Taser use by Vancouver police has declined

July 19, 2010
Laura Baziuk, The Province

Vancouver police are not using Tasers as much as they used to, says a new report released Monday.

Taser usage declined in 2008, with officers discharging one 33 times, compared to 86 times in 2007, the report suggests.

Based on that trend, usage is expected to also have declined in 2009. In the first quarter of that year, only four Tasers were discharged.

“Subjects appear to comply more often when they are confronted or challenged with a Taser,” the report says. “In turn, officers use the Taser less often as a pain compliance tool or an incapacitation device.”

A Taser was presented, but not discharged, in another 67 incidents in 2008, compared to 80 incidents in 2007.

Though she said it’s difficult to speculate, Vancouver Const. Jana McGuinness says a more stringent selection and training process could be reasons for the decline in usage, as well as previous media coverage and recommendations that have been made on the tool’s use.

Taser use is still under-reported, the report also says. A report was submitted for only 20 out of the 26 times when a Taser was discharged, the report says. A report was filed only half the time when a Taser was deployed but not used.

“Patrol members were responsible for most of the unreported incidents where a Taser was presented but not discharged,” the report says.

The report further suggests that the discrepancy exists because emergency responders have their own report system on Taser use. Taser usage must be reported to detect training gaps, equipment malfunctions and any lack in accountability, it says.

Tasering of baseball fan sparks fresh debate over use of force

May 5, 2010
Sarah Boesveld, Globe and Mail

It was the top of the eighth inning when 17-year-old fan Steve Consalvi hopped the fence at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and dashed around the outfield – a silly stunt, just for fun.

Fans watched the 30-second chase during the pause in the game against St. Louis on Monday night. They cheered Mr. Consalvi on as he scurried away from security officials and twirled a white Phillies fan towel.

As quickly as it began, they saw the youth crumple in a heap in the outfield – tasered by security officials, unable to wave his white towel in surrender. They booed loudly.

Footage of the chase, quickly posted on the Internet, went viral, igniting a fierce debate online about whether it was necessary to deploy a taser – and whether unnecessary zapping in public spaces such as stadiums and malls is happening more often.

Officials stood behind the Philadelphia city police officer who deployed the taser at the game, and said he followed protocol that allows officers to taser a fleeing suspect. But critics were quick to point out it wasn’t the first time an officer has tasered a fan at Citizens Bank Park. Local reports say fans have been tasered there many times before.

In Canada, the debate has moved far more in favour of restricting the use of the weapons even as more of them are in the hands of police officers nationwide as a safer alternative to guns and other weapons.

On Tuesday, the RCMP announced tighter guidelines for Mounties deploying tasers. They can now fire a stun gun only if it’s clear the person is injuring someone else or threatening to do so.

The changes stem from the Braidwood public inquiry into the death of Polish airline passenger Robert Dziekanski after officers tasered him at the Vancouver Airport.

Ontario introduced new guidelines and training standards in March after launching a study of its policies in 2008. Back then, the province relied on training from the companies selling the weapons.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair is trying to get more tasers into the hands of front-line workers and properly train them to deploy them because a supervisor is not always there to give direction in the heat of the moment, says Toronto Police spokesperson Mark Pugash.

At least 246 Torontonians were tasered last year, a number that’s dropped since 2008, he said. Special constables on the Toronto Transit Commission do not use tasers, only batons, handcuffs and a foam version of pepper spray.

While officials patrolling the SkyTrain in Vancouver use tasers, security in most public spaces such as university campuses and stadiums is delivered by private firms whose guards can’t use them. They’re prohibited weapons under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act in Ontario, and only police officers are authorized under the Criminal Code to carry them.

Employees at the Rogers’ Centre in Toronto are armed with batons and handcuffs, a worker there said last night. And Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, reacting to the Phillies fan tasering, said a case like that wouldn’t happen at his stadium.

“I can't believe that there would be anybody who would use a taser gun on somebody who ran on the field,” he said. “I can't believe that would happen here.”

That’s likely because about 95 per cent of security at stadiums is delivered by private firms, said David Hyde, owner and principal consultant at David Hyde & Associates, a security consulting practice.

Still, there’s no guarantee an incident similar to what happened in Philadelphia couldn’t happen here, he said.

If it’s a big game, stadiums often hire police officers for extra cover and those officers could be armed with tasers, as well as guns.

But because of a largely public outcry against the use of tasers, the chances of deployment are slim.

“A stadium is trying to attract customers,” he said. “The last thing they want to do, particularly in Canada, is to deploy weapons that could not only cause legal but reputational harm to that image.”

Police in the United States are more willing to use tasers at major events and at stadiums because the perceived level of threat is higher, he said, in terms of terrorism and violent crime.

Hilary Homes, a security and human rights campaigner for Amnesty International Canada, said the Braidwood inquiry has shaped public opinion and shone a brighter light on the unnecessary use of tasers. However, broader oversight and guidelines on how and when they should be used just doesn’t exist, she said. “There aren’t national standards on either side of the border,” she said. “There are such separate jurisdictions.”

Unnecessary deployment is happening more frequently because “new items are available and people want to use them.”

B.C. police complaints commissioner to review transit police Taser incident

See also: WWW.EXCITED-DELIRIUM.COM

March 6, 2010
Frank Luba, The Province

Since voluntarily changing the rules in 2008 around when Tasers are used, the transit police have used the conducted energy weapon just once.

The transit police had used Tasers a total of 10 times in 2007 and 2008, which resulted in a complaint from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner.

The transit police said Friday they have been exonerated in their use of the weapon in nine of the 10 instances, with the disciplinary authority asking for a review of the 10th incident.

The police also released a DVD of videos of the incidents taken by cameras on the Tasers or by cameras in the station where the incidents took place.

The BCCLA was surprised to hear about the exoneration of the police because the group hasn’t seen the decision.

Insp. David Hansen of the transit police said the police complaints commissioner’s report is still not complete but that the force intends to discuss it with the civil liberties group after the investigation is finished.

BCCLA executive director David Eby still wants improvements around the use of Tasers.

“There needs to be a [consistent] policy around when it’s used and how it’s reported,” said Eby.

He conceded the situation has improved, particularly after provincial Solicitor-General Kash Heed directed police, sheriffs and corrections officers in July to severely restrict the use of Tasers.

