July 1, 2007
Jeremiah Stettler, The Salt Lake Tribune
"Like duct tape, the weapons have become a fix-all for potentially volatile situations."
June 7, 2007
CBC News
I was very disappointed to learn that Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has itself become the subject of an investigation into allegations of incompetence and bias. According to its website, the SIU is committed to promoting and maintaining community confidence in Ontario’s police services through highly professional and independent investigations. Many, including my family, Cameron Ward and Vancouver's Pivot Legal Society, have upheld this Ontario "bulwark of democracy" model as a replacement for British Columbia's system of police investigating police.
"Ontario's ombudsman will investigate allegations the province's agency that probes civilian deaths and serious injuries involving police was incompetent and biased. André Marin said there has been a "troubling increase" in the number of complaints to the ombudsman's office about the Special Investigations Unit, an independent civilian agency that probes police actions. "The SIU is a bulwark of democracy in Ontario," said Andre Marin. "It's where the buck stops in police accountability when there is death or serious injury. Given the nature of these complaints, I believe it warrants further investigation.""
In response, James Cornish, Director of the SIU, said "Ontarians have every reason to expect that the SIU operates with complete integrity and meets excellent investigative standards. As a world leader in civilian oversight of police, the SIU is committed to carrying out thorough and unbiased investigations to ensure police accountability, thus safeguarding public confidence in our police. I have confidence in the professionalism of the men and women of this Unit and that the Ombudsman will conduct an impartial and professional investigation. We intend to cooperate and look forward to receiving his report."
A newsletter I receive from the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition had this to say: "Members of TPAC met recently with Ombudsman staff to discuss the SIU. TPAC's experience is that SIU seems to be part of the policing hierarchy rather than representing an outside citizen-based voice on policing matters. The SIU provides the appearance of accountability without the substance, and functions as another line of defense for the police. TPAC fears that the focus of the investigation is narrow when what is needed is something which begins to tackle the question of police accountability to the community at large. Without the presence of a general sense of police accountability, it is difficult for any police complaints mechanism to function well."
The report is expected to be available in November.
Today would have been my brother Robert's 48th birthday. This one's for you, Bob!
Last week, I happened upon this former Vancouver police officer's blog:
Tasers Aren't the Enemy
All week long, I've been thinking about how to respond to this man. I wanted to tell Leo that the cops were not under attack by some loser with a knife but rather they tasered my brother as he lay on his back on the floor in a medical emergency. I wanted to tell him that the police are *not* using the taser as an alternative to "refrain from using the type of lethal force they would have previously had to use in so many instances." The 13 Vancouver police officers present when Bob died were not in any credible danger and would not have been justified in using lethal force on Bob. I wanted to tell him that tasers are no longer being referred to as "non-lethal" - the manufacturer would prefer we call them "less-lethal". I wanted to tell him that the report Neal Hall was referring to in his article in the Vancouver Sun was the Amnesty International report released in May 2007, entitled "CANADA: Inappropriate and Excessive Use of Tasers." I wanted him to know that we had hoped the jury at the coroner's inquest would agree on some reasonable recommendations which may have helped to prevent similar tragedies. There was so much I wanted to say to Leo Knight.
Instead, I think it's appropriate to share a quote from an article published in the Calgary Herald on September 24, 2006, entitled "The Shocking Truth About Tasers."
"Leo Knight, a former Vancouver police officer and securities expert who now runs a security company, agrees these cases suggest Tasers can lead to lazy policing, highlighting the fact some officers aren't being properly instructed. "Tasers can be too easy to fall back on -- especially if the proper training isn't there. They should only be used in serious incidents where officers are in danger . . . some of these cases would indicate that isn't happening." ... Knight says as hard as police departments try to train officers, there are members who shoot before they should. "It's just the law of averages. You're always going to get a few people who just don't follow the rules."
BINGO, Leo - you hit the nail on the head.
On June 12th, I wrote about the sad case of Milisha Thompson, who died in May after being tasered in Oklahoma City. Already on the ground and in handcuffs, she was tasered as many as 20 times according to her husband - but only twice according to the police. The cause of Ms. Thompson's death was delayed pending results of toxicology tests. (Where have I heard that before?!) Well, folks, the results are in - and the taser had nothing to do with this woman's death!
The cause of death? Excited delirium, of course. Unrecognized by any credible medical association, but sold to medical examiners by Taser International, the police and other proponents of the taser, excited delirium is the subject of intense debate. Taser International has acknowledged that each year, they send hundreds of pamphlets to medical examiners explaining how to detect excited delirium. I assume the Oklahoma City medical examiner had received his copy, and maybe even a personal call from the manufacturer to help him with his diagnosis. (In 2004, Taser International claimed that no medical examiner had ever implicated a taser. As more autopsy reports began listing tasers as a primary or contributing cause of death, however, the manufacturer argued that coroners were not qualified to assess whether Tasers played a causal role.)
"Excited delirium is not a diagnosis used in psychiatry,'' says Dr. Roumen Milev of the Mood Disorders Clinic at the Providence Continuing Care Centre in Kingston, Ontario. "It does not exist as such either in the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic and statistical manual, or in the World Health Organization's international classification of diseases.''
Many, like me, believe that excited delirium is a blame-shifting diagnosis, created to shift the blame from the person exerting the force to the person that dies.
I agree with Cameron Ward, who says: If "excited delirium", a controversial phenomenon that attributes cardiac arrest to over-excitement resulting from the arrest and restraint process, caused these deaths, one would expect deaths to occur with similar frequency in the cases of people arrested by police using more conventional methods.
Ms. Thompson's family plans to have her body exhumed and have an independent autopsy performed. That's very smart. We would have liked to have had that option.
The two officers involved remain on administrative leave.
On her own: Noreen Salinas, center, at a vigil calling for an investigation into the death of her father, Steve Salinas
June 20, 2007
Raj Jayadev - Metro Active, San Jose
Noreen Salinas is a girl after my own heart ...
"NOREEN SALINAS has taken pictures from every possible angle outside room 119 at the Vagabond Inn. The 29–year–old Salinas has traced the pathway from the parking lot, and has measured the distance from the room to the manager's desk in the next building. It's become her life's focus since her father, Steve Salinas, was tased to death in room 119, while naked and unarmed, by the San Jose Police Department on May 25. Weeks later, having received no substantive information from the SJPD as to why her father is dead, Salinas is trying to get answers for herself. She calls it "putting my cop hat on." Noreen Salinas is hoping the City Council supports the recommendation of mandatory investigation and IPA review. But she is certainly not waiting with bated breath, as she continues to press the SJPD for information. She has repeatedly asked for the police report, and is told she will be able to see it in a few weeks. She has also called for an investigation by the district attorney's office. On the evening of June 8, in front of the district attorney's office, Salinas, supported by the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, a group formed after the death of Cau Buch Tran, held a vigil for her father. "My father was a good, loving man," she told the crowd. "I want to know exactly why the police did what they did, and I want them to be held responsible for their actions.""
