Court hears arguments about taser inquiry's scope

June 13, 2009
IAN BAILEY, Globe and Mail

The head of an inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski has the authority to make findings of misconduct against four Mounties involved in a notorious airport encounter with the Polish immigrant, a lawyer for B.C.'s Attorney-General argued yesterday.

Craig Jones's submissions before a B.C. Supreme Court judge were a challenge to assertions, disclosed earlier this week, from lawyers for the officers that Thomas Braidwood does not have the authority to make such findings.

When the lawyers announced they planned to go to court, their submissions aired the fact that Mr. Braidwood, a former judge, had told them and their clients that he might make findings of misconduct against them.

In notices to the officers, he said he could make findings of inappropriate responses and actions at the scene of Mr. Dziekanski's death, improper or misleading behaviour during the investigation, and misleading testimony.

Mr. Jones said Mr. Braidwood virtually has a duty to point out inconsistencies.

"If Commissioner Braidwood concludes that the events of Oct. 13-14, 2007, unfolded in a particular way, and his findings in this regard are contrary to accounts and explanations subsequently offered by the [police], either during the subsequent investigation or during the hearing, then as a matter of course he must describe those accounts and explanations and provide his reasons for rejecting them," Mr. Jones told Mr. Justice Arnie Silverman.

"If the reasons for rejecting are based on his conclusion that the [police] testimony was false, he is obligated to say so."

That includes talking about their credibility, Mr. Jones said.

The lawyers are seeking to delay the inquiry or bar the release of a final report until there is a decision from the Supreme Court.

Since January, the inquiry has heard 86 witnesses as part of its mandate to provide Mr. Dziekanski's family and the public with a complete record related to his death.

Mr. Dziekanski, 40, died on Oct. 14, 2007, after a confrontation with the officers, who were dispatched to the international arrivals area of Vancouver Airport where Mr. Dziekanski was acting erratically. He had become lost in the terminal after travelling to Canada to begin a new life with his mother in Kamloops. He was tasered and wrestled down by police.

The use of the stun gun has sparked an ongoing debate about the police use of such devices.

Closing arguments in the inquiry are supposed to begin next Friday.

The police lawyers have suggested the provincial inquiry established in February, 2008, lacks the authority to make findings of misconduct against members of a federal police force.

However, Mr. Jones noted that the Constitution establishes provincial responsibility for the control and supervision of law enforcement in the province.

But his submission to the court noted that the potential misconduct findings would not constitute formal discipline of the officers or affect the management and organization of the RCMP.

The RCMP in B.C. has said, through a spokesman, that it respects the jurisdiction of the inquiry.

The Crown has ruled out charges against the officers, stating they acted with reasonable force.

Inquiry makes criminal allegations vs. Mounties in Dziekanski death: lawyer

June 12, 2009

The commissioner of the public inquiry into Robert Dziekanski's death has made criminal allegations against the four Mounties involved in the 2007 Taser incident, a lawyer for the officers charged Friday.

Lawyers for the four officers have launched a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court arguing that no provincial inquiry has jurisdiction to make findings of misconduct against federal police.

Ravi Hira, one of the lawyers, said in court Friday that the draft findings of the inquiry are out of bounds because they accuse the officers of serious criminal acts.

Inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood has sent notices to Const. Kwesi Millington, Const. Bill Bentley, Const. Gerry Rundel and Cpl. Monty Robinson, outlining some of the broad allegations made against them during the inquiry by several lawyers.

Dziekanski died on Oct. 14, 2007, shortly after the RCMP officers used a Taser several times to subdue him at Vancouver International Airport. The officers were responding to reports that the Polish immigrant was behaving aggressively and throwing furniture.

Braidwood, a retired B.C. Court of Appeal justice, has said he might find the officers at fault, but Hira said Braidwood is in effect calling his clients criminals.

The inquiry draft report that says using the Taser was "not justified" is an accusation of "assault with a weapon," which is a criminal offence," Hira told court.

The part where the draft says the officers "misrepresented" the facts is an allegation of "obstruction of justice," Hira argued.

And saying that the officers gave "misleading testimony" amounts to an allegation of perjury, Hira said.

"[The inquiry's] purpose was to provide Mr. Dziekanski's family and the public with a complete record of the circumstances of ... Mr. Dziekanski's death," he said.

"The focus of the inquiry very quickly became the conduct of these four officers, and that's it."

Robert Dziekanski was jolted up to five times with a Taser by RCMP officers at the international arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport. (Paul Pritchard)
While B.C.'s Public Inquiry Act gives Braidwood the power to make findings of misconduct, Hira said that direction was not included in the original terms of reference from the provincial government.

Neither the RCMP nor the federal government sent representatives to attend Friday's court proceeding.

The RCMP in B.C. has distanced itself from the lawsuit filed by the four Mounties. Official spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields told CBC News on Tuesday that the force in the province "will co-operate fully with the inquiry" and is "recognizing the jurisdiction of the inquiry as having authority."

A provincially mandated inquiry was called in the wake of Dziekanski's death and is being overseen by Braidwood. The inquiry, which began in January and wrapped up testimony in May, heard from more than 80 witnesses.

The B.C. criminal justice branch decided last December not to charge the four officers, saying they acted with reasonable force when they confronted Dziekanski.

With closing arguments scheduled at the inquiry next Friday, the four officers' legal challenge is being heard quickly, with a decision expected as soon as Monday.

Lawyers for the inquiry have suggested a final report could be ready by the fall, but it's not clear how that might be affected, if at all, by the current court challenge.

"Tasers are not the problem"

June 12, 2009
Allison Wall, Meridian Booster (Lloydminster, Alberta)

OK I’ve watched these stories bounce around in the headlines and stir up controversy and debate – even a column in the Booster – for almost two years. Everyone has an opinion on Tasers, and so do I.

Obviously, I’m a journalist – not a cop – and have never seen, touched, used or been stunned with a Taser (nor do I ever want to be), but I believe this controversial weapon is 100 per cent acceptable. If I was doing something warranting police intervention, I’m pretty certain I would rather be stunned with a Taser than shot with a gun. Perhaps underlying health conditions or an agitated state from drugs and alcohol could increase my chances of death from a Taser (or perhaps not), but a bullet in the chest will lead to an almost certain demise. I’m not good at math, but I think my odds of surviving a Taser stun far outweigh the other grisly option.

Yes, we hear always hear about people who die after being Tasered, but we don’t hear of the many, many cases of people who are subdued by the Taser and live a long and healthy life (although) perhaps in jail).

Unfortunately, Robert Dziekanski was Tasered and died at the Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14, 2007, and now four Mounties are under fire for allegations they acted improperly and tried to cover up their actions. Says who?

Many of you may have seen the video, but a simple viewing doesn’t mean we were there and doesn’t mean we have first-hand knowledge of what these officers were thinking and feeling and how they were reacting.

The allegations against one officer include improperly assessing the situation and failing to react appropriately when confronting Dziekanski, misrepresenting Dziekanski’s behaviour in the notes and statements given to homicide investigators, continuing to misrepresent the events while testifying during the inquiry and offering a misleading and self-serving interpretation of his notes during the inquiry.

Let me reiterate. I am not a cop and most likely, neither are you. These brave men and women put themselves in danger every single day to keep us safe. They are on the streets fighting – sometimes very violent – crime and need to be able guard themselves. Why should the alleged criminal have the upper hand? Until we are in the situation and can understand the peril, I don’t think any of us can judge the actions of those who use Tasers.

Sure, police should be held accountable for their actions when necessary, but we’ve got to realize – as in any other situation – there will always be that select group of people who abuse the use of Tasers, which should be the real crux of the controversy.

I know there is a lot about Tasers I don’t understand, but I believe police have my best interest at heart.

***

How NAIVE!! I wonder which rock this journalist lives under. Below is my letter to the editor in response to this junk article. Limited to 500 words, I couldn't even begin to challenge this woman's beliefs. Nor could I let her words pass by as if they were the god's honest truth.