“It’s a much better situation than it was when transit police were Tasering people for fare evasion,” said Eby.

Heed was not available for comment Friday but a ministry source said the province is working with the federal government as part of ongoing negotiations to incorporate the Braidwood Commission’s recommendations about Tasers into RCMP policy and standards.

The transit police’s use of the Taser plunged after the force voluntarily changed the guidelines for using the weapon from suspects being “non-compliant” to “actively resistant.”

So instead of Tasering someone because they were fleeing after being asked for their ticket, as had happened previously, the last time transit police used the Taser was on an actively resistant suspect armed with a butcher knife.

The subject was later convicted of assaulting a transit police officer.

Despite the reduction, Hansen wouldn’t drop the weapon from his force’s armoury.

“It’s a valuable tool,” he said. “To us, it’s something we need. It’s another step. It’s a less-than-lethal option. I still feel there’s a need even though there’s only been one incident [since the guidelines changed].”

The complaints commissioner’s office did not respond to a request for an interview on Friday.

B.C. transit police release video of taser incidents

March 6, 2010
CBC News

Metro Vancouver's Transit Police Service on Friday released video of nine incidents in which its officers deployed Tasers in response to a CBC freedom of information request.

CBC originally requested videos of 10 incidents from 2007 and 2008 in which transit police used stun guns while making arrests.

According to police, an independent investigation by B.C.'s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has since concluded that in nine of the incidents, the person who was hit with the Taser either assaulted or actively resisted the officers before police used the stun gun. The commissioner's finding cleared the way for the police to release videos of those incidents, transit police Insp. David Hansen said.

One other case remained under investigation, so the video of that was not released.

Four of the incidents involved people who were initially stopped for fare evasion, but police say that in each of those cases, the person was resisting arrest or assaulting an officer before the Taser was deployed.

All of the incidents happened in 2007 or 2008, when police policy allowed officers to use stun guns when dealing with "non-compliant" individuals. They were recorded either by cameras on the weapons themselves or transit surveillance cameras.

Transit police policy has since been re-worded to restrict officers to using the stun guns only when dealing with someone who is "actively resistant."

Police also said that since the change, there has only been one incident in which transit officers used a Taser, and that case involved a man armed with a butcher knife.

Public scrutiny of the use of Tasers grew following the death in October 2007 of Robert Dziekanski, who died after being stunned several times by RCMP officers at the Vancouver airport.

Tasered Metro Vancouver teen may face charges

METRO VANCOUVER — A teenager who was sent to hospital after being Tasered by Surrey RCMP Thursday may face criminal charges.

RCMP said they arrived at a park in the Vancouver suburb around 9 p.m. to find the boy “highly intoxicated” and brandishing a six-inch knife.

A police officer Tasered the teenager in lieu of lethal force, according to an RCMP news release Friday.

Once officers used the Taser, they escorted him to a police vehicle.

After vomiting in the rear of the vehicle, the suspect was taken to a nearby firehall where he was given oxygen, the news release said.

He was taken to hospital for further examination.

The teenager is currently at a holding cell at the Surrey RCMP detachment.

The RCMP said it is considering charges for uttering threats or grievous bodily harm, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon.

Taser use by RCMP in B.C. has been in the spotlight recently, specifically in the case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after being Tasered and restrained by RCMP at Vancouver airport on Oct. 14, 2007.

The inquiry into the death of 40-year-old Dziekanski has been put on hold until Sept 22, after an explosive e-mail from a senior commanding RCMP officer surfaced which said the four Mounties had discussed using a Taser against Dziekanski before arriving at the airport.

Vancouver police fired tasers 27 times last year

March 16, 2009
By Carlito Pablo, straight.com

Vancouver police officers fired their tasers 27 times in 2008, according to a report to the Vancouver police board.

These “Taser applications” were 64 percent lower than the 74 times that stun guns were used by members of the Vancouver Police Department in 2007, stated the same report prepared by the VPD’s planning, research, and audit section.

No explanation of why taser use dropped was provided.

The report, on the agenda for the police board’s Wednesday (March 18) meeting, noted that it is “unlikely that other jurisdictions experienced such a similar decrease”, but then again no explanation for that statement was offered.

It recalled that last year, Vancouver police responded to about 189,000 “dispatched calls for service”, of which 41,000 were “combined violent and property crimes”.

“It is worth pointing out that, in this context of volume of work, the VPD used a Taser, on average, only twice a month,” the report stated.

Based on the 2008 data cited by the report, police in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, fired tasers 23 times. Greater Sudbury has a population of about 162,000.

The report said that in comparison to Greater Sudbury, it is “significant” that VPD members used tasers only four more times while policing a city with a population of over 611,000.

Cops shouldn't investigate cops: Frank Paul report

March 13, 2009
By Suzanne Fournier, The Province

“Alone and Cold” is the title of Commissioner William Davies’ scathing report detailing how Vancouver police and the justice system failed Frank Paul, who died after police dumped him soaking wet in an alley in 1998.

“I’ve been very critical of some of the police officers that did handle Frank Paul and of the police investigating themselves ... and the manner in which they conducted their inquiry” into both internal discipline charges and possible criminal charges against the officers, Davies said in making his report public Thursday morning.

On Feb. 11 Davies, a former judge, gave his report to B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal and its release has been demanded for weeks by B.C. aboriginal leaders and the New Democrat opposition in the B.C. legislature.

Davies said the timing of the report’s release — and the fact that Frank Paul’s family in New Brunswick did not get the courtesy of an advance briefing as they requested — was up to the B.C. government.

Davies, handing out his report just across the hall from where the Braidwood inquiry is being conducted into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, acknowledged “some of the issues we dealt with have arisen at the Braidwood inquiry.”

A key issue, noted Davies, is “the public has lost confidence in the fact the police are investigating themselves.”

He admitted “there may be others who don’t share my view” but stressed he didn’t write the report to gather dust.

“I’ve recommended far-reaching changes,” said Davies, including a citizen investigation of all police-related deaths.

Paul, a New Brunswick Mi'kmaq, was dumped in a eastside Vancouver alley in December 1998 after Sgt. Russell Sanderson refused to admit him to the police drunk tank or take him to detox and instructed a junior officer to “breach” Paul.