Authorities in San Angelo, Texas are probing what role the taser may have had in igniting a man who had doused himself with gasoline and whether the taser or the lighter that was on the porch nearby could have contributed to setting this man on fire.
Juan Flores Lopez, 47, died yesterday at a Lubbock hospital.
"We don't know what ignited the fire," police Lt. Curtis Milbourn said.
Taser International warns that tasers, gasoline and lighters are a dangerous combination to be avoided. On its website, under the heading "Law Enforcement Warnings", I found - among other warnings - the following:
To minimize the risk of injury during or from deployment, follow these guidelines:
"Beware - TASER device can ignite explosive materials, liquids or vapors. These include gasoline, other flammables, explosive materials, liquids or vapors (eg., gases found in sewer lines, methamphetamine labs, and butane-type lighters). Some self-defence sprays use flammable carriers such as alcohol and could be dangerous to use in immediate conjunction with TASER devices."
Last weekend, I and a group of friends had the great fortune to attend the Abbey Road on the River (Canada) Beatles Festival at the Empire Square in beautiful Belleville, Ontario. The weather was exquisite, the venue was first class and the talent was out of this world. It was a peaceful affair. The audience – such a lovely audience – was made up of everyone from newborn babies earlier in the day, to teens to grandparents – maybe even a few great-grandparents – and everyone in between. Just regular people like me and you. After all, who doesn’t love The Beatles?
I happened to notice the arrival of a couple of local police officers. They came in peace – it was obvious that they enjoyed the music, they were nothing if not friendly and they seemed glad to be there. It didn't strike me as unusual that they should have a presence there.
However, I could not avoid noticing the additional presence of a member of the city's specialized Emergency Response Team (ERT). He was fully equipped, with baton, taser, firearm, etc. - the whole nine yards. The uniform was different as well - darker, with less visible insignia. He seemed quite out of place and, to my eye at least, it was more than a little strange to see him mingling – in riot gear – among this particular crowd.
I don’t claim to know a lot about crowd control or event security; however, I think this requires a little more sunshine. I can’t IMAGINE what would justify an ERT presence at an event such as this one. It would seem to me that, had things suddenly gone sideways in a way that was beyond the control of the regular police who were there, that would have been a legitimate time to call for ERT reinforcements.
I’m sure John, Paul, George and Ringo would agree.
In 2004, the year my brother died, the Victoria Police Department website described tasers and their use as follows:
The Victoria Police Department was the first Canadian Police agency to adopt the TASER. This weapon, uses electronic energy to interrupt the messages the brain sends to the muscles in our bodies. When a target is hit with the two projectiles sent out by the TASER, the muscles lock up and refuse to listen to the brain's commands. This results in safe and effective arrests for police, with an increased likelihood of the subject being arrested with little or no injuries. The TASER is used when police face a dangerous situation that may result in deadly force. The TASER is another option to solve the issue without resorting to deadly force unless necessary. The VPD first brought the TASER into Canada in 1999 after receiving an exemption from the Attorney General of British Columbia to import the weapon from the USA. We performed a six month study on the effectiveness of the weapon and determined it had value as a less than lethal force option.
In January 2005, the following wording was removed: The TASER is used when police face a dangerous situation that may result in deadly force. The TASER is another option to solve the issue without resorting to deadly force unless necessary.
Today, on the Victoria Police Department's website, the taser is described as follows:
The VPD first brought the TASER, which is a Conducted Energy Weapon, into Canada in 1999 after receiving an exemption from the Attorney General of British Columbia to import the weapon from the USA. Our members participated a six month study on the effectiveness of the weapon and determined it had value as a weapon of lower lethality. Conducted Energy Weapons are classified as Intermediate Weapons on the National Use of Force Model. Conducted Energy Weapons use electronic energy to interrupt the messages the brain sends to the muscles in our bodies. When a subject is exposed to the electrical impulses of a Conducted Energy Weapon, the muscles lock up and refuse to listen to the brain's commands for coordinated movement. This affect makes coordinated motor control more difficult, allowing officers to subdue subjects with less intrusive physical techniques.
After the Vancouver police department disclosed to the media, a full month after my brother died, that Tasers had been used on him, the Police Complaint Commissioner ordered an investigation into the use of tasers by police. The reason for this was the "delay in disclosure of the use of the taser to both the family and the public which created an adverse perception by the public of the ability of the Vancouver police department to conduct an impartial investigation."
The Chief of Police of the Victoria Police Department, the police department responsible for quietly bringing tasers into Canada in the first place, was mandated with thoroughly investigating the circumstances surrounding my brother's death. He was also asked to undertake a review of use of force protocols in place at that time and make such interim recommendations as he deemed appropriate for the use of tasers by police officers in British Columbia.
To be continued ...
In March 2005, two major Canadian universities – the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Carleton University - demanded that Taser International remove links to their Universities from its website.
This was a significant development, given the intense international scrutiny of the weapon's manufacturer and the ongoing debate about whether the weapon was as safe as the company had led everyone to believe. Taser International had neither requested nor received permission to use letters from individuals at these universities to “affirm the life-saving value of Taser as a safer, effective non-lethal use of force”. The links on Taser International’s website implied agreement and support from the Universities which never existed.
In 2004, I wrote a letter to Dr. Hendry, a Cardiac Surgeon at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, to ask him if he was aware that his name and that of the Ottawa Heart Institute were being used on Taser's website to tout the weapon's safety. He returned the call the same day, seemingly quite alarmed, and he very quickly thereafter demanded that Taser International remove the link. (On its website, Taser International had referred to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute as the “Canadian Heart Institute.” I suppose that moniker gave it more perceived clout.)
Later in 2004, I wrote a letter to Carleton University for the same reason. In February 2005, the Dean of the University sent me a copy of a letter to Taser International from the Department of Electronics demanding that they remove the link from the website.
Neither of these individuals, nor their institutions, had given Taser International permission to use their names to promote the weapon and neither was even aware that these links existed until it was brought to their attention.
Eventually - and they took their own sweet time - Taser International finally removed the references to both from its website.
In a Radio-Canada/CBC in-depth documentary on Tasers, produced by Frederic Zalac and aired nationally on Canadian television at the end of last year, the conclusions of recent independent medical reviews of Tasers were revealed which raised some very serious questions about the lethality of Tasers.
The documentary, in which I very enthusiastically participated, is about 20 minutes in length and is available online at CBC News. Scroll down and click on (or search for) “Taser Deaths”.
