EDITORIAL: Time to zap the Taser

November 10, 2008
The Province

Canada all but abolished the death penalty in 1976. It still exists for special cases in the military, though it is never used.

The last legal execution in this country was 1962 in Toronto's Don Jail, when two men, shall we say, dropped into history. Between 1867 and 1962, 710 people were executed in Canada.

It is a point of pride for millions of Canadians that we no longer hang our citizens.

Well, if you are one of those millions of Canadians, feel some shame that we continue to allow our police forces to Taser citizens to death.

Worse still, when we had executions, a prisoner could only be hanged for murder, rape or treason. Today, we let the police Taser people to death for mental illness, drug addiction or making a fuss at an airport.

Since 2001, Canadian police officers have killed at least 20 people with Tasers. That number could be as high as 25.

The poster corpse for Tasering gone wrong is Robert Dziekanski, 40, who died more than a year ago at Vancouver International Airport.

The world has watched the video of four RCMP officers casually approaching the frustrated man, then Tasering him to his eventual demise.

Let's look at some other lesser-known victims:

- Jason Dean, 28, in Red Deer, Alta., while running from police in August 2006;

- Roman Andreichikov, 25, high on cocaine and being restrained by Vancouver police in May 2004.

- Perry Ronald, 28, while being restrained by Edmonton police after jumping from a window in March 2004;

- Clark Whitehouse, 34, while running from the Whitehorse RCMP after being stopped in traffic in September 2003.

It is likely police had no cause to shoot any of these alleged criminals with a gun, yet they had the legal cause to blast 50,000 volts of electricity into them.

Sadly, the results would have been the same had they shot them in the head.

Death without trial.

On May 23, 2007, Amnesty International completed the report Canada: Inappropriate and Excessive Use of Tasers.

Here is the opening two sentences of that report:

"Children continue to be the victims of abusive use of Tasers by Canadian police officers. There have also been a disturbing number of cases where police officers have used Tasers inappropriately when there was no serious risk either to themselves or others present."

Just last week, Tasers were involved in two Alberta deaths:

- Gordon Walker Bowe, 30, was Tasered when police were called to investigate a suspicious person and a break-in;

- Four days earlier in Edmonton, Trevor Grimolfson, 38, died after police twice used a Taser following a struggle near a city pawnshop.

In light of these two deaths, Alberta Solicitor-General Fred Lindsay said he doesn't see any need to revisit the Taser guidelines.

Well, we disagree.

We don't think there should be any guidelines because we don't think the police should be allowed to use Tasers.

A death count of 20 to 25 as a result of Tasers is more than enough tragedy to call for a ban.

These people did not murder, rape or commit treason, yet they ended up in the same place as those two men in the Don Jail in 1962.

As the world saw in the Robert Dziekanski video, Tasering isn't police work. It's too easy. It's certainly a lot easier on the conscience than pulling out a gun and shooting the suspect.

But sadly, too often, the result is the same.

Alberta taser death report calls for more research into "excited delirium"

January 25, 2008
CBC News

A fatality report released Friday into the death of a man who police shot with a stun gun in March 2004 has recommended more research into the treatment and causes of excited delirium.

Ronald Perry died of cardiac arrest due to excited delirium after police used a Taser gun on him twice. He had been exhibiting violent and irrational behaviour, including screaming obscenities, punching people and jumping up and down on the hood of a car, the inquiry heard in December.

After being taken to hospital to be treated for a head injury, Perry still couldn't be controlled and he was shot with a Taser five more times. He later stopped breathing, suffered brain damage, and died four days later.

The report, by provincial court Judge Fern LeReverend, found that people with excited delirium need help, and need to be restrained to get that help, but that death frequently ensues after they are restrained. The condition needs more study, and there should be a central reporting system for this kind of incident, the judge said.

Taser use scrutinized

January 26, 2008
DANIEL MACISAAC, Edmonton Sun

A provincial court judge wants to see more study of the condition "excited delirium" to improve the use of police Tasers and prevent the deaths of people who are zapped. "People suffering from this condition need medical help; they need to be restrained to get that help," wrote Judge Fern LeReverend in a report on the 2004 death of Ronald Perry. "Death frequently ensues once they are restrained. This condition, although rare, arises from several different causes, including illicit drug use."

SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH

Perry, a 25-year-old Edmonton man with a history of illicit drug use, was said to have possessed superhuman strength as he struggled against as many as seven city cops trying to subdue him in March 2004, before he was hit multiple times with a stun gun, quit breathing, suffered brain damage and was taken off life support several days later.

LeReverend's report gives details of the erratic, psychotic and violent behaviour that led to Perry's arrest - including jumping off a balcony and physically attacking friends as well as cars at the intersection of 129 Avenue and 64 Street. LeReverend writes that excited delirium is a medical condition involving such "an altered level of consciousness affecting thinking and perception." And to prevent similar deaths in the future, the judge is recommending more information on the causes and treatment of excited delirium be obtained and shared - and that medical staff be funded to learn more about it.

"I recommend that when further information is obtained, it be provided to police, ambulance and emergency medical personnel so they can create suitable procedures to more successfully deal with people in this condition," he concludes.

While many experts, including Dr. Graeme Dowling from the medical examiner's office in Edmonton, have argued there's "no definitive case where Tasers have actually killed anybody," several highly publicized deaths following Taser use have had critics targeting the law-enforcement tool.

Taser sparks outrage

January 6, 2006
Sorcha McGinnis, Edmonton Sun

The death of a man who was Tasered on Christmas Eve has stirred up outrage in a city woman who is now demanding a fatality inquiry in the case of her brother. Jennifer Bosse's 28-year-old brother Ronald Perry died March 23, 2004, after suffering a massive heart attack brought on by excited delirium. He was taken to hospital four days earlier following a struggle with police that saw him Tasered. Bosse says she still has more questions than answers about Perry's death - especially in the wake of a similar incident involving another city man - and hopes a fatality inquiry will provide her family with some closure.

Alesandro Fiacco, 33, was Tasered by cops Dec. 24 after he was found behaving erratically. He was subdued by the device but died on his way to hospital.

"I was upset his family had to go through that, especially with it being Christmas time," said Bosse. "I'm angry police are still using Tasers even though there's been more than one occasion where people have gone into cardiac arrest and passed away. If cops don't know a person is on medication, (a Taser) could harm them. There are other ways to subdue a person."

Police had been responding to a complaint about a man vandalizing cars in the area of 129 Avenue and 64 Street on March 19 when Perry was Tasered. Earlier, he had injured his head in a fight. The day before his arrest, he broke his ankle jumping from a third-floor balcony near 49 Street and 113 Avenue.

The medical examiner's office later determined there was no link between the man's death and his being Tasered. A police investigation concluded the matter was non-criminal. Alberta Justice spokesman Mark Cooper said at the conclusion of his report, the medical examiner forwarded Perry's file to the Alberta Fatality Review Board which did not recommend a fatality inquiry.

The reasons for that decision have not been made public. However, Cooper said the family has the option of asking the board to reconsider its decision.

Bosse plans to get a lawyer through Legal Aid to start the process.

Canada - Excessive and lethal force?

November 30, 2004
Amnesty International