Paul died of hypothermia and his New Brunswick family was told he died in a hit-and-run accident. Paul's cousin Peggy Clement, who testified at the inquiry, said the Mi’kmaq people did not learn the truth until three years later.

Davies was critical of Vancouver police but particularly of Sanderson, saying his evidence had to be “rejected in its entirety.”

Davies noted the VPD failed to properly investigate the death and the B.C. Coroners Service failed to properly notify Paul’s family.

Davies recommends B.C. “develop a civilian-based criinal investigation model for the investigation of police-related deaths occurring in the municiipalities policed by the 11 municipal police departments.”

Davies said “the independent investigaiton office” would be led by a civilian director, but investigators would have the status of police officers and, once advised of a police-related death, would take charge of the scene and become the lead investigative agency.

“The director would recommend to the Criminal Justice Branch whether criminal charges should be laid and, if so, which charges involving which officer or officers.”

Aboriginal leaders, who fought hard for the inquiry into Paul’s death, praised the Davies report this morning.

Tl’azt’en Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit said the report “shines a bright and clear light” on the failure of the Vancouver Police Department to safeguard Frank Paul’s life, the lack of services to aboriginal homeless people, an inadquate police investigation and the failure to lay any criminal charges in Paul’s death.

United Native Nations president David Dennis said Paul’s death was “a tragedy . . . and we have documented many, many more deaths of aboriginal people in police custody, yet no police officer in B.C. has ever been charged in connection with even one death.”

Dennis said he hopes the VPD and the B.C. government will pay attention to Davies’ sweeping recommendations.

“Just two years ago Chief Stewart Phillip and I sat in [former Vancouver police] Chief Jamie Graham’s office and he said to my face, ‘There will never be an inquiry into the death of Frank Paul.’

“Today we feel very vindicated and we are confident that Frank Paul’s family will feel vindicated as well.”

Said Davies in his conclusion: “It is important to understand that this is not just a case of investigation of one police-related death a decade ago which was done poorly.

“What this inquiry’s review has revealed is systemic flaws in the manner in which the Vancouver Police Department conducted criminal investigations of police-related deaths at that time, which continue today.

“These systemic flaws are grounded in conflict of interest — the police investigating themselves.

“I am persuaded that nothing short of a wholesale restructuring of such investigations would suffice.”

Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu issued this statement in response to the report.

"With the conclusion of the Frank Paul inquiry, I want to take this opportunity to once again apologize to Mr. Paul's family and to the community," said Chu.

"We deeply regret the loss of life caused by the mistakes our officers made, who had a duty of care for Mr. Paul. Since that tragic event we have strengthened and modified certain policies, our procedures and training have been reinforced, and we continue to work closely with our public health partners to further safeguard the lives and well being of those in our care.”

VPD spokeswoman Const. Jana McGuinness said of Paul's death: “It was a tragic and regrettable event and everyone knows it shouldn’t have happened.”

She also said VPD has made changes to its policies and procedures, particularly those regarding jail, transport and reporting of those in custody.

“We’re certainly going to look closely at this report,” she said.

“How our society deals with chronic alcoholics is inadquate,” said the Davies Commission report.

While Davies noted that many police, ambulance and emergency ward staff treat such people with compassion, “the reality is that these current services amount to little more than revolving doors.”

Davies recommends:

• A civilian-operated sobering centre.

• An enhanced civilian-based detoxification program.

• Davies also urged, “Permanent low-barrier housing designed for the specific needs of chronic alcoholics which would offer, if needed, palatable alcohol substitution and managed alcohol programs.” (Alcohol substitution is a harm-reduction appoach that involves gradually weaning alcoholics off health-destroying choices such as Chinese cooking wine or Lysol, in favour of lower-alcohol choices such as wine or beer.)

What's wrong with this picture? And who's keeping track?

What follows are some reactions by police across Canada to the RCMP's taser use restrictions announced on February 12, 2009. Also included are a couple of quite obviously inappropriate and very recent uses of the weapon in both Belleville and Barrie, Ontario. There is no rhyme. There is no reason. Municipal police in Canada are doing whatever the hell they want.

February 16, 2009
Belleville Intelligencer
A man had to be subdued with a Taser when police attempted to break up a fight at a North Front Street bar early Monday. The incident occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Police said they broke up one fight and required a Taser — a stun gun — to subdue a man, who was resisting arrest. A Belleville man, 22 and a Campbellford male, 21, were arrested for public intoxication, causing a disturbance and mischief to property, police said. Both males were released and will appear in court March 26, police said. Names were not released.

February 14, 2009
The Barrie Examiner
Police use Taser to subdue man - Barrie police used a Taser to help arrest a six-foot-two, 350-pound man, yesterday. Officers were called to a Blake Street home about a 24-year-old with a history of mental health issues who was reportedly out of control. Police say the man was defiant when officers arrived and a Taser was used to incapacitate him, until he could be handcuffed.

February 13, 2009
Globe and Mail
Sergeant Scott Warren, chairman of the RCMP's officer safety committee, said the matter is more complicated in real-life situations. "The commissioner, with all due respect, is incorrect to say we wouldn't use them again for actively resistant people," he told CTV News.

February 12, 2009
CTV News
Police commissioner is out of touch, says officer
...But according to Sgt. Scott Warren, the chair of the RCMP's Officer Safety Committee, the so-called new regulations have been drawn up by officials who are out of touch with the realities of street-level policing. In an interview with CTV's Power Play, Warren also said that the regulations don't adequately address the split-second decisions police must make everyday. "Sometimes I think the commissioner is in over his head," said Warren, referring to Elliott, who is the first-ever civilian to head the national police force. Warren said that the previous policy governing Taser use was broad and trusted the judgment of individual police officers.

February 13, 2009
TREVOR PRITCHARD, STANDARD-FREEHOLDER, WITH FILES FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS
Most of the RCMP's new guidelines on the use of Tasers have already been implemented by municipal police forces in Ontario, including Cornwall, says the city's chief of police. Chief Dan Parkinson said much of the RCMP policy announced Thursday - which will prohibit the stun guns from being used to simply subdue suspects - is reflected in an October 2008 report filed by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

February 13, 2009
660 News Calgary
The Calgary Sun reports, city police say the devices are lifesavers and will not alter their approach to them.