Highlights include:
Dr. Stanley Nattel, Cardiologist at the Montreal Heart Institute, Director of the Paul-David Chair in Cardiovascular Electrophysiology and leading cardiology researcher at the University of Montreal, and an associate professor at McGill University, analyzed a study performed at the University of Toronto (see below) and concluded that “A rapid rhythm induced by a Taser, called a Ventricular Tachycardia, may not cause very severe symptoms and particularly if the person is very excited, frightened, etc., they might not even notice it. But that kind of rhythm can eventually what we call “degenerate” to Ventricular Fibrillation, which is an even faster and irregular rhythm that is rapidly lethal.”
Dr. Nattel said further that “the way in which the Taser causes death is by provoking a very rapid, irregular heart rhythm, and that doesn’t leave any traces in the body. So basically if you don’t see anything there, you don’t know what the cause is and it could be a lethal dose of drugs or it could be an extreme mental stress or it could be the Taser. I don’t think it’s possible to differentiate those possibilities in most cases.”
An independent study in Canada on the effects of Tasers on pigs was performed at the University of Toronto by Kumaraswamy Nanthakumar, MD; Ian Billingsley, MD, Stephane Masse, MASc, Paul Dorian, MD, Douglas Cameron, MD, Vijay S. Chauhan, MD, Eugene Downar, MD and Elias Sevaptsidis, DEC. This study injected into pigs a substance that mimics the adrenaline rush that would be experienced during a stressful arrest by police or a cocaine high. The pigs were then shocked with Tasers. The study found that, in circumstances of increased adrenalgenic stress, arrythmias (irregular heart rhythms) were caused and, in some cases, were lethal. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)
In the U.S., Dr. John Webster, Biomedical Engineer, University of Wisconsin tried to duplicate the situation that would occur with humans … and “we got very different results. I don’t think that they’re non-lethal weapons but I think that there’s a probability, albeit small, that the Taser could electrocute a person.”
When asked by Radio-Canada reporter, Frederic Zalac, what he would do if a study showed there was a risk, Taser International spokesperson Steve Tuttle answered by saying, “We would have an obligation to disclose that to our customers and to the public. That’s pure and simple.”
To the best of my knowledge, Taser International has never disclosed these results to its customers or to the public.
June 14, 2007
Press Association, Ireland
"We are concerned that none of the official bodies charged with considering the use of Taser have publicly addressed the legal and human rights frameworks within which Taser can or should be used," the report said. "... with a number of sudden deaths after the guns are used, the direct links to being hit is disputed. Less debated are the groups most vulnerable to Tasers: those suffering from mental illness, drunk or on drugs. The full effects on children and pregnant women are not known ... Human rights advisors added: "In our view, before the PSNI proposal to introduce Taser is progressed, the Policing Board should satisfy itself that the PSNI has properly addressed the legal and human rights framework within which Taser can be used." Given these requirements, it appears unlikely that Tasers could be in use in Northern Ireland this year."
SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly reiterated her opposition to Tasers. "The fact is that these weapons have killed at least 15 people in the US and Canada," she said. "There is also a dearth of proper research about their safety - especially their effects on children. The consultation process so far has been fundamentally flawed. There is a real need for an equality impact assessment which, to date, the police have failed to undertake. I hope that the Equality Commission will make the point clearly to the PSNI that a full assessment on equality impact is required."
I'm off now to send an e-mail Delores Kelly. She has obviously not been fully apprised of the situation and needs to know that the fifteen deaths she cited are only those which have occurred in Canada. To say nothing of the 256 Americans who have died.
I am elated to report that Montpelier city council had concerns and tabled the taser issue last night, saying they were not ready to authorize the weapons. Two members of the public spoke at the meeting, both of them opposed to the use of tasers, citing concerns about civil liberties, the medical impact, and the risk they'd be used inappropriately. City resident Erik Esselstyn said "I get very skeptical when I see this weaponization of a wonderful small city police force." Resident Ethan Parke said "Precisely because they are billed as non-lethal, they are too easily used as the first choice, and the verbal commands and less lethal methods are simply bypassed."
Councilor Sarah Jarvis said she worries that tasers might become the tool of choice in situations where verbal negotiations might otherwise suffice. "When you decrease lethality of the instrument the police use, you also decrease inhibitions around using that weapon," she said. No Montpelier officer in recent years has had to fire his gun.
The city council asked police to provide more information about tasers, including studies on the medical impacts and written policies on how the tools should and should not be used.
City council would like more input from the public.
Strangely enough, police at last night's meeting referred to the taser as "non-lethal" - even the manufacturer doesn't call it that anymore. The new term is "less than lethal." And that's a whole other story.
I have to confess that I am not anti-police. I think the police are people with a job to do - one that can be complexly challenging. One that I would not want, but I'm grateful someone does.
I also wouldn't want anyone to think that I'm some whacko cop hater. My family has always had friends who are police officers. I remember my parents' great friendship with the Chief of Police of Karlsruhe (Germany) and his wife when we also lived in Germany in the 70s - my brother and I and their children were also very good friends.
Several members of the RCMP would never drive past one of my mom's restaurants (when she still had them) on PEI, for the island's best lobster roll and a few good laughs with my parents and the staff. Police have always been part of my world. One RCMP Sergeant in PEI and another who is a member of the RCMP Musical Ride in Ottawa, we love like family. We have been blessed to have known the very best of the best.
However, I strongly oppose - and anyone with a working moral compass must oppose - police brutality. It has no justifiable place in a civilized world.
I heard about a recent carjacking on Highway 401, where the victim was shot in the stomach. Details remain sketchy but the suspect(s) has not been found and the shooting victim is apparently alive.
I then wondered what I would want police to do if that victim were me and they were nearby. There is no doubt that I would want them to do whatever they needed to do - within reason - to ensure my safety. If my kids were with me, that would be triply true. I would have an expectation that they would use every mental, physical and technological tool needed, within reason, to complete the job. No more, no less - not an extra kick, gratuitous punch in the head or taser jolt to show who's boss now. I would have a reasonable expectation that the police would do their very best work with the least amount of harm. And most of them, I believe, would.
I thought it would be easy to announce police departments adding tasers to their arsenal (see below). However, this is happening on a daily (even hourly!) basis in the United States and I can't possibly keep up with it, unless I quit my day job and send my children out to play in the traffic! I've been at this for less than a week and the daily developments are overwhelming!
From this day forward, I will focus on egregious uses of tasers as they are reported. And I will continue to make every effort to add other pertinent information, both historical (I still have much to add) and as it happens.
Suffice it to say that if tasers aren't already in use where you live, they will soon be coming to your town or a town near you, unless you make an organized and concerted effort to prevent that from happening. Even then, it's:
David versus Goliath. Recently, in the City of Palo Alto, California, a taser task force was mandated to review the issue and make recommendations to city council in response to the police chief's request to introduce tasers to the community. A highly organized group of people, including former deputy public defender Aram James, made incredible efforts to educate city council and the task force on the potential dangers of the weapon, in hopes that they would not approve the roll out of tasers in their city.