Dear Editor:

In her article entitled "Tasers are not the problem," Allison Wall raises a number of provocative points.

For example, she says: "I think my odds of surviving a Taser stun far outweigh the other grisly option." And she *may* be right about that. However, at a time when her fellow journalists and average Canadians across the country seem fairly unanimous in their condemnation of the egregious overuse and abuse of tasers by police in Canada, Ms. Wall instead chose to drag out the crusty old "tasers are better than guns" argument.

That argument is so ten-years-ago, when tasers were initially approved for use in Canada as an alternative to lethal force. Over the years, however, the taser has become less an alternative to lethal force than an overused and quite unpredictable weapon of mass convenience, used by police in a vast majority of cases where bullets would never be considered. Those of us in the know refer to this phenomenon as "usage creep."

For the 26 men who have died in Canada (most of whom were unarmed and many of whom posed no credible threat to anyone, let alone highly trained police officers), the use of the taser amounted to street-level justice - the taser was judge, jury and executioner.

And yes, sometimes police officers would abuse the use of tasers (and other force options) and they certainly should be held accountable. The fact is, though, that EVERY time a police officer deploys a taser, he or she engages in a potentially deadly game of Russian Roulette. Police officers do have a difficult job and they deserve nothing less than an alternative to guns that does NOT have the high potential for such severe and unintended outcomes as those too often seen with the taser. And until the taser can be shown unequivocally to be a safe alternative to lethal force, the weapon itself cannot be held harmless with any credibility. Despite what police and the weapon's manufacturer would have us believe, that has yet to be shown.

Perhaps, in a future edition, Ms. Wall could attempt to answer this question: When did certain death by bullet and potential death by taser become our only options in Canada?

Patti Gillman
Owner of TNT - Truth ... not tasers http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com

Probe to address whether footage of N.S. man who died in custody can be streamed

June 12, 2009
By Alison Auld, THE CANADIAN PRESS

HALIFAX, N.S. — A Nova Scotia judge will decide whether video footage of a man who died in a correctional facility after being Tasered will be downloaded onto the Internet in a case that's raising fresh questions about how much access the public should have to sensitive material.

Justice Anne Derrick is presiding over an inquiry looking into the 2007 death of Howard Hyde, a schizophrenic who died roughly 30 hours after he was Tasered repeatedly by police in Halifax.

Surveillance video from the facility apparently captured Hyde pacing in his cell, and the moments before his death after he struggled with guards and then collapsed, the inquiry heard Friday.

Dan MacRury, the inquiry's lead counsel, argued the video should be downloaded onto the Internet to allow greater public access in a hearing aimed at finding out what happened to the 45-year-old musician.

"It should be played on the web because it enhances the openness of the proceeding," MacRury said outside the courtroom.

"It is in the public interest to see what happened to Mr. Hyde."

But a lawyer for the guards who work at the facility in nearby Dartmouth argued that downloading the video onto the web violates the privacy rights of workers and prisoners who may have been inadvertently included in the footage.

David Roberts, who filed a motion opposing the downloading on behalf of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, said the danger in streaming raw surveillance footage is that people can distort it on social sites like YouTube.

He argued that "dumping" it onto the Internet also cedes control of key evidence to the public.

"It's subject to distortion and it's an invasion of their privacy rights," he said outside court of the 16 hours of DVD evidence.

"It can be copied, it can file-shared and we think we can have an open inquiry if it simply goes out as part of the hearing itself."

Roberts proposed that the footage be shown on the Internet as it's being viewed in the courtroom, but not allow the raw footage to go directly onto the web.

The provincial Department of Justice also opposed streaming the raw footage.

Hyde's relatives say the footage from the facility and police station where he was Tasered should be shown in full to provide a clear picture of the events prior to his death.

Daniel Walker, who's representing Hyde's sister and brother-in-law, challenged the motion and argued during the hearing that because the video could be central to explaining what happened to Hyde, it should be shown in an unadulterated way.

"The family's concerned that it come through to the observers outside the courtroom in its purest form," he said.

"They want this so members of the public can form their own opinions and make their own observations just as members of the public inside the courtroom will be able to do."

The legal arguments come weeks after lawyers agreed to set up cameras in the courtroom and webcast the inquiry, making it one of the first fatality probes in the country to be streamed on the Internet.

Hyde's family said the decision would allow his father in the United States and other relatives to watch the proceedings as they look for answers about the actions of the police, paramedics, corrections officers and hospital staff who came in contact with Hyde the night he was arrested.

Derrick said she would give her decision when the hearing resumes on July 6.

The hearing, expected to run until August at least, will examine what happened to Hyde after police arrested him at his home as they responded to a report of domestic abuse.

Hyde, whose long history of mental illness was known to police, was taken into custody at police headquarters in Halifax. The man, who was said to be deeply afraid of police following an earlier run-in, reportedly struggled with officers as he tried to escape.

The provincial medical examiner concluded that Hyde died of excited delirium due to paranoid schizophrenia.

***

excited-delirium sent a comment today that bears repeating here because it makes perfect sense:

"...cede control of the evidence to Internet users."

Stupidest statement of the month. Does he understand that it's a COPY, not a MOVE. The evidence is and shall remain the master copy. That original is the one-and-only true evidence, and should be protected.

But this basic requirement has NOTHING to do with allowing a copy to be published on the Internet or anywhere else.

And one never knows, perhaps some dedicated amateur sleuth will notice something important.

By the way - feel free to pixelate the guard(s) faces.

This leaves ZERO reason not to publish.

Human Rights Medal awarded to Cameron Ward

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia awarded the Victoria Human Rights Institute's Human Rights Medal to Cameron Ward in a ceremony at Government House on May 26, 2009.

Just another perfect example of why Cameron Ward is my hero.

Third Aussie dies after being tasered

June 12, 2009
Christine Kellett, Brisbane Times

Civil libertarians say the death of a man shot three times with a Taser stun gun in north Queensland this morning "explodes the police myth that Tasers don't kill".

Opponents of the controversial electric shock weapons have called for the immediate suspension of their use by frontline officers until the conclusion of separate investigations into today's incident by the police, Crime and Misconduct Commission and the State Coroner.

A 39-year-old man was shot up to three times by police who were called to a house in Green Street at Brandon, near Ayr, after he allegedly ransacked the property and violently assaulted a woman before cutting himself about 3am.

It is believed he had earlier escaped from Townsville Hospital following a mental health assessment.

The Queensland Police Union said the officers involved were left with no choice but to Taser the naked man, who allegedly turned on police.

Police Minister Neil Roberts this morning ruled out a temporary suspension of Tasers, telling reporters the weapons had saved lives in the past.

But Terry O'Gorman, vice president of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, said the decision was irresponsible.

"The Minister knows full well it will be 12 to 18 months before this matter reaches coronial inquest. Are we going to risk the chance of another death in that time?" Mr O'Gorman said.

Criminal defence lawyer Jim Coburn, who has lobbied with other solicitors for the State Government to justify its decision to introduce Tasers with scientific evidence of their safety, said today's tragedy was "inevitable".

"This is the case we have feared since the fast-tracking of the Taser trial by the former Police Minister (Judy Spence) last year," Mr Coburn, of Brisbane firm Ryan and Bosscher, told brisbanetimes.com.au.

"We've warned about the introduction of Tasers in the first place and the potential for devastating effects. Now it has happened.

"It is a dereliction of the Minister's duty not to suspend their use immediately."

Mr Roberts said separate probes by the Police Ethical Standards Command, the Crime and Misconduct Commission and the coroner's office would examine the incident and whether the Taser had been used appropriately by police at the scene. He ruled out a ban on the weapons until that time.

"I don't think that's necessary at all. In fact the the evidence clearly shows that from the initial trial and indeed the general roll out of the Taser they have been used very appropriately by police," Mr Roberts told reporters.