February 13, 2009
CTV Calgary
In a written statement Friday, officials said they won't be making any changes to policies after Thursday's announcement by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

February 13, 2009
Metro News Vancouver
Vancouver police will continue to use Tasers until officers review the reasons behind an RCMP announcement on Thursday curbing the use of stun guns ... Const. Jana McGuinness, spokesperson for Vancouver police, said she hasn’t seen a report yet. “I would want to see how it impacts us, and if it does, what are our policies surrounding these things,” she said.

February 13, 2009
Metro News Edmonton
Police services in Edmonton are not going to change policies around Tasers, they say, after the RCMP moved to restrict the use of the stun guns because it can kill in certain cases.

February 14, 2009
Chronicle Herald
"It’s very unlikely there will be any changes to our policy, as it’s virtually the same as ours," said Const. Jeff Carr, spokesman for Halifax Regional Police.

February 14, 2009
Winnipeg Free Press
At present, Winnipeg officers are permitted to use a Taser in situations where force is required, where an individual is resisting arrest and may flee and if the individual is in a state of excited delirium. A suspect need not be combative to elicit a shot from a stun gun.

February 11, 2009
SARAH DEETH, Peterborough Examiner
Use of force by city police officers was down in 2008 from 2007, but the use of the Taser has increased.

Charges recommended against two police officers allegedly involved in assault

January 26, 2009
By Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun

Vancouver police are recommending charges be laid against two police officers allegedly involved in an attack on a Surrey delivery man last Wednesday.

They are recommending that charges of robbery be laid against an officer with the West Vancouver force, while charges of assault and possession of stolen property are recommended against an officer with the New Westminster police, Chief Const. Jim Chu said at a press conference this afternoon.

Police will not recommended against a third officer from Delta, Chu said.

He said there is evidence this officer in fact tried to intervene in the alleged assault.

Chu said names of the officers charged will be released when charges are laid.

The announcement comes less then a week after Vancouver police arrested three off-duty police officers from the New Westminster, West Vancouver and Delta police forces on suspicion of assault.

The alleged victim, 47-year-old Surrey delivery man Firoz Khan, said the officers attacked him unprovoked, robbed him, racially abused him and threatened to use a Taser.

Chu said that since the victim could not identify the officer who allegedly uttered racial remarks, police are not at this time recommending the case be tried as a hate crime.

However, he said police are still looking for witnesses in the case, and stressed that the courts will decide about whether the alleged racial remarks warrant hate crime sentencing.

Alleged victim says he was robbed, racially abused by Vancouver Police

January 24, 2009
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun

A 47-year-old Surrey delivery man who was allegedly assaulted by three off-duty police officers this week said Friday his assailants made racial comments and threatened to use a Taser on him.

"They told me that we don't like brown people. And I told them I am sorry," Firoz Khan told reporters Friday afternoon in front of his Surrey home. "That was the day I was delivering, when president Obama was elected as the U.S. president."

Early Wednesday, Vancouver police arrested off-duty police officers from the Delta, New Westminster and West Vancouver forces on suspicion of assault and robbery outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Khan told Global TV reporters that as he approached the doors of the hotel, a man standing outside ordered him over to him.

"He said, 'Come here, you f---ing idiot, get the f--- out here,' Khan said. The man then asked him how he could get to Broadway and Cambie, he said. "I told him, 'Take it easy, let me make this delivery, and I'll tell you how to go.'" The man persisted, he said. "He said, 'Come here f---ing now.'"

Khan said the man grabbed his jacket, pulled him to the sidewalk, and began to attack him. About five to seven minutes later, he was joined by two others. "To my knowledge, I have been beaten, first by one person, and then later by another two," said Khan, who has worked for Dolphin Delivery for seven years. "In total they were three. They kicked me in my head, kicked my back, legs, everywhere."

Khan said he was robbed of $200 in the incident and claims he was further threatened when he asked for help.

"They told me, 'We are the police, you don't need help. If you don't behave, if you don't do anything, we have a Taser,'" Khan said. "I told them that I am half-dead anyways, after you guys beat me up so badly, so you might as well use the Taser and then kill me so that's the end of the story."

City workers, cab drivers and McDonald's employees saw him on the ground and rushed to help, he recalled. "I was arrested, I was handcuffed by the police, and then a cab driver told police: 'He is not a suspect. He is a driver, getting beaten.'"

Khan made the statement in front of his small, white stucco bungalow in the 10800-block of 142nd Street in Surrey, flanked by his young family, which includes his wife Zabida and three daughters, aged four, two, and four months. A white bandage was on his head and he walked gingerly.

Many visitors were coming and going from the home all day, but repeated media requests were initially refused. At one point, a man emerged from the home with a hastily constructed cardboard notice saying "No media and trespassing" and stuck it into a bank of snow at the driveway entrance.

Also on Friday, Delta police announced that their officer under investigation in the incident is being reassigned to administrative duties. They did not release the officer's name.

Khan said he hasn't been able to sleep and is still in pain. "I decided to come out and tell the story, because we are all human beings," he told reporters. "Police are given the job to serve the public. If you cannot help, why beat a person? I feel very traumatized. I feel afraid. I've always liked my job, and now I feel very different, very afraid."

At least one Muslim-Canadian leader vowed to meet with police over allegations that the attack included racial slurs. "It will be very unfortunate if [the racial slur] was said. We've been fighting that business for too long," said Aziz Khaki, the president of the Committee for Racial Justice and president of the B.C. Muslim-Canadian Federation. "That is pure hatred. And if that was said, especially from someone who is supposed to look after the safety of the people, from the people who look after law and order... if they are [referring] to a man's skin in a [hateful] way, then it's a serious matter."

Under the Criminal Code, a judge is permitted to impose heavier penalties if there is evidence that an offence was motivated by hatred based on such things as race, religion or sexual orientation.

Khaki sits on many police committees and his organization has led intercultural education programs with police, he said.

On Thursday, New Westminster Police announced they have suspended their officer with pay. He has been identified as 38-year-old Const. Jeffrey Klassen. He has been with the force for four years.

West Vancouver police said they are reassigning their officer to desk duties. That officer has been with the force for 18 months.

The three friends were out for the night in the downtown entertainment district, said Klassen's ex-wife Sheri Klassen. After being arrested Wednesday by Vancouver police responding to a 911 call, the officers were released. They had not been charged as of Friday.