In the end, council approved the use of tasers in a very narrow vote - 5 to 4 - but ONLY in situations where lethal force would otherwise be allowed. Had Aram James et al not made the effort, the Chief of Police would have handily won the day and police there would have been given the right of way to use tasers as they saw fit.
June 13, 2007
Eric Schwartzberg, Journal News
The Board of Trustees of Fairfield Township (Ohio), population 15,500, is being asked for approval for the purchase of 13 tasers to complement the 10 they already have, along with 21 taser cams. "The Taser Cam records up to 90 minutes of video to a tamper-proof solid-state memory chip, according to a video from the company that produces the device. A data port on the side of the device allows for video download, [Chief of Police] St. John said."
I know this much is true: The data download feature, the manufacturer's most highly touted safety and accountability feature of the Taser before Taser Cams - is unreliable at best. The data mined from both of the tasers used on my brother was so innacurate as to render the information useless. Investigators were unable to determine with any degree of certainty which Tasers were used, when they were used, who used them or for what duration.
June 13, 2007
Peter Hirschfeld, Times Argus Staff
And in the smallest state capital in the US - Montpelier, Vermont: population 8,400 - city council will be asked by the police chief to give a nod to the purchase of five tasers! (I live in a town with a population of 40,000 and we only have two!) "They [city council] had some reservations, and I told them I would come back to them and explain to them in a more in-depth manner what the use of Tasers would be and why," the chief said.
Perhaps he can sway city council with the doorknobs and Chicago arguments (see below). Stay awake, city council - your citizens' lives may very well depend on it.
June 12, 2007
Rodney Foo, Mercury News
"Months after Trujillo's death, a Santa Clara County medical examiner's autopsy report determined his death was caused by blows to his head suffered before his encounter with police. However, the report also cited the Taser shocks as a contributing factor. It was the second time that the coroner's office had labeled Taser shocks as a contributing cause. The first occurred Nov. 18, 2005, when police used Tasers to restrain Jose Angel Rios, a 38-year-old Fresno resident, whose primary cause of death was blamed on obesity, heart disease and drugs."
June 12, 2007
Michael Skubal, Rhinelander Daily News
Meanwhile, over in little Rhinelander, Wisconsin (population 7,500), council had only to nod at an "abbreviated report" and the purchase of tasers was a done deal. Nice doorknob analogy - so innocuous.
Councilwoman Sherrie Belliveau, obviously concerned about the safety of Rhinelander's 7,500 citizens, raised the issue of studies by Amnesty International and research by the US Air Force and the Homeland Security Department which caused them not to adopt the devices. In answer to her concerns, she was told that Chicago (population 9.5 million) lifted its moratorium on the weapons and is using them again.
Hmmm - nicely abbreviated response. Makes perfect sense.
June 12, 2007
Associated Press
Now, I don't know a lot about buying and selling shares. However, coming on the heels of today's news of Taser shares on the rise (see below) - something tells me that this move is meant to profit someone somewhere. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
June 12, 2007
Associated Press
In Oklahoma City, Milisha Thompson was already on the ground in handcuffs outside the rescue mission where she was staying when she was, according to her husband, tasered as many as 20 times. Ms. Thompson, 35, soon stopped breathing. Really?!? Of course, "the cause of her May 19 death has not been determined, pending results of toxicology tests."
"It's a legitimate law-enforcement tool," said Florida State University criminology professor George Kirkham, a former police officer. "But it's supposed to be used as a defensive weapon. The problem we're seeing around the country is it's being used abusively."
September 17, 2007 Update:
Taser gets new order from France
June 18, 2007 Update:
TASER FLAT AFTER SARKOZY WIN
June 11, 2007
Bloomberg News as reported in The Arizona Republic
Toutes nos condoléances au peuple de la France.
June 10, 2007
Greg Fight, Tampa Tribune
The idea: Come to their aid with special medical attention, including sedatives and cooling solutions, as soon as possible after they're shot.
The problem: Dead people don't usually require any special medical attention. Save your cooling solutions - these people are heading straight into the cooler.
Bob died a violent death in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 23, 2004 in custody of the Vancouver police.
We have learned that Bob was alone, unarmed, lying on the floor on his back, posing no credible threat to the - count 'em - 13 police officers (several from the ERT, aka Emergency Response Team). The only funny things were that Bob always liked the #13 and he was never too crazy about cops. He was celebrating his impending Birthday - he wouldn't have known that it was to be his Death Day**.
Two days after he died, on June 25th, Vancouver police called my mom and dad to tell them their only son had died - due to, they said, an apparent drug overdose. That was the worst day of our lives. After my mother called me to tell me that my only brother was dead, she called a family friend who is a federal police officer and asked him to contact the VPD to hear it for himself ... to make sure she hadn't missed anything pertinent that was said to her. Our police officer friend called the VPD and was given the same information - Bob had died of what looked like a drug overdose. No more, no less.
The VPD was most helpful in having Bob's remains shipped to my parents so that we could hold a memorial service. On July 19th, we did so at my parents' cottage on the ocean. It was a small, but beautiful, affair. Bob was there.
On July 23, 2004 - exactly one month to the day after he died - an e-mail from a friend alerted me to the evening news and a story about Bob. I found the news and was horrified to see the VPD announcing on national television that they had used the Taser on Bob. I immediately called my parents - it was 1:00 am on PEI - and they found the news on their satellite. Needless to say, our emotions ran high. We just didn't see it coming and we weren't ready for it. We didn't know what a TASER was. We do now.
**Harry Potter Definition of Death Day: "The day a person dies and becomes a ghost. Many ghosts, such as Nearly Headless Nick, celebrate the day with a party." I suspect Bob will celebrate his fourth on June 23, 2007 with a party.
June 9, 2007
Karen Kleiss, CanWest News Service
An Edmonton police officer convicted of using unnecessary and gratuitous force when he Tasered a man twice in the back for jaywalking received a conditional discharge Friday.
June 8, 2007
Frank Main, Chicago Sun-Times
DOLTON DROPS SUIT AGAINST FIRM, GETS UPGRADED STUN GUN MODELS
"In one of the stranger cases of legal adversaries later hugging it out, Dolton Mayor William Shaw not only settled his village's lawsuit against Taser International, but agreed to a deal in which the company supplies the south suburb with upgraded models of the stun guns. Dolton sued Taser in 2005, saying the police department bought about $8,000 worth of the devices based on bogus claims by the company about their safety. The lawsuit made international news. A Scottish newspaper quoted Shaw saying: "Despite what you have been told, Tasers can kill. Police officers are being told they are safe to use. I don't believe that is true." What a difference a year can make. In 2006, Dolton settled with Taser International when Shaw, an old-school politico known for making the best of a situation, made an unusual turnabout. In exchange for dropping the class-action lawsuit, the village agreed to allow the company to replace Dolton's existing ECD Tasers with newer X26 ECD models. Taser also agreed to provide officers with training on the devices and to cover the village's attorney's fees, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information request."