"Every deployment of the Taser is investigated fully and reported. If there are any complaints about the use of a Taser, there is a higher level of investigation that is involved."

Frontline police were given Tasers by former Police Minister Judy Spence after a 12-month trial was cut to six months last year.

Mr Roberts today defended the weapon's use and said far from doing harm, they were in fact "saving people's lives".

"The evidence to date is showing the mere presentation of the Taser is actually diffusing situations.

"They are actually being deployed proportionally less than (during) the original trial.

"There are many other examples where the Taser has, I believe, actually saved people's lives. There have been people who are attempting to self harm and cause harm to others and the use of the Taser, rather than lethal force of a weapon, has diffused that situation immensely."

Police said the 39-year-old man, who had allegedly brandished an iron bar and broken glass, was shot three times with a Taser and had collapsed while being handcuffed. He died before ambulance officers arrived on the scene.

He said a coronial inquiry would likely prove the electric shock device was not to blame.

"Although a Taser was used by police, at this stage I believe that it is unlikely that this will ultimately emerge as the cause of death, due to other contributing factors," Mr Leavers said.

"I believe that the deceased had caused a number of injuries to his person prior to police arriving and whilst police were trying to apprehend him and it is possible that toxicology reports could also be helpful to the coroner."

Mr Leavers is flying to Townsville to speak with the officers involved. He said they were receiving support and counselling.

"It should also be noted that if the police officers did not have a Taser available in this case, they would certainly have had to resort to use of a firearm due to the level of danger that they were exposed to given that the deceased armed himself with a number of weapons.

"Any death in custody is a tragedy and all of our thoughts are with the family of the deceased as well as with the officers involved."

It is believed the man's death is the first in Queensland involving a Taser arrest.

A 39-year-old man died in Alice Springs after being Tasered by police last month, and in 2002, Gary Pearce, a violent, mentally-ill NSW 56-year-old, died about two weeks after being shot with a stun gun when he threatened police with a frying pan.

A joint inquest in Brisbane heard all four - James Henry Jacobs, 29, Thomas Dion Waite, 30, Mieng Huynh, 40, and James Michael Gear, 22 - had been in the throes of a psychotic episode and had become violent when they were gunned down either in their homes or in public.

MORE REQUIRED READING

MORE REQUIRED READING from Mikes and Dislikes "Because Somebody's Gotta Say It":

Imagine: A Common Sense Justice System That Frowns On Police Brutality

REQUIRED READING

REQUIRED READING at http://www.excited-delirium.com/ - the thinking man's blog:

How many people die just BEFORE being tasered?

Tuttle stands on hind legs and speaks

CBC and The Canadian Press win Michener for joint Taser analysis project

Frédéric Zalac SRC; Jim Bronskill Canadian Press; Governor General Michaëlle Jean; Esther Enkin CBC

The Michener Awards Foundation
Ottawa, June 10, 2009 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press (CP) have won the 2008 Michener Award for a joint project that analyzed and reported on the use of Taser stun guns, David Humphreys, President of the Michener Awards Foundation, announced today.

In a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, presented coveted Michener Award trophies to Esther Enkin, executive editor of CBC News and Jim Bronskill, national reporter of The Canadian Press for their joint entry. They were among eight news organizations honoured at the ceremony. The Michener Award is presented annually for journalism that makes a significant impact on the public good.

June 11, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — A joint project that produced a multimedia analysis of Taser stun guns and their use by the RCMP has won the 2008 Michener Award for CBC/Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press.

The prestigious award that is named after former governor general Roland Michener is given out based on the degree of public benefit generated by the print and broadcast entries submitted. The winner was announced Wednesday.

One Canadian Press-CBC joint study of more than 3,200 incidents in which Mounties fired the powerful stun guns between 2002 and 2008 showed officers used the Taser multiple times in almost 43 per cent of cases.

Another joint effort found the Mounties were censoring key information that must be recorded each time officers draw their weapons.

As well, a separate CBC/Radio-Canada investigation found some stun guns deliver a stronger jolt than they should.

The Canadian Press-CBC project produced stories for newspapers, websites, radio and television.

Other finalists chosen by the Michener Awards Foundation were Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe, the Globe and Mail, the Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and Winnipeg Free Press.

Ed Struzik, a reporter with the Edmonton Journal, won the 2009 Michener-Deacon Fellowship for a project on arctic sovereignty.

The fellowship will allow Struzik to join an expedition of geologists who are building a case for Canada to claim an arctic area the size of three prairie provinces.

KSL-TV editorial director's son dies after being tased by police

Taser International responds to yesterday's needless death of Brian Cardall, son of KSL-TV editorial director Duane Cardall. Taser International's response completely IGNORES the elephant in the room. At least 412 dead and counting.

June 9th, 2009 @ 11:00pm
Statement from Taser:

Until all the facts surrounding this tragic incident are known, it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions on the cause of death. We believe that TASER® technology protects life and if called upon we are prepared to help the investigation of this unfortunate incident.

Although, no use of force device is risk free including TASER technology, when used properly, medical and law enforcement experts have concluded that TASER technology is among the most effective response to resistance available to law enforcement officers to halt potentially violent situations that may pose a safety risk to an officer, suspect or innocent citizens.

For the past two years, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has conducted a review and study of in-custody deaths which have occurred following the use of a TASER brand devices. The interim report, release last summer concluded in its findings that:

"Although exposure to CED is not risk free, there is no conclusive medical evidence within the state of current research that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death from the direct effects of CED exposure. Field experience with CED use indicates that exposure is safe in the vast majority of cases. Therefore, law enforcement need not refrain from deploying CEDs, provided the devices are used in accordance with accepted national guidelines."

"While we continue to acknowledge that TASER® technology is not risk free, the NIJ report speaks volumes affirming our previous statements concerning the safety of TASER devices and provides an invaluable independent report to our critics.

STATS: As of March 31, 2009 TASER International has sold approximately 406,000 TASER® brand electronic control devices (ECDs) to more than 142,200 law enforcement and military agencies. There are 177 law enforcement agencies in Utah that deploy our TASER technology.

Sincerely,
Steve Tuttle
Vice President of Communications

Son of KSL-TV editorial director dies after tased by police
June 9th, 2009
By John Hollenhorst, KSL.COM

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A 32-year-old man died Tuesday afternoon after he was tased by a Hurricane police officer. Brian Cardall is the son of KSL's Editorial Director Duane Cardall.

He and his wife, who is six months pregnant, were traveling south on State Road 59 just outside of Hurricane after visiting his family in Salt Lake City.

According to his wife, Cardall, who has a recent history of mental illness, was having an episode prompting them to pull over to medicate.

Once stopped, Cardall got out of the vehicle and began to run down the road.

His wife called 911.

Not long after, she found out he had been tased and was unresponsive.

CPR was administered on scene. Cardall was taken to the Dixie Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

In a press release on its website, the Sheriff's office writes:

Police and medical personnel responded to a call for assistance with an agitated subject on State Route 59 this afternoon in Washington County. During the incident, a Hurricane City Police Officer deployed a taser and the subject lost consciousness. The subject was treated within moments by EMS personnel, but was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital.

Cardall was a doctoral candidate in biology at Northern Arizona University.

In a statement his family said, "Brian is a wonderful son, brother, father, and husband who loved being with people. He was full of personality and wanted to make a difference in this world. He was working on his PhD in Molecular Ecology at Northern Arizona University. He loved being in the outdoors and with his daughter Ava and beautiful wife Anna. We will miss Brian but are comforted by our faith."

Related: Police chiefs want more training for officers who deal with mentally ill
Officers are responding to an increasing number of calls for help or assistance and finding that someone involved is suffering from mental illness. Some police chiefs say more training is needed. The Washington County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

Officer is 'fine' after Taser hit causes collapse

June 10, 2009
canada.com

A Vancouver Island RCMP officer who collapsed during a Taser training session in Duncan on Tuesday showed no serious problems and went on with her training, said an RCMP Island district spokesman.