Vancouver police Chief Const. Jim Chu is calling for people to come forward who may have witnessed the alleged assault. Chu made the unusual move of speaking publicly during an ongoing investigation for "the sake of preserving the public's respect, and belief in the integrity of that process." "This investigation is being pursued aggressively and fully," Chu said in a written statement. "We are in the process of interviewing witnesses and examining evidence, including any video that may have been recorded."

Chu said there are parallel investigations under the Police Act, and said that chiefs in the affected jurisdictions "are taking the matter very seriously as well."

Khan is expected to be off work for some time, Dave Breen of Dolphin Delivery told The Vancouver Sun Friday. "I talked to him today and to be honest with you, he doesn't sound that good, as far as mentally," Breen said. "I think he's just still shaken up by the whole thing. So I really don't expect him to be back any time soon."

Breen said the Hyatt was one of Khan's delivery stops and the confrontation with the three police officers occurred as he was making his way into the hotel.

Breen said Khan has a "spotless record" after more than a decade working for the company.

Robertson backpedals on taser moratorium

January 22, 2009
Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier

Mayor Gregor Robertson has again shifted his position on whether the Vancouver Police Department should continue to use Tasers.

Robertson, who is chair of the Vancouver Police Board, said Wednesday he won't ask board members to vote for a moratorium on the weapon. "As a member of the police board with one tie-breaking vote, I don't have the direct call on this," Robertson told the Courier after a police board meeting at the Cambie Street police station. "It's an operational decision for the chief [Jim Chu] to make, and I respect that."

But the mayor said his "personal preference" would be that the VPD stop using Tasers until the Braidwood inquiry into the use of stun guns releases a report later this year. "We should be more precautionary until we know definitively that this is a safe tool," he added.

The inquiry is examining the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport Oct. 14, 2007. RCMP fired a Taser several times at Dziekanski, who died at the scene.

During Robertson's campaign to become mayor, he called for a moratorium on the VPD's use of Tasers. After his first police board meeting in December, Robertson backed off his request for a moratorium. At the time, he pointed to B.C. Solicitor General John van Dongen's directive in December to have all municipal police forces pull selected stun guns from service.

Robertson said then that "hopefully there's more robust efforts to ensure that indeed all the equipment is safe in lieu of a moratorium." Three VPD officers made a presentation Wednesday to the police board on the Taser. They spoke about what they argued was the weapon's effectiveness in arresting people who otherwise would have to be tackled, struck with a baton or shot with a gun.

VPD officers fired the Taser 27 times in 2008 and pointed it 36 times at suspects who surrendered rather than be zapped by the high-voltage weapon. The VPD's use of the weapon in 2008 was markedly lower than in 2007 (74 times), 2006 (93) and in 2005 (66). No reason was provided for the decrease.

Const. Tammy Hammell told a story about getting called to an incident where a person was "running around the West End with a hatchet."

When aiming a Taser, it shines a little red laser dot on the target. In the case in the West End, the man surrendered after he noticed the dot shining on his chest, Hammell said.

"The person dropped the hatchet and it was done-the situation was under control, and that person is out enjoying life today," she said.

The officers also pointed to a study conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians that concluded serious injuries from a Taser are extremely rare. The three-year study, which was released Jan. 15, found that 492 of 1,201 criminal suspects suffered mild injuries-mostly superficial puncture wounds-when hit with a Taser.

Only three "significant injuries" were recorded. Two suffered head injuries from a fall and the third suffered "a rapid breakdown" of muscle tissue.

"These weapons appear to be very safe, especially when compared to other options police have for subduing violent or combative suspects," wrote study author Dr. William P. Bozeman of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. "That is not to say that injuries and deaths are impossible. Police and medical personnel need to be aware of the potential for serious injury and look for evidence that a person subdued by a Taser has been hurt."

A Taser, which is a brand name, resembles a handgun and releases 50,000 volts of electricity through two probes into clothing or skin.

Transit police officer injured, taser used on fare evader during scuffle

January 17, 2009
CBC News

A fare evader was stunned with a Taser on Friday afternoon and a transit police officer suffered a head wound during a confrontation at a SkyTrain station in New Westminster, B.C.

Two transit police were checking passengers for fares on a train arriving at Braid Station, said Const. Tom Seaman of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service.

When the train stopped at the station, the man, in his mid-30s, fled.

"He ignored the officers and kept walking; he was asked several times, but kept walking," Seaman said in a news release issued Friday.

One of the two officers tried physically to stop the man, who then became "confrontational" and went down an escalator that was going up.

"The physical altercation quickly escalated. During the altercation one of the officers fell down the escalator with the suspect falling on top of him. A Taser had been deployed without affect," Seaman said.

The officer who fell down the escalator suffered a head wound and was bleeding badly, but the man continued to resist.

"A second Taser was deployed, which helped bring the male under control," Seaman said.

The man was carrying a steak knife in his clothing, which fell out after he was jolted by the Taser, Seaman said.

Transit police said they had dealt with the same man two weeks earlier for not paying a fare, and he had to be physically restrained in that incident.

The injured officer was recovering in hospital Friday evening.

Transit police will recommend charges of obstruction, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest against the man.

Vancouver Mayor considers calling for moratorium on taser use

December 12, 2008
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER - Mayor Gregor Robertson said Thursday he is considering calling for a moratorium on the use of Tasers by Vancouver police. His comment came the same day that CTV BC reported that three RCMP officers involved in the Tasering of Robert Dziekanski will not be charged. B.C.'s criminal justice branch is expected to make the announcement at a news conference today.

However, RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said Thursday he wasn't aware of what conclusion the Crown had reached on the case.

Robertson's statement about Taser use potentially pits him against Vancouver's police chief and the president of the police union, who both say the weapon is a valuable tool. "I am concerned about Taser use, and I am looking at calling for a moratorium," Robertson told The Vancouver Sun in an e-mail interview.

Robertson, who as mayor is also the chair of the Vancouver police board, said he'll wait for a planned public presentation from the Vancouver police department on Tasers at a January police board meeting before he makes a decision. "I'm also very interested in hearing the recommendations from the Braidwood Commission," he said, referring to the inquiry by retired judge Thomas Braidwood into the use of the weapon and the death of Dziekanski last year at Vancouver International Airport shortly after he was Tasered by RCMP officers.