June 7, 2007
Associated Press
"San Leandro City Council on Monday approved the settlement ($395,000) with the family of Jose Maravilla Perez Jr. without admitting any wrongdoing in the case."
Is a settlement of $395,000 not an admission of wrongdoing?
May 31, 2007
Sarah Burge, The Press Enterprise
"Strep throat is caused by streptococcus," said Dr. Werner Spitz, a well-known forensic pathologist and former chief medical examiner in Michigan. "Excited delirium is caused by police."
May 26, 2007
Only Magazine, Vancouver
While the country’s media reacts in disgust to the RCMP’s cover-up in the death of 22-year-old mill worker Ian Bush in Houston, BC, there has been scant care or coverage into the Vancouver Police Department’s cover-up of the death of 44-year-old coke addict Robert Bagnell.
Two years ago, the VPD didn’t announce the death of Bagnell until a full month after he had been tasered in the Continental Hotel on
Granville. The police didn’t even tell Bagnell’s family about the Taser when they called them. The police said they suppressed the news because of the controversy surrounding the Taser—a “non-lethal” US-manufactured weapon that Amnesty International has linked to the death of 267 people in North America.
Seven weeks after the VPD dropped the bomb about Bagnell at a press conference (where they came prepared with a toxicology report and dragged out the president of the BC Schizophrenia Society to support their position), they magically changed their story and told everyone there had been a fire in the building and they were actually trying to rescue Bagnell. Really!?!
The country’s media is doing a good job of holding the police to
account over the death of Bush (a popular young man with a grieving family), but can’t be bothered to do the same for Bagnel (a poor drug addict with AIDS who had cut himself off from his family).
Bagnell’s sister has demanded the police stop using tasers and stop investigating themselves. Really No, actually, she’s fucking right.
May 26, 2007
Michael Ferraresi, The Arizona Republic
PETA received enough shareholder support to have the group's concerns mentioned in future Taser publications.
May 25, 2007
Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun
An inquest jury that spent 10 days hearing evidence about the 2004 death of a Vancouver man who was zapped by a police Taser made no recommendations today.
The five-man jury concluded Robert Wayne Bagnell died on June 23, 2004 of a "restraint-associated cardiac arrest" due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis.
Bagnell's mother, Riki Bagnell of Prince Edward Island, and his sister, Patti Gillman of Ontario, were disappointed by the lack of recommendations, considering much of the testimony focused on the police use of Tasers.
Gillman said she hoped the inquest jury would recommend police shouldn't investigate themselves when an officer is involved in a fatal incident.
"They should move to the SIU [Special Investigation Unit] model in Ontario," said the Ontario resident.
Riki Bagnell agreed, saying she had discussed the issue with the mother of Ian Bush, the 22-year-old millworker from Houston, B.C., who was fatally shot by an officer in 2005, which is currently being probed by another inquest jury.
"We're certainly in solidarity with the Bush family," she said.
Gillman also hoped the jury would recommend Amnesty International's call for a moratorium on the use of Tasers until independent research can be conducted on risk factors that have led to so many deaths.
She pointed out 267 people have died after they were zapped with Tasers in North America.
"My brother was No. 58," she said. "There have been 51 deaths since the September adjournment of this inquest."
Gillman and her mother, who attended the inquest, had hoped the inquest jury also would heed their urging for the coroner to provide funding for families to pay a lawyer to represent their interests at an inquest.
Gillman credited Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward for working tirelessly on the case. The inquest would've only lasted a few days without Ward asking tough questions, she said.
She pointed out Taser International, which makes the Taser weapon, had two lawyers attending the inquest. Gillman said she was impressed by the testimony of Alan Nakatsu of ETL Semko, the Coquitlam lab that tested the two Tasers used on her brother.
"He testified one Taser was producing two and a half times [the electrical output] the manufacturer's specifications and the other one was 84 times more than spec," Gillman said.
Robert Wayne Bagnell, 44, died after receiving two electrical shocks from Tasers by Vancouver police, who tried to arrest him after receiving a 911 call about a man rampaging in a common washroom of the Continental Hotel on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, where Bagnell lived.
He had locked himself in the bathroom and was smashing things before police arrived. Police stayed outside the washroom, waiting for him to calm down, but a fire began on the ground floor and smoke began filling the building. A Taser-equipped emergency response team was called in. Bagnell was zapped by two separate Tasers, which incapacitate a person by discharging 50,000 volts of electricity.
The inquest heard that Bagnell's heart was enlarged to one-and-a-half times normal size, an indication of a chronic cocaine use. He also had undergone open-heart surgery to repair a heart valve.
A toxicologist testified Bagnell's blood sample results were 4.2 milligrams of cocaine per litre of blood. The minimum lethal level is one mg per litre if cocaine is injected or smoked as crack cocaine, but 10 times that if snorted.
The probable cause of death was a "restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication," Dr. Laurel Gray, a pathologist, testified at the inquest.
She said it was unlikely Taser use would've contributed to his death. The Vancouver police department stated earlier that Tasers are an effective tool to save lives and prevent injuries during dangerous encounters.
The Taser is designed as a non-lethal weapon designed to subdue people. The pistol-shaped device uses compressed nitrogen to propel a pair of electrically-charged barbs.
May 25, 2007
From the website of Cameron Ward
There are no Canadian safety standards for Tasers, a "less-lethal" weapon that is designed to fire 50,000 volts of electricty into a person's body, inflicting excruciating pain and overwhelming the central nervous system, a coroner's jury heard yesterday.
Allan Nakatsu, a project team leader with global product testing firm ETL Intertek Semko, testified that, unlike toasters, hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, or even cattle prods and electric fences, no electrical standards or testing protocols exist for the weapons, which were quietly introduced into Canada in 2000.
Mr. Nakatsu also testified that one of the two Tasers Intertek tested generated energy output of 30.42 joules/pulse, eighty-five times greater than the manufacturer's specification of .36 joules/pulse. Earlier, the jury heard that police investigators took the two Tasers used on Robert Bagnell to the lab to be tested.
The manufacturer, Arizona company Taser International Inc., maintains that the Taser is safe. Company spokesman Steve Tuttle has reportedly said that the energy output of .36 joules/pulse is too low to cause cardiac damage.
Amnesty International has just released a much-anticipated report on Canadian Taser use, recommending that the use of the weapons be discontinued.
Robert Bagnell, 44, died on June 23, 2004 after at least 13 Vancouver police officers responded to a 911 call for an ambulance. Bagnell was in a state of mental distress in his bathroom. Police ERT (SWAT) members Tasered him twice while extricating him from the bathroom, according to testimony at the inquest.