Cpl. Darren Lagan said the officer was hit with the Taser as part of the training and fainted about 25 minutes later.

But Lagan said it appeared the incident may have had to do more with the anxiety and stress of the training combined with the fact that she is training for the upcoming Tour de Rock.

"She's fine, she's been checked over by B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics and she elected to continue on with her training," said Lagan.

Tasers, called by police "conducted energy weapons," shoot a 50,000 volt charge that causes a person's central nervous system to shut down for a short time.

Mounties' moves at inquiry nothing short of tawdry

June 10, 2009
By Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun

Four Mounties going to court to sanitize the findings of the inquiry into the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski are darkening the public's already dim view of the once-respected national police force.

Their B.C. Supreme Court petition mocks the intent of months of work by commissioner Tom Braidwood and the desire of Canadians for an impartial report about what happened at Vancouver airport on Oct. 14, 2007.

What triggered Monday's legal action was a letter from the inquiry's counsel informing the RCMP officers that Braidwood was mulling serious criticism of them for Tasering five times and physically restraining the 40-year-old Polish immigrant.

Dziekanski died handcuffed on the floor of the airport without regaining consciousness.

"You initially deployed the conducted energy weapon against Mr. Dziekanski ... when such deployment was not justified given the totality of the circumstances you were facing at the time," says the letter to the officers.

It continues that the Horsemen could not have "honestly perceived" Dziekanski was a threat, misrepresented what happened in notes and testimony "for the purposes of justifying" their actions, and "placed a self-serving and misleading interpretation" on events to homicide investigators.

That sent the four scurrying for cover.

Their lawyers want the B.C. Supreme Court to rule that Braidwood lacks the constitutional authority to criticize the federal cops because his mandate comes from the provincial government.

"We take the position that a provincial inquiry does not have the jurisdiction to make misconduct findings against the RCMP," said lawyer David Butcher, who represents one of the Mounties.

This unseemly development underscores the drawback of B.C.'s contracting-out of municipal and provincial police work to the Mounties -- the force reports to Ottawa, not Victoria, and so there is no local political accountability.

Walter Kosteckyj, lawyer for Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski, was fuming after being told about the latest tactic by the RCMP members to avoid responsibility.

"These officers were under contract to the province of British Columbia, they were being paid by the people of the province of British Columbia," he complained.

"They don't want to be held responsible and clearly they feel that the pressure is on, so these are all last-ditch efforts."

Regardless of the latest legal ploy by the officers, Braidwood is not about to compose a report assigning criminal or civil blame. After listening to several months of evidence, though, he is going to express an opinion and offer his conclusions and recommendations.

Any findings of misconduct will add immeasurable pressure on Victoria to reconsider last December's decision to not pursue criminal charges against the four officers, make the civil case against them a slam-dunk and ensure this public relations disaster escalates into an even bigger debacle for the national force.

No wonder the Mounties are trying to dilute Braidwood's report before he gets a chance to write it.

In doing so, however, they have revealed themselves for what we had grown to suspect after their testimony: They are cowards who even today are afraid to face the music.

They also have revealed their better-late-than-never apologies issued during the inquiry to be more insincere than even cynics suggested.

How can they possibly defend this attempt to derail a disinterested inquiry into a tragedy that has captured global attention?

If these officers had such serious constitutional qualms about Braidwood's jurisdiction and questions about his authority, they should have raised them before they took the stand and shocked the world with their incredible testimony.

This latest manoeuvre to forestall the inevitable is tawdry.

Shame on all of them.

imulgrew@vancouversun.com

Edmonton Judge raps use of Taser

June 10, 2009
By TONY BLAIS, COURT BUREAU

Dismisses assault charge, says physical force could have subdued aggressive suspect

An Edmonton police officer has been criticized by a judge for using "excessive force" by zapping a suspect with his Taser because the man swatted his hand away.

The excessive force ruling also led to the man -- who was being investigated in an alleged domestic abuse case -- being acquitted of a charge of assaulting a police officer.

INAPPROPRIATE USE

In a previously unreported provincial court decision stemming from earlier this year, Calgary Judge Bruce Fraser spoke out against the inappropriate use of Tasers.

"I am not against the use of Tasers in appropriate situations. They have their place," said Fraser in a Feb. 6 written decision in the case of Shaun Paul Dianocky.

"I understand no one can measure to a nicety how police can respond to physical force or anyone can respond. The police did not consider using other weapons at their disposal such as batons, spray or guns because of the injury or damage they can cause," continued Fraser.

"They must consider that with Tasers as well. Putting 50,000 volts of electricity into a person's body can be injurious and should not be used as a first line of control when other means are available, and they are not facing deadly force," said Fraser.

The Calgary judge was presiding over the Edmonton trial of Dianocky, who had been charged with assaulting a police officer while resisting arrest.

Court heard two city police officers, Const. Vic Pipke and Const. Neil Thompson had responded to a 911 call reporting a domestic dispute at an apartment in which a person was reportedly "being beaten up by hubby."

When the officers arrived, an aggressive and defensive Dianocky was yelling and swearing and Thompson tried to put his hand on his shoulder to calm him and guide him to a chair.

Dianocky swatted Thompson's hand away and was pushed into the chair by Pipke who used a hand stun to his head.

Dianocky was then zapped with a Taser by Thompson.

The accused pulled the Taser leads out almost immediately and before they had time to take much effect and said: "You'll have to do better than that."

Dianocky then kicked Pipke in the groin.

Pipke hand stunned him again and Thompson zapped him three more times with the Taser, which apparently had little effect because Dianocky again kicked Pipke.

ACTING PROPERLY

Fraser noted Dianocky had a pouch or sheath on his belt that appeared to hold a knife, but was actually a work tool, and accepted the officers were acting properly in trying to calm and control him so they could investigate.

The judge also stated a person should never touch or swat or swing at a police officer.

However, he ruled the two officers should have been able to physically subdue Dianocky.

"Tasers should not be used just because it is easier or less physically exerting," said Fraser. "Here it was used because he swatted his hand away."

Tasering Grandma

See tasering 72-year old grannies in an expert manner (www.excited-delirium.com) and Tasing Grandma (www.nateo.blogspot.com)

RCMP plays a dirty game in Dziekanski hearings

June 9, 2009
Raphael Alexander, National Post

The four RCMP officers who gained national, and even international, attention when they tasered and restrained Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, events which preceded his death, are now asking a British Columbia Supreme Court judge to stop the inquiry from finding fault in their actions.

The Braidwood public inquiry, so known after the Commissioner, Tom Braidwood, began on January 19, 2009, and has interviewed scores of witnesses and heard a lot of testimony, including the contradictory statements of the RCMP officers themselves. The inquiry is set to make closing submissions on June 19, 23, and 24. The officers at the centre of the inquiry are fearful that Mr. Braidwood will make any findings of misconduct against them:

“We say he (Braidwood) doesn’t have jurisdiction to make findings of misconduct because it’s a provincial inquiry and these are federal officers,” said David Butcher, the lawyer for Const. Bill Bentley, the first officer to face Dziekanski at the airport on Oct. 14, 2007.

I find it reprehensible to think that the officers, who have already been exposed publicly for making very serious and severe errors in the Dziekanski case, would try to escape the possibility that they could be blamed for their actions. Public and support for the RCMP has already suffered greatly due to this inquiry, whether it be the dubious reasons given for the level of force used against the victim; the alleged “weapon” he was holding; the failure to administer CPR; the multiple taser blasts; the extensive use of that force; the list truly goes on and on and on. And now, to think that the police will try to escape blame by asking the B.C. Supreme Court to block any finding of misconduct before there has even been a ruling, is really a new low for the entire proceedings. To argue the validity of the Braidwood jurisdiction at the last possible moment is tantamount to a person walking out on a game when he faces checkmate on his next move.

