? Are you kidding me? What if this person was blind, or was developmentally challenged? Would that change things?

At the time the kid was tasered, the fight had already calmed down.


Is this police brutality?

Not only does it disgust me to know that a kid my age was tasered but to even think that the provincial guidelines state tasers should not be used in sensitive areas such as the head just outrages me.

London police say they are doing an internal investigation.

But its not all doom and gloom.

Monday, students from Beal Secondary School took to the streets and exercised their civil right to protest. About 150 protesters turned up to support the cause of police brutality.

A 19-year-old named Kyle, who helped organize this protest, told London's AM 980 News, "We are starting to stand up for ourselves... right now we are just trying to spread the word that cops need to be more accountable for their actions."

I applaud these kids who risked suspension and maybe a grounding or two by their parents to come out and protest.

Thames Valley District School Board issued a statement after the protest concerning the disciplinary action of the students who walked out of class.

"Any issues concerning this is being dealt with on a case by case basis. No suspensions have been issued at this time."

We all have a say in this world. Let this be a wakeup call for all of us young adolescents of this generation.

Change starts with us don't be afraid to stand up for what you believe in.

Cole Froude is a Glendale High School co-op student doing his placement at the Tillsonburg NewsNews

Teens against Tasers

September 27, 2011
Jennifer O’Brien and Craig Glover, London Free Press

Taunting police and chanting obscenities, a crowd of rowdy youths took to London streets for nearly eight hours Monday, protesting against last week’s caught-on-video police Tasering of a city-high school student.

“F--- the police,” the protestors — most of them students at Beal secondary, near where the incident took place — chanted, dozens of them thrusting their middle fingers up at a handful of police officers who stood outside police headquarters.

Occasionally, the crowd changed its chant to “peace and love,” “shame on you,” or “stop police brutality.”

But the overriding message was against the police.

“It’s taking a bunch of teenage kids to tell the police they are doing a bad job,” shouted one protestor by megaphone.

“We had a 17-year-old shot in the face with a Taser, and we want accountability.”

The protest started about 9 a.m. in front of Beal, then grew in size and volume as protestors marched to the nearby police station, before heading west again on Dundas St.

The crowd sat down in the middle of the intersection at Dundas and Richmond streets, one of the city’s busiest downtown crossings, then moved on to City Hall before turning back to hit the same stops.

Though fueled mostly by peers of the teen who was Tasered after a fight on Dundas St. last Thursday, the protest was organized by a non-student group via Facebook over the weekend.

“We all watched the YouTube video of a Beal student being Tasered in the head without warning last week. It’s outrageous,” said Anthony Verberckmoes, one of several organizers encouraging students to join the protest early Monday.

“People are fed up with police brutality,” he said.

The crowd generated support, even as protestors held up traffic.

“I don’t mind waiting,” said Brea Felton, whose car was stopped on Richmond St. during the downtown sit-in.

“That was uncalled for,” she added of Thursday’s Taser incident.

The Tasered youth, 17, is charged with assault with a weapon in the dustup with two other young men before the officer arrived, subduing the 17-year-old with a shot from his stun gun.

Many protestors said they were proud to stand up for their beliefs, but didn’t like all the vulgarity.

“It looks like we’re the aggressive ones,” said Dylan Wilson, 18.

Several students said they were told protesting would mean a one-day school suspension, but a Thames Valley District school board spokesperson said no students were suspended for taking part.

Police cruisers followed the marchers and at stops, officers stood as some youths waved fists, screaming obscenities at them.

“Today, it’s not a matter of preventing them from having a voice,” said Police Chief Brad Duncan. “Some of them were doing things I would term as silly . . .

“Many of these protestors were very up and close and screaming in our officers’ faces and they showed the utmost professionalism.

“When dealing with protests and . . . with young persons, one thing you want to be very careful about is allowing them the opportunity to exercise that right (to protest),” said Duncan. The chief said he stands by his officer.

Taser used to break up teen brawl

September 23, 2011
Dale Carruthers, QMI Agency

LONDON, Ont. - A teenager is in hospital and a group of high school students are threatening a protest against police after an officer used a Taser to break up a brawl in London, Ont., on Thursday.

The clash between two young men around noon was captured on a cellphone video reviewed by QMI Agency and later posted to YouTube.

The images show one combatant hitting the other with a chair, when an officer on foot hurries in from the street and shoots a dart from a Taser stun gun at a young man wearing jeans and a black shirt.

From the video, it appears the two boys had separated when the officer approached.

The crowd gasps in horror as the Taser's prongs appear to hit the young man in the face. He falls to the ground and is motionless for nearly one minute.

"You shot him in the head. You never even asked him," screams another male on the video.

The officer didn't give any warning before using his stun gun, said witness Vivian Greening.

"He just pulled out the Taser and shot him," she said. "They didn't even try to talk to the kids (or) yell at the kids."

Student Cody Hill, 17, who was in the crowd watching the fight, also said the cop Tasered the boy without warning.

It's not clear from the amateur video, with its imperfect audio, whether the officer gave a warning.

The onlookers spilled onto the street to watch the fight, many of them students at nearby H.B. Beal Secondary School.

Hill and a group of friends say they plan to hold a protest on Monday to decry the police response.

Police confirmed a 17-year-old who was Tasered was taken to hospital and another boy is in custody, but wouldn't comment if the officer issued a warning before using the stun gun.

"Our investigation is unfolding," said Const. Dennis Rivest. "There's a number of people that need to be interviewed right now and we still have a lot of work that we have to do to complete this investigation.”

The boy's injuries aren't life-threatening, police said.

"And we're going to wait before any further comment on the situation."

Canadian researcher Andrew Podgorski, who studied stun guns for the Canadian government, said youth are more at risk of injury and death from being hit with a Taser's 50,000-volt jolt.

"The younger you are, the more susceptible you are," said Podgorski. "Younger people are generally . . . smaller in size."

One in 1,000 people who get Tasered die, said Podgorski, adding those under the influence of drugs and alcohol are more likely to die.

According to use-of-force statistics, London police used stun guns 28 times in 2010.

In 2004, Londoner Peter Lamonday, 33, died shortly after being Tasered by police at a convenience store.

SIU Investigates Custody Death in London, Ontario

No word yet whether a taser was used or what kind of a "group home" the man lived in.

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO -- 08/04/10 -- Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is probing the circumstances surrounding the custody death of a twenty-year-old man in London. The London Police Service (LPS) reported the following information to the SIU:

-- On August 3, at approximately 6:30 p.m., officers attended a group home at 313 Clarke Road in London at the request of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to deal with a male who was acting aggressively.
-- There was an interaction between the man and officers, and he was arrested.
-- EMS provided treatment to the man, and he was subsequently transported to London Health Sciences Centre - Victoria Hospital.
-- He was pronounced dead at 8:22 p.m.

A postmortem will take place today. Five investigators and two forensic investigators from the SIU are investigating this incident. Anyone who may have information regarding this case is asked to contact the Unit at 416-622-0748 or 1-800-787-8529.

The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must

-- consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
-- depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid
-- report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General.