During his election campaign, Robertson called for a moratorium on Taser use until the weapon can be proven safe.

His remarks Thursday come amidst news the Vancouver police department has pulled more than a third of its Tasers after a media report that one model of the devices generated a higher voltage than the manufacturer's specifications.

Robertson's suggestion of a moratorium wasn't well-received by the president of the Vancouver Police Union. "As far as I'm aware, he hasn't been involved in policing in any significant way," said Tom Stamatakis. "I think he needs to be a little bit more measured in the positions he takes and wait until he fully understands all of the issues surrounding the Taser before he would take a position like that." Stamatakis said the weapon is a "vital tool" that every police officer should have, given the right training.

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu also said the Taser is an important piece in the police arsenal. "[It] helps the safety of the public, it increases the level of safety for the subjects, bystanders as well as police officers," he said.

In a submission to the Braidwood inquiry this spring, Chu said Vancouver police deployed Tasers 100 times in 2007, although about 25,000 people are arrested each year. "We will always be looking at information that arises, and when that information arises, we will examine it, have our experts study it and if that requires us to change some deployment policies then we will do that," Chu said.

Chu said it's unclear whether Robertson even has a say over a potential moratorium. It depends on whether the use of Tasers is determined to be a matter of policy or governance - in which case it is under the police board's jurisdiction - or an operational issue, which is dealt with by the police chief, Chu said. Even if the issue is determined to be under the board's authority, Robertson's powers are limited to persuasion or one vote in the event of a split decision.

Earlier this week, Solicitor-General John van Dongen ordered B.C.'s municipal police forces to pull all Tasers acquired before Jan. 1, 2006 out of service, following a CBC/Radio Canada investigation that revealed some older Tasers generated electrical currents that were more powerful than indicated by the manufacturer.

He also called for provincial standards for testing the weapons.

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.

RCMP emails reveal chaotic time after airport taser death

August 17, 2008
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — While RCMP brass and its media relations division scrambled to keep from being "crucified" over Taser use and the death of a man at Vancouver's airport, they also had to deal with an increasing barrage of complaints accusing officers of being everything from clowns to killers.

Email documents, released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, showed great concern from Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office down to the RCMP's British Columbia media relations office over the public's perception about the death of Robert Dziekanski.

"I am going to get some advice, but I think I might wade in here to set some of the record straight with the media," RCMP Chief Supt. Dale McGowan wrote in an email to the Cmdr. Peter German.

"We are being crucified on why the Taser usage and our members' actions at the preliminary stages."

German later replied that he had "just watched the Taser video on BBC TV in Australia!"

Weeks before, RCMP media spokesman Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre wrote to management that Cpl. Dale Carr - the media spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team - had concluded there was a possibility of an "international incident" because of Dziekanski's death.

In one email days after the death, Day's office issues an "urgent" request to RCMP to see the latest media lines Mounties have sent out on the Taser incident.

Lemaitre outlined suggestions for what the RCMP should tell the media, including that the death was being reviewed on several levels and that the investigation was continuing.

On October 14, 2007 Dziekanski spent hours in the international arrivals area at the Vancouver airport before he was confronted by four RMCP officers.

A bystander's video of the confrontation shows the officers attempting a brief conversation with the confused and sweating Polish man before Dziekanski was jolted twice with a Taser.

He died minutes after the officers pinned him to the ground.

Sgt. Tim Shields - who has just taken over the communications section at E Division in Vancouver - said in an interview last week that the entire issue has hurt the Mounties' public image.

"Yes, of course it has," he said. "And we hope that when more of the facts are made public ... it will present a clearer picture of truly what happened."

The eyewitness video was seized by officers at the scene for evidence, and the owner later threatened legal action to get it back, saying he wanted to release what he recorded to the media.

In the hours after the death, Lemaitre told the media that officers at the scene attempted to calm the man, but they felt threatened.

When the eyewitness video was finally released, it showed police using the Taser less than half-a-minute after first confronting the man.

After the tape was aired around the world, the RCMP were inundated with angry emails.

"Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre should be fired for purposely misrepresenting the facts and suppressing the video on a false premise," wrote one person who's name was removed from the documents. "It appears you have been caught in an outright lie," wrote another, whose name was also stripped from the email. The email had a subject line reading "state-sanctioned murder."

Lemaitre told one correspondent he had to work with the information that he was given by the investigation team, and he suggested that if he had it to do over again, he would have said nothing.

"In the world of communications, police have often been criticized for not giving details and/or information regarding an incident resulting in allegations that we are hiding something," Lemaitre wrote.

He told the complainant several investigations will reveal why officers did what they did. "As for myself, as a spokesperson, in the future, I will consider saying that we have no comment, there's an ongoing investigation, and weather the storm of media criticism that we are not forthcoming."

Despite Lemaitre's comment, Shields said police haven't changed the way they deal with the media. "We have to ensure that we have an open relationship with the media because we rely on the media to get the message out to the public," he said.

Another member of the public wrote asking police "So how are you going to lie your way out of this one?" and made reference to the Mahar Arar where RCMP handed over inaccurate information about the Canadian man to U.S. authorities. "You clowns are nothing but a sad, expensive joke," the writer ended.

Later correspondence grew increasing hostile and is riddled with foul language. Some are even threatening. "When will charges of manslaughter be brought against the officers?" asks a member of the public. "Seeing as there will be no proper action taken against the criminals, I should hope a similar fate befalls their families."

Carr and Lemaitre responded to several of the writers.

It is vitriol Shields said he's never seen before from the public.

"After the millions of good things that we have done, it was very disheartening to see that level of backlash and anger from the public."

Not all the emails were negative. Chris Newel of the Clearwater RCMP wrote to Lemaitre suggesting police put out a news release indicating how many times a Taser was used successfully. "I see on the news eight people have died in five years - that's about 1.5 a year. How many would have died if we didn't have the Taser?" Newel wondered. "Of those eight, how many had pre-existing conditions that likely contributed, if not were the cause, of death?" "Thanks for that," Lemaitre replied. "Stand by for the autopsy results! We might be in for a surprise, like Tasers didn't kill this guy, pre-existing medical conditions and or drugs in the system, wait and see."