It’s a rather nasty little game to play now, arguing that RCMP officers are not subject to provincial jurisdiction because they are a federal police force. When the officers responded to the call, they obviously did so under the jurisdiction of the province they serve in. If it were otherwise, provincial courts would never be able to hold matters of justice pertaining to federal officers. Unfortunately, such a move has typified what one has come to expect from the federal police force in this case.

The reason the RCMP are suddenly concerned about jurisdiuction is based on the fact that on April 30, the lawyer for Constable Kewsi Millington found it is possible under a Public Inquiry to make a finding of misconduct against a person. All four officers were cleared of criminal wrong-doing by British Columbia’s Criminal Justice Branch, but findings of misconduct could lead to further actions against the RCMP and the officers in court. It seems certain they are doing everything to avoid ever having to admit any wrong-doing.

Lawyers want no misconduct in Taser inquiry

June 9, 2009
Canwest News Service

Four RCMP officers who Tasered and restrained Robert Dziekanski are asking a B.C. Supreme Court judge to stop Commissioner Tom Braidwood from making any findings of misconduct against them after an inquiry into the death.

The Braidwood public inquiry into Taser use, and the death of Polish immigrant Dziekanski in Vancouver airport, has heard from more than 80 witnesses, including the four RCMP officers, since January and will hear closing arguments starting June 19.

Now RCMP lawyers have turned to an outside court to launch a petition that could delay the commission schedule.

"We say he (Braidwood) doesn't have jurisdiction to make findings of misconduct because it's a provincial inquiry and these are federal officers," said David Butcher, the lawyer for Const. Bill Bentley, the first officer to face Dziekanski at the airport on Oct. 14, 2007.

"I will be taking the position my client acted in accordance with his training and the law on the night in question."

The 28-page petition will be argued in court on Friday and Butcher noted it would be "presumptuous" to speculate how long the Supreme Court could take to rule on the issue.

But Walter Kosteckyj, lawyer for Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski, said the RCMP lawyer's "last-ditch effort" will be "an additional burden to my client, and only add more uncertainty and delay."

"The RCMP is well-funded, unlike my client . . . and the officers knew from the beginning the inquiry had the power to find wrongdoing and the commissioner has been clear about that from the outset," said Kosteckyj.

Kosteckyj noted "these officers are paid by B.C. taxpayers and they came to this commission saying they welcomed the inquiry and that the evidence would clear them. Now at the last minute they're arguing lack of jurisdiction."

Judge mulls misconduct ruling in taser case

June 8, 2009
Ian Bailey, Globe and Mail

The head of a provincial inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski is reserving the option to level misconduct rulings against four Mounties involved in a fatal confrontation with the Polish immigrant.

In the case of Constable Kwesi Millington, who fired a taser during the Oct. 14, 2007, encounter, Thomas Braidwood says he may conclude that the officer failed to properly assess the circumstances around Mr. Dziekanski and failed to properly respond to them.

“You initially deployed the conducted energy weapon against Mr. Dziekanski … when such deployment was not justified given the totality of the circumstances you were facing at the time,” says the notice, going on to suggest the officer could not have “honestly perceived” Mr. Dziekanski's behaviours were a threat.

Mr. Braidwood says he may also accuse the officer of misrepresenting Mr. Dziekanski's behaviour in his notes and testimony to the inquiry.

These are among the options disclosed Monday in court documents as lawyers for the officers asked the B.C. Supreme Court to rule that Mr. Braidwood lacks the power to make such findings against federal police officers.

“We take the position that a provincial inquiry does not have the jurisdiction to make misconduct findings against the RCMP,” said lawyer David Butcher, representing Constable Bill Bentley.

Mr. Braidwood, who has been at the helm of the continuing inquiry since it was established seven months after Mr. Dziekanski's death, has not actually decided to lay such findings of misconduct, but has itemized them as possibilities.

That prompted the lawyers to announce their legal gambit. During a brief B.C. Supreme Court hearing Monday, the case was put over to Friday.

The officers have received notices of misconduct that vary by their role in the arrest of Mr. Dziekanski, who, tired and angry after being lost for hours at Vancouver International Airport, began acting in an erratic manner.

The police reacted when Mr. Dziekanski began wielding a stapler. The 40-year-old labourer was subjected to five blasts from a taser, and tackled by the officers. He subsequently died.

A similar notice to Constable Bentley warns that Mr. Braidwood may, among other things, conclude the officer “failed to respond appropriately to the circumstances you faced at that time in relation to Mr. Dziekanski,” “misrepresented” Mr. Dziekanski's behaviours and the manner in which events unfolded “for the purposes of justifying your actions and those of your fellow officers” and “placed a self-serving and misleading interpretation” on portions of notes and statements to regional homicide investigators.

Commission counsel Art Vertlieb, who filed the notices to lawyers, Monday declined comment on the situation, pending Friday's hearing.

Reg Harris, lawyer for Corporal Benjamin Robinson – who was the senior officer on the scene – said he wants to clarify Mr. Braidwood's authority.

“That's primarily what we're trying to do.”

He said lawyers for each officer are taking their own approach to the matter, but “the positions are generally the same with slight factual distinctions.”

Mr. Harris acknowledged the court action launched by the lawyers has allowed the media to report on Mr. Braidwood's blunt assertions.

“That was certainly a consideration that went into filing the documents at Supreme Court.

“Having said that, I am certain the news media would take extreme caution in ensuring the public is well informed that these are merely possibilities at this stage,” he said.

The Crown has ruled out criminal charges against the four officers, suggesting they acted lawfully in dealing with Mr. Dziekanski.

Mounties want B.C. court to prevent Taser inquiry from finding misconduct

June 8, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Lawyers for the four RCMP officers involved in Robert Dziekanski's death are trying to prevent a public inquiry from making findings of misconduct against them.

Inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood has told the four Mounties he may make findings of misconduct when he writes his report into what happened when Dziekanski was stunned with a Taser at Vancouver's airport.

The notice doesn't necessarily mean Braidwood will make such a finding, but he is required to give notice if he wants the option left open.

David Butcher, lawyer for one of the four officers, says he will argue in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday that a provincial inquiry doesn't have authority to make findings of misconduct against federal police officers.

The actions of the four officers came under heavy scrutiny at the inquiry, which wrapped up testimony last month and will finish with closing submissions in a few weeks.

The officers testified they stunned the Polish immigrant several times with a Taser because he was aggressive and threatening them with a stapler.

No Taser for mascot

June 5, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

KELOWNA, B.C. -- Hundreds of people have submitted names for the Kelowna RCMP's bear mascot, but it's doubtful suggestions like Taser the Friendly Bear will make the cut. Or Taser the Non-Lethal Bear. Or Tasie. "There's some really good ones and there's some really nasty ones," said RCMP Sgt. Ann Brinnen of the monikers that have flooded in.

Murder trial ordered for ex-Bay Area transit cop

June 4, 2009
By TERRY COLLINS, The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A judge ruled Thursday that a former transit police officer should stand trial on murder charges in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man on a train platform.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Don Clay said there was sufficient evidence for ex-Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle to face murder charges in the shooting of Oscar Grant early New Year's Day.

"There is no doubt in my mind Mr. Mehserle meant to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun, not a Taser," the judge said.

Mehserle's defense has contended that Mehserle accidentally grabbed his pistol instead of his stun gun when he shot Grant, who was face down on the platform.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty.

When the judge rendered his decision, Mehserle sat looking straight ahead. Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, burst into tears.

During several days of a preliminary hearing, the prosecution and Mehserle's attorney called witnesses and presented evidence in the controversial video-recorded shooting that prompted sometimes violent protests in Oakland.