Update: The five person jury presiding at the coroner's inquest classified the death as an accident and was "unable to agree on any recommendations", the coroner's court heard yesterday.
Meanwhile, an unidentified San Jose man died yesterday after being Tasered by police, bring the reported Taser-related death toll to 268. Ten people have died so far in May, 2007 after being Tasered by police. 209 people died after being Tasered in the period between Robert Bagnell's death on June 23, 2004 and the conclusion of the inquest into his death on May 25, 2007.
May 24, 2007
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
A PETA representative will address stockholders in support of a shareholder proposal calling on Taser to enact a policy that eliminates the use of animals in Taser experiments.
May 23, 2007
Bob Mitchell, Toronto Star
Three Halton police officers have been charged with several criminal offences in connection with subduing an elderly Oakville man with a taser.
Gerry Morgan, 79, was hospitalized following the Nov. 25, 2006 incident and later died. However, the province's special investigations unit (SIU), which laid the charges, today said his death wasn't related to the alleged criminal actions.
SIU director James Cornish said investigators believe the Halton police officers were criminally responsible for serious injuries sustained by Morgan.
According to the SIU, police went to a call for assistance at a home on Marine Dr. in Oakville about 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2006.
Once inside the residence, officers used an ARWEN (anti riot weapon enfield) and Morgan was struck with a rubber projectile on his arm. It's alleged he sustained a serious injury to his upper arm as a result of being struck.
Officers also used a taser on Morgan, who is alleged to have fallen to the floor and broken his hip. He was transported to nearby Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital where he was treated for his injuries and later released.
The SIU said Morgan was re-admitted to hospital a short time later and died there on May 4, 2007.
"There is no clear evidence from the SIU investigation that Mr. Morgan's death is linked to the Nov. 25 incident," SIU spokesperson Rose Bliss said.
After an extensive SIU investigation, Cornish concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe Halton police officers Joe Davis, Richard Dodds and Matthew Kohler committed criminal offences.
All three officers have now been charged with assault causing bodily harm and unlawfully causing bodily harm. As well, Davis and Kohler are also charged with assault with a weapon: an extended range impact weapon, also known as an ARWEN.
In addition, Dodds and Kohler have been charged with assault with a weapon in connection with using the taser device.
The officers are to appear next in a Milton court May 28.
From the website of Cameron Ward
After an unusual eight month adjournment, the coroner's inquest into the death of Robert Bagnell is scheduled to resume tomorrow at the offices of the BC Coroners Service in Burnaby. In September of 1997, a five person jury heard evidence that Robert Bagnell, 45, died in June of 2004 after he was jolted with 50,000 volts from two Taser guns wielded by Vancouver Police ERT (SWAT) members. Bagnell, who had a pre-existing heart condition and was in poor health, was unarmed and alone in his bathroom when he was confronted by police. The inquest has heard that at least a dozen police officers responded to a 911 call for an ambulance.
May 18, 2007
"If the human target is healthy, a shock from a Taser X26 causes no lasting ill effects."
"Healthy" being the key word.
May 5, 2007
Brian Chasnoff, San Antonio Express News
While naming cocaine as the primary factor that led to Galvan's death, Frost conceded: "There's a great deal of physiology about (excited delirium) that's not known." The ruling "allows for the idea that (the Taser) may have played a role (in the death) in that it made his agitation worse," he said. "It allows for that. It doesn't say it. We're just not sure how much of a role (the Taser) plays in it."
And, therein lies the problem.
April 27, 2007
Abigail Goldman, Scripps Howard News Service
"Those people who say it's a credible medical term typically have ties to the law enforcement community and or Taser International itself, and those facts undermine any claim of objectivity."
April 1, 2007
Jo Moreland, NC Times
"Sixty San Diego County sheriff's deputies have volunteered to be monitored by researchers while they train to use the Tasers, which were purchased by the Sheriff's Department in 2006 as a less-lethal alternative to their firearms. The deputies are shot with tasers, which deliver a 50,000-volt electrical shock, during their training ... Research team member Gary Vilke, of the University of California at San Diego, who is a doctor trained in emergency medicine, said the fact that the study does not examine people under the same stress as that endured in a struggle with law enforcement officers is "always the criticism.""
Yep - that's a problem.
March 11, 2007
The Canadian Press
FREDERICTON -- A New Brunswick man's death due to a mysterious malady called excited delirium has raised more questions about police arrest techniques and the growing use of stun guns.
Kevin Geldart, 34, of Moncton, N.B., died after he was repeatedly shocked with Taser weapons by RCMP officers in 2005.
It was another in a long series of deaths in North America following the use of police force and Taser guns to control people who are described as combative, irrational and extraordinarily strong.
In most of these cases, the cause of death is difficult to pinpoint and is often attributed to cardiac arrest, drug intoxication or a combination of the two.
But a New Brunswick coroner's inquest into Geldart's death earlier this month ruled that the large, mentally ill man died of excited delirium -- a condition that cannot be found in medical or psychiatric text books.
"Excited delirium is not a diagnosis used in psychiatry,'' says Dr. Roumen Milev of the Mood Disorders Clinic at the Providence Continuing Care Centre in Kingston, Ont. "It does not exist as such either in the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic and statistical manual, or in the World Health Organization's international classification of diseases.''
Critics say excited delirium exists purely in the imaginations of those who are anxious to defend the use of Taser weapons and excessive police force.
Eric Balaban, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, says that blaming excited delirium for in-custody deaths could be a way of whitewashing inappropriate use of force by police. "It's not recognized as a mental-health diagnosis,'' Balaban says. "It is really used only by medical examiners to attribute the cause of death of an arrestee following a violent scuffle with police officers.''
Whatever excited delirium may be, it is characterized by extreme agitation, incoherence, bizarre behaviour, often superhuman strength and a high body temperature.
It is associated with drug abuse and mental illness, and occurs often in people who, like Geldart, are very large. Geldart was tall and weighed at least 350 pounds.
Family members and friends of people who die during police Taser arrests are almost always unsatisfied with descriptions of the cause of death and the fact that the police are exonerated.
One of Geldart's relatives has called for a moratorium on the use of Tasers until more is known about the effects of the weapon on people, especially on those with mental illness.
So far, 212 people in North America have died following custody struggles with Taser-wielding police officers -- at least 15 of them in Canada, where the weapon has been used since 2001.
In all cases, the stun gun has been cleared of any direct involvement in the deaths, even in cases like Geldart's, where there were eight Taser injuries to his body and head.
"I'm not aware of any case in the world where the conductive energy weapon has been found to be the factor that caused death,'' Sgt. Richard Groulx, an RCMP training and tactical weapons expert, told the New Brunswick inquest.