No drugs or alcohol were found in Dziekanski's body, but the cause of death still hasn't been released.

A briefing document written in November 2007 for RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said it was the B.C.'s Coroner's Office that left police in an embarrassing position after RCMP refused to release the bystander's video before it was used at the coroner's inquest.

Elliott said the coroner, "in an unprecedented action and in contradiction to his request of the prior week," sent a letter to the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team saying the coroner's office instead had no problem with the videotape being released. "This left no legal basis for the videotape to be held," Elliott wrote.

The reverberations from Dziekanski's death and the release of the videotape are still being felt, with most of the investigations ongoing, including a public inquiry which will begin hearing witnesses testify in October about the night Dziekanski died.

The B.C. Crown is looking at a police report into whether charges should be laid against the officers involved.

Police defend right to use 'less-lethal' weapons

August 16, 2008
MATTHEW TREVISAN, Globe and Mail

Rick Anthony remembers a time in policing when there weren't many options available to officers faced with a life or death situation. "Your gun was your distance weapon and your baton was your close-up weapon," said Mr. Anthony, a detective with the Victoria police. "Your mouth was both."

But now, many forces across the country use a variety of "less-lethal" weapons - that is, a weapon less lethal than a gun but still able to inflict fatal damage - in their arsenal.

One of those weapons, the taser, has generated controversy in high-profile instances such as the death of Robert Dziekanski, who died last fall after being tasered by RCMP at Vancouver International Airport. But another weapon, which has been in some police arsenals for more than a decade, has also had its fair share of publicity. And police have recently said that it is more reliable than the taser and can be used at a much greater distance.

Developed originally as a way for police to control crowds during unrest in Northern Ireland, the ARWEN, the acronym for Anti-riot Weapon ENfield, fires plastic bullets and is used by law enforcements agencies across the country, said Brian Kirkey, president of Police Ordnance, the company based in Markham, Ont., that manufactures and distributes the gun worldwide.

"It would be fair to say most medium to large agencies in Canada have an ARWEN system in their equipment inventory for both their tactical team and their public order unit," he said.

The current model, the ARWEN 37, fires plastic bullets at a rate of 74 metres a second and can be used as far as 100 metres away. Getting hit by one of the bullets feels the same as getting beamed by pitch hurled by a major league pitcher, Mr. Kirkey said.

Tactical officers who fire the guns aim for a suspect's stomach, or extremities such as the upper thigh and lower arm, as a way to disarm suspects or get them to comply with police. "It'll break bones if it hits," Mr. Kirkey said. "You don't want to hit them in the head. You don't want to hit them in the neck. That's where you have a potential fatality."

In August of 1984, Sean Downes died after he was hit in the chest by a plastic bullet fired by a Northern Ireland police officer, an incident that garnered attention because of a photo of Mr. Downes's body showing a huge bruise on his chest.

In Canada, the gun first garnered attention in Vancouver in 1994 when, during a Stanley Cup riot after the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game 7 to the New York Rangers, a man was shot in the head by one of the plastic bullets.

In 2001, the man's civil suit against the Vancouver police force and the city of Vancouver was dismissed, and a B.C. Supreme Court judge found that the officer who shot the man, Ryan Berntt, acted reasonably, according to news reports at the time.

Despite the potential for serious harm, Inspector Clark of the Calgary police tactical team, said the ARWEN is instrumental in providing an opportunity for police to disarm a suspect without inflicting a fatal wound.

The Calgary police department has been using the gun since 2007 and has discharged it five times.

Police forces across the country that employ the ARWEN include Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Halton and Victoria. ***

The ARWEN 37T Tactical

Claimed to be the first less lethal tactical weapon to combine lightness, high accuracy and the ability to fire up to five shots without reloading.

Rotary magazine

Light weight with minimal rotational torque. Semi- automatic function - can fire five rounds in four seconds

Payload

37 mm foam, wood or tear- gas ammunition

Telescoping butt stock

The ARWEN is 64 - 69 cm long

Rifling:Five lands / five grooves

Rate of twist: One in 540mm right hand twist

Weight unloaded: 2.98 kg

Weight loaded with five rounds:3.61 kg

NINIAN CARTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

In BC: Only West Vancouver police meet suggested rules for tasering suspects

June 19, 2008
Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun

Only one police agency in B.C. is already using stun guns in the way Canada's federal police watchdog recommended Wednesday -- firing them only when suspects are being "combative."

The Vancouver Sun analysed Taser policies for all municipal police departments in the province, and it appears only West Vancouver has told its officers to restrict firing a Taser to when "an individual is behaving in a combative manner or posing a risk of death or grievous bodily harm to the police or public."

Since a Polish immigrant was Tasered and died at Vancouver airport last year, the RCMP and a number of Lower Mainland police departments have rewritten their policies for use of the weapon.

All the agencies, with the exception of West Vancouver, have reserved the right of officers to use stun guns on people displaying active resistance -- a broad definition that is open to the discretion of individual officers.

It doesn't appear to meet the standards suggested in a report released Wednesday by Paul Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.

Nor does it address Kennedy's interim report last year, following Robert Dziekanski's death at the airport, that the RCMP use a Taser only when a target is "combative" or poses a risk of "death or grievous bodily harm."

The policies of Delta, Abbotsford, Vancouver, and Nelson police departments, for example, vary widely, but allow Taser use on people displaying active resistance or when they are non-compliant or when it is deemed appropriate by the officer.

As of May 21, Port Moody had only a draft Taser policy, but no finalized version, even though its members use the stun guns.

In response to Kennedy's interim report, the RCMP issued an operation manual bulletin instructing officers to marginally raise the bar for Taser use from "passive" to "active" resistance.

Robert Gordon, director of the criminology department at Simon Fraser University, said Tasers were initially to be used as a last resort before firing a gun, specifically for combative scenarios.

Their use is inappropriate in less severe situations, argues Gordon, a former police officer.

Gordon said a combative situation could involve, for example, an irrational and threatening mentally ill person who is armed.

Active resistance, he said, encompasses a broad range of actions by an accused during which an officer's well-being might be threatened, but not nearly to the level it is in a combative situation.

Passive resistance, he said, could include someone refusing to leave a police car by hanging on to the back seat.