Ruling on Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first

June 4, 2009
By Thomas J. Prohaska
NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER

LOCKPORT — It is legally permissible for police to zap a suspect with a Taser to obtain a DNA sample, as long as it’s not done “maliciously, or to an excessive extent, or with resulting injury,” a county judge has ruled in the first case of its kind in New York State, and possibly the nation.

Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza decided that the DNA sample obtained Sept. 29 from Ryan S. Smith of Niagara Falls — which ties him to a shooting and a gas station robbery— is legally valid and can be used at his trial.

Smith was handcuffed and sitting on the floor of Niagara Falls Police Headquarters when he was zapped with the 50,000- volt electronic stun gun after he insisted he would not give a DNA sample.

He already had given a sample, a swab of the inside of his cheek, without protest the previous month. But police sent it to the wrong lab, where it was opened and spoiled. Prosecutors who had obtained a court order for the first sample went back to Sperrazza, who signed another order without consulting the defense.

Defense lawyer Patrick M. Balkin denounced the ruling in an interview with The Buffalo News.

“They have now given the Niagara Falls police discretion to Taser anybody anytime they think it’s reasonable,” he asserted. “Her decision says you can enforce a court order by force. If you extrapolate that, we no longer have to have child support hearings; you can just Taser the parent.”

A police officer said that when Smith was ordered by officers to give his DNA, he adamantly refused.

“I ain’t giving up my DNA again. I already gave it up once. I’ll sit in jail. I ain’t giving it up. You’re going to have to Tase me,” the officer’s report stated.

The officer wrote that he then applied the stun gun to Smith’s left shoulder, a “drive stun” that is regarded as less painful than shooting electric prongs into a person, which is the usual Taser approach. Smith then consented to the sample, and he was arrested on a contempt of court charge.

In her ruling, Sperrazza cited numerous legal precedents and the state’s Criminal Procedure Law, allowing the use of reasonable force to carry out a court order.

Although there are no New York cases specifically dealing with using a Taser to accomplish that, the judge did find a Wyoming case where a court ruled it was legal to use a Taser to force a suspect to open his hand for a search.

Balkin and other lawyers familiar with the case say they know of no other case in the country in which a Taser was used to gather DNA.

The decision Wednesday in Niagara County stunned Balkin, who admitted in court that he hadn’t been carrying out trial preparation, such as seeking an expert to review the DNA test results.

“It’s my fault,” Balkin told Sperrazza. “I truly thought it was going to be suppressed.”

Balkin thought a victory on the Taser issue would lead to the dismissal of the 24-count indictment against Smith, 21, of Grove Avenue.

Sperrazza granted a postponement of Smith’s trial to Aug. 10.

Smith is charged with shooting a man in the groin July 27, 2006, after allegedly invading his ex-girlfriend’s home, tying up her two children and forcing the woman to take him to the shooting victim’s home.

He is also accused of taking part in the Dec. 24, 2006, armed robbery of a Sunoco station in Niagara Falls. A codefendant in the robbery, Christopher T. Walker Jr., now 21, pleaded guilty and is serving a 10-year state prison sentence.

DNA was found on a can of pop taken from Smith’s ex-girlfriend’s refrigerator and on a glove dropped at the gas station. It matched a sample he had to give after a previous assault conviction, and prosecutors sought another sample from Smith to confirm the findings.

“Our case is mostly DNA,” Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann said.

She also said she didn’t agree with Balkin that suppressing the DNA sample would have led to the dismissal of the indictment.

There is a surveillance video of the gas station robbery, Hoffmann revealed in court.

Balkin said he also was most concerned about Sperrazza’s reasoning that she didn’t have to go through a courtroom procedure for the second DNA sample because Smith had not objected to the first one.

“The court waived my client’s due process,” the defense lawyer said.

Testimony at a hearing last month partially contradicted the incident report written by Officer George McDonell, who used the Taser on Smith.

Sperrazza wrote in her ruling, based on police testimony, that when Smith refused to give another sample, Detective Lt. William Thomson phoned Hoffmann about it, and Hoffmann “instructed him that they could use the minimum force necessary to obtain the sample.”

But McDonell wrote in his report, “It was relayed that officers could use any means necessary to secure the sample.”

Sperrazza said the police should have arrested Smith first and brought him to court to be warned about the penalties for noncompliance with a court order.

McDonell testified that he used the Taser for 1z to two seconds. Another officer testified that the data readout on the Taser showed it was on for as long as four seconds.

Court papers filed by Smith’s civil attorney, Christopher O’Brien, assert that Smith was zapped three times and lost consciousness. McDonell’s report says, “Suspect complained of no injury and none was observed.”

CBC taser test results

This is worth another look ... the most comprehensive and ***independent*** electrical test of tasers ever conducted in the world was done by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.


PART 1 OF 2:



PART 2 OF 2:

Jackboot Hall Of Shame: Police Brutality Videos Archive

Robert Allison
Prison Planet.com
June 1, 2009

This archive contains 64 videos, with direct links for file downloading. Unfortunately, many of these shocking and outrageous videos contain extreme violence and even death. This archive was made in memory of Oscar Grant of Hayward, CA.

Grant was executed Jan. 1, 2009 by Johannes Mehserle, a San Francisco BART Police officer. Grant is survived by his 4 year old daughter, mother, sister, and girlfriend (his daughter’s mother)

RCMP taking 200 Tasers out of service in Saskatchewan

June 3, 2009
By Joe Couture, Regina Leader-Post

REGINA — The RCMP is taking almost 200 Tasers out of its arsenal in Saskatchewan.

Earlier this week, the RCMP announced that it would pull more than 1,500 older-model Tasers — also known as conducted-energy devices or conducted-energy weapons — from service in detachments across the country on the grounds that they might not generate a powerful enough electrical charge.

In Saskatchewan, the move will take out of service 193 of the older Tasers, according to a spokesman for the RCMP.

The decision to take the M26 Taser out of service came after B.C. government tests showed the majority of the units tested were "underperforming."

Results of the tests showed that 80 per cent of the devices failed to operate within the manufacturer specifications.

Ninety per cent of the units produced less electrical output than would be expected, "potentially presenting both public and officer safety risks," according to a news release from the RCMP.

The RCMP will test all M26 units in its inventory across the country, and only those confirmed to be functioning properly will be returned to active service.

In a statement provided to the Leader-Post on Wednesday, the company that makes Tasers defended its products.

"Taser International stands behind the quality and safety of its electronic control devices," said spokesman Peter Holran, noting that it is "not unusual for some high-tech electrical devices to experience a slight degradation in the electrical components over time."

Holran said his understanding is that the M26 units tested in B.C. fell below the specifications for energy output.

"A lower energy output equates to a higher safety margin, and, therefore, the medical safety of these devices is not in question," Holran continued. "Since there has been confusion over proper testing protocol and specification . . . under no circumstance should any of these devices be destroyed so as to preclude further analysis by other labs."

The RCMP's inventory also includes more than 1,500 Tasers of the X26 model, which is smaller and produces less output, while "achieving the same operational result," stated the RCMP.

The intention is to eventually replace all of the M26 models with X26 models.

The RCMP has 109 X26 model Tasers currently in service in Saskatchewan.

In the first six months of 2008 — the most recent period for which statistics are available on the RCMP's website — members in Saskatchewan activated Tasers 41 times. In addition, officers presented or threatened to use Tasers — but did not activate them — 61 times.

The total of 102 deployments is higher than that in any other province or territory, except Alberta and B.C., where Tasers were used 131 and 227 times, respectively. In Manitoba, Tasers were deployed 51 times in the first half of 2008.

The RCMP's responsibilities differ in every province. There weren't any statistics for Ontario or Quebec, where the force has a limited policing presence.

In B.C., where the RCMP is responsible for many highly populated urban areas, its 9,500 employees make up almost one-third of the entire national force.

In Saskatchewan there are about 1,200 members, not including those connected to Depot Division. In Alberta, there are about 2,200 members and in Manitoba, there are about 1,150 RCMP employees.