The Taser delivers a pulsating, 50,000-volt electrical current through the body, and police say it can pierce clothing four centimetres thick. The shock, which lasts up to five seconds, locks muscles instantly and overrides the central nervous system.
Dr. Deborah Mash, professor of neurology at the University of Miami and a leading expert in North America on excited delirium, says the ultimate goal of her research is to establish a protocol so police know how to handle people exhibiting signs of the condition.
Mash says excited delirium is a real brain disorder. "There are clearly neuro-chemical changes in the brain,'' she says. "There is a defect. The issue of police brutality is simply wrong. That's not to say it can't occur, but when the police are confronted by someone exhibiting superhuman strength like a Hulk Hogan ... what can they do?''
Mash says the phenomenon came to light in the 1980s, when crack cocaine first burst onto the Florida drug scene. She says many victims have cocaine or drugs in their systems, although mentally ill people like Geldart, who was bipolar, are also susceptible. "It doesn't have to be drug-related,'' she says. "There are a number of triggers that will pop the switch.''
Mash says no one knows the best intervention techniques for police when confronted by an individual in the throes of excited delirium. She says she hopes a standard of practice can be developed. She also says research may ultimately unlock a clear diagnosis of the disorder, so victims can be identified before they run into trouble.
"Thanks to advances in molecular biology, we have an opportunity to look for the first time for real diagnostic markers, and that's what we need,'' Mash says.
March 7, 2007
CBC News
A new policy on how police in New Brunswick can use force to apprehend suspects will include a requirement to track the use of Taser weapons. The rules will apply to municipal forces, but not the Mounties.
The province, along with the New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police, is drafting a new use of force policy because the one currently in place doesn't include monitoring the use of Tasers, said Mike Quigley, director of policing services for the province.
"At this time there are only three of the municipal regional police forces that have been using it for a year or two, but other police forces have expressed interest," Quigley said Tuesday.
The RCMP does have a Taser-use policy in place, but Quigley said he'll pass along a copy of the province's new policy to the RCMP once it is complete.
The announcement of the new policy comes days after the conclusion of a coroner's inquest into the Taser-related death of Kevin Geldart.
Geldart died in May 2005 after RCMP officers used Taser weapons to subdue him at a Moncton bar. He had walked away hours earlier from the psychiatric ward at Moncton Hospital where he was being treated for bipolar disorder.
At an inquest completed last week, the jury determined the cause of death was a condition known as excited delirium, but found that injuries from the Taser weapon contributed to it.
Quigley said the new policy could be adopted by municipal forces this summer.
"We're hoping to achieve the final draft by the end of June and it will have to proceed through the policy committee of the New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police," Quigley said. "That procedure is not expected to be very lengthy."
March 5, 2007
CHRIS MORRIS, Canadian Press; Rick Cash and Johanna Boffa
MONCTON -- Relatives of a New Brunswick man who died after he was repeatedly shocked by police with a taser say they are disappointed with a coroner's jury that recommended better training for police and medical officials.
A coroner's inquest into the sudden death of 34-year-old Kevin Geldart ruled on Friday that he died accidentally of a condition known as excited delirium, with contributing factors.
A pathologist testified during the eight-day inquest that "contributing factors" included repeated shocks to Mr. Geldart's torso and head from an RCMP taser weapon.
"There should be a moratorium on tasers until they know more about them and their effect on people," said Margaret Geldart, Mr. Geldart's aunt.
Mr. Geldart's sister, Karen Geldart, said she was disappointed the five-member jury did not go beyond recommending more training and education for police and emergency medical personnel.
"There is so much that is unknown about these tasers," she said. "It was clear to me that even though the police officers were trained to use the taser, they didn't seem to have a good understanding of when it is appropriate to use and when it is not."
Mr. Geldart, described by his family as a gentle giant of a man, died on May 5, 2005, after four RCMP officers attempted to take him into custody at a downtown Moncton bar.
The victim, who weighed 350 pounds, had earlier slipped out of a hospital psychiatric ward where he was being treated for bipolar disorder.
The coroner's jury made 16 recommendations calling for such things as seminars on tasers for police, recertification of taser instructors every five years and changes to the weapon itself to make sure it accurately records each firing.
It was not clear from police evidence presented at the inquest exactly how many times the taser was used against Mr. Geldart, although pathologist Ken Obenson said there were eight taser injuries on his body.
Karen Geldart said there were inconsistencies in the evidence, which has left family members wondering what actually happened. She said she was bothered by the fact that witnesses at the bar described her brother as scared and confused in his final moments, while police officers said he was aggressive and combative.
Coroner Dianne Kelly made several recommendations of her own on Friday, including the referral of all in-custody deaths to independent agencies for investigation.
Although four RCMP officers were involved in the incident, the investigation into what happened was handled by fellow RCMP officers in Fredericton.
Ms. Kelly also recommended that New Brunswick police agencies develop policies on tasers, including training.
The inquest came at a time when more people are asking questions about the usefulness of the taser as a so-called non-lethal weapon to control violent behaviour.
So far, 212 people have died in incidents in Canada and the United States where tasers have been deployed.
In the vast majority of those cases, pathologists have not been able to clearly identify a cause of death. In many cases, including the Geldart case, death has been attributed to a relatively new condition called excited delirium.
Other taser inquests
Gurmit Singh Sundhu: Died June 30, 2005, after he was restrained by at least two RCMP officers. Police were called to his Surrey, B.C., home where the man was allegedly assaulting his wife in a cocaine-induced state. The 40-year-old father of four was hit by a taser gun a number of times by the first officer at the scene. The coroner's inquest concluded that the cause of death was acute cocaine intoxication.
Robert Bagnell: Died June 23, 2004, after police were called to a Granville Street hotel in Vancouver where Mr. Bagnell had barricaded himself. According to the pathologist and toxicologist who testified at the inquest, death was due to heart problems and acute cocaine intoxication. B.C. coroner Stephen Fonseca abruptly shut down the inquest in September, 2006, after the family of the victim tried to introduce a letter from the Victoria chief of police that raised concerns about the use of tasers. The inquest is adjourned until March 7.
James Foldi: Died July 1, 2005, in Beamsville, Ont., after he was tasered at least 12 times, including 11 times using what is known as a drive stun technique, where the device is pressed against the person and fired. Mr. Foldi, who was acting erratically, allegedly from a cocaine overdose, rampaged through several houses in his neighbourhood and tried to flee when confronted by three police officers. They struggled for a few minutes, during which time the tasers were used. Mr. Foldi fell to the ground, lost consciousness and never recovered. An inquest is pending.
Roman Andreichikov: Died on May 1, 2004, after he was subdued by police officers who responded to a 911 call about a potential suicide. Mr. Andreichikov, a fitness trainer, had been on a five-day cocaine binge, and after fighting with his girlfriend tried to commit suicide twice by attempting to leap from the fourth floor balcony of his Granville Street apartment in Vancouver. The police had difficulty subduing him and tasered him twice. The inquest decided that cardiac arrest and cocaine intoxication, not the taser, were responsible for his death.