On Dec. 27, following Kennedy's interim report, West Vancouver police Chief Kash Heed issued a memo to officers, which was obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

The memo said, in part: "There is a lot of public discussion on the use of Tasers. ... There will be a province-wide review of the current policies. ... Until this is completed and recommendations are put forward, the WVPD will restrict the use of Tasers to situations where an individual is behaving in a combative manner or posing a risk of death or grievous bodily harm to the police or public."

Metro Vancouver's transit police force also recently announced it had changed its controversial Taser use policy to "actively resistant," replacing the term "non-compliant."

The old policy, in effect since 2005, caused a public outcry after it was learned through a Freedom of Information request filed by Surrey resident Gordon Keast that transit police had deployed a Taser on non-violent passengers, including a person who had not paid his fare and tried to run away from an officer.

Keast said police boards of the 11 municipal forces in B.C. have set their own policies, training and Taser-use reporting requirements, resulting in a "patchwork" of different rules.

B.C.'s solicitor-general sent a letter to police chiefs last December saying there needed to be a "higher threshold" for the use of Tasers and called for a steering group "to clarify practices and policies" among police in B.C.

A ministry representative said Wednesday that the steering group idea was on hold pending the conclusion of Kennedy's report and a provincial inquiry into Dziekanski's death (which reconvenes next week).

Vancouver Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh also believes there should be national standards around Taser use.

Dosanjh was B.C.'s attorney-general in 2000 when he first approved police use of Tasers in B.C., the first province in Canada to do so. The RCMP adopted the weapon in 2001.

Dosanjh now feels he was duped by those who advised him that the weapon was completely safe and would only be deployed when a subject displayed "assaultive and combative behaviour."

There have been 20 deaths in Canada involving people who have received Taser shocks, which incapacitate the muscles through darts propelled out of the hand-held electrical stun gun.

Dosanjh concedes a Taser is less dangerous than a bullet from a gun, which is the position of police, who say the Taser has saved many lives and reduced injuries to both suspects and officers.

But Kennedy raised concerns about "usage creep" in recent years -- that Tasers have been used to subdue "resistant subjects who do not pose a threat of grievous bodily harm."

Kennedy was asked to review Taser use in response to the death of Dziekanski, who had wandered around the secure area of Vancouver's airport for many hours, unable to speak English and unable to find his mother.

Looking exhausted and disoriented, the Polish man began throwing things around and was Tasered multiple times within seconds of being confronted by RCMP officers.

VPD to investigate taser use by Translink

May 8, 2008
straight.com

The Vancouver Police Department has been ordered by the office of the police complaint commissioner to investigate the use of tasers by TransLink police. “They’re looking at 10 different incidents,” deputy police complaint commissioner Bruce Brown told the Straight regarding the instructions received by the VPD.

The department, whose officers are also armed with the high-voltage stun guns, has until October to wrap up the probe, which was triggered by a complaint filed last month by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

Brown said that one of the incidents under investigation involves the deployment of a taser by transit police to subdue a man who got into a fight with VPD officers. Transit-police officers happened to be passing by the scene when they intervened.

The incident occurred in the Downtown Eastside, outside a cultural event attended by Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean during her visit to Vancouver in January.

Vancouver Police Board fails to block lawsuit over taser-related death

April 28, 2008
Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by the Vancouver Police Board to block a compensation suit related to the death of a man who was jolted with a Taser almost four years ago. Robert Bagnell died in police custody in June of 2004 during an altercation with Vancouver police. His family is suing the Police Board under the Family Compensation Act, claiming the Board was negligent in supplying police officers with Tasers, and failed to ensure the stun guns were independently tested and properly maintained. The Board attempted to have the suit dismissed, claiming it had no reasonable chance to succeed, and the city of Vancouver should be the target of any suit. But a lower court rejected the argument, and the B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld that ruling. The appeal court says it’s not obvious that the claim against the Police Board would fail, and the issue should be left to be argued during a trial.

See the Reasons for Judgment

Memo to tasering transit coppers

April 20, 2008
The Province

Interdepartmental memorandum

Re: Use of Tasers

To: Officers of TransLink Police, a.k.a. Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service (a.k.a. "you")

From: Chief of TransLink Police, General Larry "Buck" Stryker

Present situational: In Tactical Command Operations Coordination Centre (my van)

Priority: Top

- - - -

Fellow troopers,

As you know, the force is under fire because our Taser usage has become public through a Freedom of Information request.

Let me take this opportunity to remind you of the acceptable circumstances in which to deploy your Taser.

Number one would be:

- Encountering a Freedom of Information request.

Other situations in which your Taser can be deployed:

- On people who are violent.

- On people who could become violent and are in possession of potential weapons such as arms and legs.

- As a precautionary, on members of the public whom you suspect have their own Taser and might be planning to Taser themselves.

- And -- my favourite -- for resisting while being arrested for resisting arrest.

Do we Taser people for not paying their fare?

No.

Do we Taser people for being non-compliant?

Absolutely.

What does non-compliance consist of?

Non-compliance consists of saying "no" when we ask to see proof they paid their fare.

And non-compliance comes in a lot of other forms, too.

There is:

- Aggressive non-compliance.

- Passive non-compliance.

- Didn't-hear-the-question non-compliance.

- And shouting "Oh please don't Taser me, don't Taser me" in a way that could undermine the public's confidence in TransLink Police non-compliance.

One particular example of non-compliance we've been criticized for is when we Tasered a civilian for not letting go of a SkyTrain rail when we asked him to.

How did Tasering him protect the public in that instance?

Well, what if his non-compliance encouraged the world-class non-compliers of the world -- and the next day al-Qaida was holding a SkyTrain rail and wouldn't let go? Or the communist horde? Or Iran?

That would not only have profound implications on Canada's sovereignty but also mean major inconvenience for commuters.

This is not to say there aren't occasions when you should refrain from using your Taser.

Inappropriate Taser use:

- To reheat coffee or make toast during break.

- Re-charge a personal digital music device.

- In the context of combatting flies, mosquitoes or unwanted body hair.

- To light a post-tryst pair of cigarettes.

We do not think the controversy over our Taser usage is going to have any lasting negatory affect on the force.

This week we'll still, as planned, be delivering our request for the laser bazookas to TransLink board members.

And we remain confident they'll comply.