Niagara Regional Police ahead of the RCMP on Tasers

June 3, 2009
Posted By Grant LaFleche, St. Catharine's Standard

While the RCMP is pulling more than 1,000 Tasers from service across the country over safety concerns, the Niagara Regional Police says it has nothing to worry about.

The offending weapon, the M-26 Taser, is no longer part of the NRP arsenal.

“We pulled them from service in April,” NRP spokeswoman Jacquie Forgeron said Wednesday.

The NRP had six of the older model energy weapons which were used by members of its tactical unit. However, after testing them, the Tasers were replaced by the newer X-26 model.

The RCMP said this week the M-26 Taser will be removed from service after testing by the B.C government found the weapons failed to meet the manufacturer’s specifications 80 per cent of the time.

Around 1,600 weapons are being pulled after testing showed the weapon often delivered an electrical charge less than expected.

The use of Tasers by police in Canada has been in the spotlight thanks to recent hearings into the death of Robert Dziekanksi, who died after being jolted with the weapons by RCMP officers in 2007 in Vancouver.

Locally, a corner’s inquest into the 2005 death of James Foldi of Beamsville has looked at the use of tasers by the NRP officers who arrested him.

The inquest, which has been paused due to scheduling conflicts, heard that Foldi died as a result of excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

Forgeron said the NRP started looking at its older Tasers when a CBC report in 2008 showed that versions of the X-26 made before Dec. 31, 2005, were discharging more volts than they should.

The NRP took the relevant weapons out of service to be tested. During that round of testing the M-26 weapons were also looked at.

Last month, the last six M-26 Tasers the NRP had were pulled from service and replaced with newer weapons, Forgeron said.

Forgeron said the NRP presently have 44 X-26 weapons in use.

Only NRP supervisors and members of the tactical unit are authorized to use the conducted energy weapons.

In 2008, Tasers were used by NRP officers in 44 incidents, down from 98 in 2007.

Taser use to obtain DNA not unconstitutional

In case there was any question, this confirms it - some of them are effin' nuts down there in the land of the free!!

NIAGARA COURTS RULING: Taser use to obtain DNA not unconstitutional
By Rick Pfeiffer
rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com

A decision by Falls Police to use a Taser to obtain a DNA sample from a suspect in an armed robbery, shooting and kidnapping is not unconstitutional.

Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza reached that conclusion in a 16 page decision handed down earlier today that refused to dismiss an indictment against Ryan Smith and denied his request to have DNA evidence that links him to two separate criminal cases thrown out.

The ruling left Smith’s attorney, Patrick Balkin, stunned and requesting additional time to prepare for a trial that had been scheduled to begin later this month.

“Your honor, I was not expecting this ruling,” Balkin said. “I have not begun to have the DNA evidence analyzed and will need time to do that.”

Sperrazza set a new trial date of Aug. 10.

“I was not surprised. I was confident the judge would rule in our favor,” Assistant District Attorney Doreen Hoffmann said. “Clearly, we are satisfied that the judge heard all the evidence at the hearing and made the correct decision.”

Balkin sharply questioned the ruling.

“She’s the first judge in western civilization to say you can use a Taser to enforce a court order,” Balkin said.

Smith, standing next to his attorney as the decision was announced, showed no reaction. He faces charges of first-degree robbery, burglary, second-degree kidnapping and other crimes stemming from a pair of incidents in 2006.

In July 2006, Smith is accused of being one of four suspects who staged a home invasion in the Falls that involved tying up two children with duct tape and forcing their mother to go to another home where a man was shot in a robbery attempt.

Then on Christmas Eve 2006, Smith is accused of staging the armed hold-up of a gas station and convenience store on Hyde Park Boulevard and Ontario Avenue.

Detectives recovered DNA evidence from a pop can at the home invasion scene and from a glove left behind at the robbery scene and a search of the state’s DNA data base matched that evidence to Smith. Prosecutors asked Sperrazza for an order to get a DNA sample from Smith in August 2008 and he voluntarily gave that sample to police.

In September 2008, prosecutors asked for another DNA sample because the first one had been sent to the wrong laboratory and could not be used. Sperrazza signed the second request and Falls Police went looking for Smith.

When they found Smith and took him to police headquarters, he refused to give another sample, telling the officers that he would have to “be tased” to give one. After detectives and officers tried to get Smith to comply with the court order, and he refused, they drive stunned him with a Taser and then took the DNA sample.

Balkin had argued that the use of the Taser to get Smith to give up the DNA sample violated his constitutional right against an unreasonable search and seizure. Sperrazza ruled that the police action was reasonable.

Cops keeping Tasers

June 2, 2009
GILLIAN SLADE, Medicine Hat News

It seems unlikely police in Medicine Hat will be permanently removing the Taser from their holsters.

Solicitor General Fred Lindsay told the News he has not seen any evidence to indicate a Taser was responsible for deaths in the province. According to Lindsay, police statistics show very few injuries or deaths occurring after a Taser has been deployed. “I would have to see evidence that the voltage of the Taser was directly responsible for causing the death,” he said. “Between 2005 and 2007, the Taser was used 2,100 times in Alberta. In that time frame there were only two deaths after its use and less than one per cent of those Tasered required treatment in hospital or at an emergency room.”

In Medicine Hat, police deployed Tasers 56 times from 2006 to 2008 inclusive, with only five injuries resulting from either falling after being Tasered or injuries sustained during a struggle, according to information supplied by Medicine Hat Police Service.

According to Chief of Police Andy McGrogan, of the 56 incidents in Medicine Hat the Taser deployment resulted in “contact stuns” 23 times, meaning the cartridge was not deployed. Three times it was “ineffective deployment” and contact was not made with the individual. Sixteen times it resulted in “probed deployments” where the probe made contact with the person or their clothing, and on 14 occasions the Taser was simply “pointed and displayed” but not deployed.

In 2006, statistics were not kept on “pointed and displayed” incidents. Since guidelines for the use of Tasers were issued, the number of times a Taser is used has dropped, according to Lindsay.

“Our procedure for the use of Tasers was adjusted a couple of months ago,” said McGrogan. “They are only used when someone is resisting at a high level which is likely to cause injury to themselves or others.”

Reports released about the deaths of individuals who were Tasered have identified factors such as acute cocaine toxicity and excited delirium as possible causes. Lindsay says these causes were cited in deaths before Tasers were in use.

“Deaths were occurring when police used pepper spray,” said Lindsay. “Pepper spray was said to be constricting the throat of individuals.”

RCMP were one of the first Canadian forces to use pepper spray in 1992 for crowd control. It was introduced as a non-lethal weapon, an alternative to using guns.
The deaths that resulted from pepper spray were reported to be related to a pre-existing condition such as asthma.

Lindsay said police are often in situations where split-second decisions have to be made. "We do know that drugs, and in some cases those with a mental illness, can give people super-human strength,” said Lindsay. “Officers get tired handling an over excited individual for a long time and for the individual it is a strain on the heart.”

McGrogan notes “positional asphixiation” can also be the cause of death. He described “excited delirium” as “an altered medical state” which officers are trained to look for and request medical assistance when observed.

Confident that the Taser has not caused any deaths McGrogan stated, “Medicine Hat Police Service will stop the use of Tasers when we hear the Taser has been scientifically proven to cause death. We depend on the solicitor general to determine the facts.”

However, McGrogan wants to assure the public they have no intention of needlessly using force that is not appropriate.

Of the five Alberta deaths following the use of a Taser, only two reports have been released so far and they took years to be released. Regarding the three currently under investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, there is no time frame in which they must complete an investigation. Lindsay defends this by saying there is so much to investigate and they can only release a report when the details are available.

Toxicity reports appear to contribute significantly to delays as they typically take eight of nine months. “We have to use an RCMP National Laboratory because it has to be done at an accredited lab,” said Lindsay. “We are currently reviewing this to see how it can be shortened.”