Peter Lamonday: Died on May 14, 2004, after police responded to a break-in at a Hamilton Road gift shop in London. Eight officers attempted to subdue him, and during the altercation Mr. Lamonday was tasered three times. He died about 50 minutes later in hospital. The inquest decided that Mr. Lamonday died from cocaine-induced delirium.
Research: Rick Cash and Johanna Boffa
March 2, 2007
Russell Goldman, ABC News
Is a Controversial Medical Condition Being Used to Cover up Instances of Police Brutality?
March 1, 2007
Craig Babstock - Moncton Times and Transcript
"Staff Sgt. Gerry Belliveau did note that there were three Taser burns to the back of Geldart’s head. This is not an area recommended for shocking during Taser training, but Belliveau said it played no role in the outcome that night. According to Belliveau, Geldart was Tasered three times by police that night, despite testimony from witnesses he was shocked several more times than that.
There are still unanswered questions about the use of the Taser that night. The weapon has a memory that tells when it’s activated or used and that report is confusing at best. Police identified three Taser activations from that report they say correspond with the three hits on Geldart. However, the report says those three hits happened over a span of 13 minutes. Officers involved that night testified the struggle with Geldart only lasted a couple of minutes."
February 28, 2007
CBC News
A temporary condition, not an electronic stun gun used by Moncton police, was likely to blame for the death of a psychiatric patient, an inquest heard Wednesday.
Kevin Geldart, 34, who had walked away from the psychiatric unit at the Moncton Hospital, died in the Right Spot bar on May 5th, 2005, after police used a Taser in a bid to subdue him.
Ken Obenson, the pathologist who examined Geldart's body, told the inquest that in his opinion the primary cause of Geldart's death was "excited delirium," a condition in which a mentally ill person is acutely agitated, violent, sweating profusely and showing an insensitivity to pain.
Geldart showed many of those symptoms, according to previous testimony from four police officers who confronted him at the Right Spot Bar in Moncton. The officers used pepper spray and a Taser, an electronic stun gun, to try to subdue Geldart, who was six-feet-six inches tall, weighed more than 350 lbs., and suffered from asthma.
Obenson said that because an agitated Geldart was wrestling with police, his adrenaline level would have been high.
His potassium level would also have been high, Obsenson said, and that would have protected his heart. However, once restrained, his potassium level would have dropped, Obenson said, and that would have lead to arrthymia, an upset in the heart's normal rhythm.
Obenson said the Taser, pepper spray and Geldart's obesity might have been contributing factors in his death. But even if those factors had not been present, he said, the outcome still would have likely been death.
However, if the condition of excited delirium were removed, and every other factor left in place, Obenson said, Geldart likely wouldn't have died.
February 28, 2007
Canadian Press
N.B. man died as police applied repeated shocks to subdue him
MONCTON -- A bioelectricity expert has told an inquest into the death of a man who had been tasered by police that there are almost no recorded cases of the devices killing people.
"There have been deaths following taser use, such as the one before you, but in no case was it caused by the taser," J. Patrick Riley said yesterday.
In each case, he said, "other factors were present."
Mr. Riley was testifying at the inquest into the death of Kevin Geldart, 34, of Riverview, N.B., who died May 5, 2005, after being shocked several times by RCMP officers.
Mr. Geldart, who suffered from bipolar disorder, left the psychiatric unit of the Moncton Hospital that night. Police were called when he showed up at a bar and began acting strangely.
He was heavily medicated and likely experiencing a psychotic episode.
Mr. Riley is an electrical engineer who works at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He's an expert on the effects of electricity on living creatures and this is the third time he's testified at a Canadian inquest into a taser-related death.
Mr. Riley said aside from the death of a seven-month-old child who was shocked repeatedly by her foster mother, there are no cases where a person died solely because they were shocked by a conducted-energy weapon such as a taser.
But he also said more research needs to be done on tasers to fully understand how they affect people.
For example, inquest legal counsel Nicole Poirier asked Mr. Riley about the effects of a taser on an individual who was mentally ill, heavily medicated, recently pepper-sprayed or suffering from asthma -- all factors that applied to Mr. Geldart.
Mr. Riley said he's not familiar with any research that covers those specific circumstances.
He did list several factors that could make an individual more sensitive to this kind of electrical shock. They include people high on illegal drugs such as cocaine, pregnant women, young children, the elderly, thin or small people, and people with physical conditions such as muscle injuries.
Women would likely be affected more by tasers because they're smaller, on average.
Large people -- like the 6-foot-6, 360-pound Mr. Geldart -- tend to be less affected.
"The larger person tends to be less sensitive so they require a larger dose of electricity to have the same effect as a smaller person," Mr. Riley said.
Mr. Geldart had been tasered in November of 2003 and didn't stiffen and fall down, like most people do. He simply kneeled down and allowed police to cuff him, the inquest was told.
Police testified that at the bar the night of his death, he didn't react or slow down when they shocked him.
Four officers struggled with him and pinned him to the floor as he tried to escape. Police wanted to take him back to the hospital, but he wouldn't go and witnesses said he looked scared of the officers. When they finally had him cuffed, they realized he was no longer breathing.
At various times, police, firefighters and paramedics worked on Mr. Geldart, but he never recovered.
Mr. Geldart's death is being blamed on excited delirium, a condition that will be explained as the inquest proceeds.
*****
How a taser weapon works
A taser weapon uses compressed gas to launch a pair of small darts at its target. The darts are connected to the weapon with wires. When the darts make contact, an electrical charge is released from the weapon through the wires. The charge is strong enough to disrupt the human body's electrical impulses. This disrupts the central nervous system, causing the muscles to contract. The target usually recovers within several minutes.
---
Air cartridge: Uses compressed nitrogen to fire darts.
Fine sight: Allows user to line up the target.
Screen: Shows power level remaining.
Laser sight: Activated when safety off.
Blast doors: Fly off when fired.
Darts: Fired at 60 metres per second.
Wires: Carry the electrical pulse to the target.
ID tags: Are dispensed when the gun is fired making the use traceable.
HITTING THE TARGET
Distance: The optimum shot is from 2 to 3 metres away from the target to achieve maximum effect.
Effectiveness: As long as the spread of the probes is at least 10 centimetres, the taser will be extremely effective.
Through clothing: Will work through up to 5 cm of cumulative clothing, even leather jacks.
Recovery time: Varies by individual - generally several minutes.
Automatic impulse regulation: Once the probes are launched, unit stay active for 5 seconds to keep target reliably down.
IF THE TARGET IS MISSED
There are 2 stun electrodes on the front of the unit that can be used to incapacitate the person by making direct contract.
SOURCE: TASERX26.COM
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