Lindsay defends the fact police are investigated by police in these situations.
“The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is directed by a lawyer but police are needed on the team in order to really understand the situation they’re investigating,” said Lindsay.

The long delays for family of the victim to be informed of details surrounding a death can’t be helped. “When a death occurs after a Taser was used it becomes a criminal investigation,” said Lindsay, explaining this limits what the family of the victim can be told and their access to the body before an autopsy has been completed.
The possibility of releasing some information prior to releasing the full report on an investigation, which has the potential for reducing public speculation, is not one Lindsay will consider.

Toronto cops say Tasers are up to snuff

June 3, 2009
By ROB LAMBERTI AND JENNY YUEN, SUN MEDIA

While the RCMP recall and review 1,600 Tasers, GTA police services say their cache of the stun guns is fine.

The RCMP is recalling the M26 model because it failed to meet the manufacturer's specifications 80% of the time. The Tasers will be tested and repaired if necessary.

The Monday recall came hours after B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman ordered the RCMP to stop using the older version of the weapon in that province.

The concern is that the M26 appears to be producing less charge than required by the manufacturer. Last year, B.C. pulled 82 stun guns purchased before Jan. 1, 2006, after tests showed them misfiring.

Stun guns are under increased scrutiny since the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski after he was jolted multiple times with an RCMP Taser at Vancouver's airport.

CHECKED DAILY

The Taser used on Dziekanski was an X26 model, and not the M26 affected by the RCMP recall.

Halton uses the M26, the same model being yanked by the Mounties and Sgt. Brian Carr said yesterday there were concerns about the 2005 version. Halton's tactical team has 13 M26 Tasers that were made in 2006 and 2007, and he said they appear to be functioning properly.

Road sergeants in Halton are armed with the newer X26.

In York Region, which has a total of 30 X26s, Const. Gary Phillips said only tactical officers have them. Durham and Peel also only use the X26.

The M26 was retired in Toronto in 2005 and replaced with the newer version, Chief Bill Blair said. In Toronto, only road sergeants and tactical officers have Tasers.

"We check our devices on a daily basis," Blair said. "They go through regular checks before they're used each day and we also send them in to make sure they're appropriately calibrated."

Knife-waving woman in serious condition after Tasering

June 2, 2009
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER — A 55-year-old Vancouver woman is in serious condition in hospital after she was Tasered by police and struck her head while falling to the ground.

Vancouver police said they first encountered the distraught woman waving a large knife on East Hastings Street about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police said officers repeatedly told the woman to drop the knife while directing pedestrians away from her. The woman then swore at police and challenged them to shoot her, Const. Jana McGuinness said in a statement.

Officers had to step back as the woman came toward them aggressively. The standoff continued until a man in the crowd ran at the woman and grabbed at her arm, ignoring police calls to stop. Fearing for the man’s safety, officers fired the Taser at the woman, police said.

Alberta RCMP comply with Taser tests

June 2, 2009
iNews 880, Edmonton

Mounties at various detachments across Alberta are being asked to share newer-model Tasers after all older models were withdrawn from service.

The M-26 Tasers were ordered withdrawn after testing determined problems with eight out of 10 of them in B.C.

Most of them were not delivering enough voltage. Corporal Wayne Oakes explains that could put police and the public at risk.

"If you have an officer that is using a device -- in this case, a conductive energy weapon -- and that officer is anticipating certain results, and that device delivers less than anticipated results," says Oakes, "that could leave the officer, and people within the vicinity at greater risk for harm

Adding to the Taser shortage, about half of the RCMP tasers in Alberta are already away for testing, after an order from the province, earlier this year.(em/bp)

Meantime ...

Taser International suggests the older-model, malfunctioning Tasers that are being pulled by the RCMP are actually safer, not more dangerous.

In a statement, the company says a lower energy output equates to a higher safety margin.

Taser International is also suggesting the testing of the devices may be flawed. It says the suspect devices should not be destroyed, so that they can be re-tested by other labs and by the company itself.

The Mounties announced yesterday that all of its M-26 Tasers -- a total of about 16-hundred stun guns -- will be removed from service until each unit is tested and, if necessary, repaired. That will leave about 1500 newer-model X-26 units in use.

The announcement came hours after the BC government ordered the RCMP to stop using the older Tasers in the province.

Independent testing completed for the BC government last month showed M-26 Tasers had an 80 percent fail rate -- more often than not delivering less electrical output than expected.

Vancouver Police Taser woman 'wielding knife'

June 2, 2009
ctvbc.ca

Only a day after the B.C. government ordered hundreds of Tasers removed from circulation for failing to meet manufacturer's specifications, a woman is in serious condition in hospital after being Tasered by Vancouver Police and hitting her head.

Cst. Jana McGuinness says the "distraught" 55-year-old was carrying a large folding knife on East Hastings St. when she was approached by police around 11:30 Tuesday morning. McGuinness said the woman was waving the knife in an "aggressive stance," and police fired the Taser when a man intervened and they feared for his safety. The woman fell to the ground, still clutching the knife, striking her head on the ground.

She remains in serious condition in hospital with a head injury, and the VPD Major Crimes Unit is investigating.

The incident comes on the heels of a call to ban all Tasers in British Columbia. On Monday, B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman pulled 650 older Tasers after recent testing revealed an 80 per cent failure rate, more often than not delivering less electrical output than expected.

"They failed, so we pulled em," Coleman said.

In a statement to CTV Monday night, the Vice President of Public Relations for Taser International, Peter Holran, said "the safety of the devices was never in question" when the M26s were ordered removed. "Those devices which pass testing can be returned to service, according to the Solicitor General," he wrote.

But NDP Public Safety Critic Mike Farnworth disagrees. He says Tasers that are under-performing can be dangerous. "If you're delivering a lower dose of voltage than expected and an individual is not responding, the way you expect, and you just keep Tasering them, zapping them, that's not safe because we don't know the accumulative effects," Farnworth said.

Farnworth is also concerned that no one seems to know what the life span is of any Taser. "If there's an estimated 650 in B.C. being pulled at $1,000 bucks a pop, that's a lot of money," he said. "If all you're doing is replacing them with new Tasers, which we don't know the shelf life is or deterioration rate is -- in essence, you're throwing good money at bad."

Taser international didn't respond to CTV News but the Solicitor General's office did say some of the malfunctioning Tasers may be beyond repair and will have to be destroyed

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger

Nova Scotia RCMP pulls older Tasers out for testing

June 2, 2009
CBC News

The RCMP in Nova Scotia is taking 66 of its stun guns out of service as part of a nation-wide effort to test older models.

The decision to test older M-26 Tasers was made after the B.C. government announced Monday that such weapons don't meet the manufacturer's specifications.

"They'll be sent out for routine testing to ensure that they're meeting the manufacturer's standards," Cpl. M.J. Deluco, an RCMP spokesperson in Nova Scotia, said Tuesday.

Deluco said 31 newer stun guns will remain in service in the province.

MPB Technologies Electronic Centre, an independent laboratory in Ontario, examined 128 older-model M-26 Tasers used by the B.C. municipal police, sheriffs and corrections officers. Of those, 102 failed the test.

The lab concluded that 102 devices didn't meet the manufacturer's specifications, while 101 had output below those specifications. One unit failed due to a combination of factors.

Taser problems affect Saskatchewan RCMP arsenal

June 2, 2009
CBC News

Issues about the reliability of a model of Taser are affecting more than half of the units currently on hand in detachments of the RCMP in Saskatchewan.

The M26 model, which has been identified as not performing to specifications, has been taken out of service by RCMP officials while they examine the issue further.

In Saskatchewan, an RCMP spokesperson told CBC News that the move affects 193 Tasers in different locations across the province.

Another model, the X26, can still be used. Saskatchewan RCMP has 109 of those.

The X26 is a new model of Taser. An RCMP spokesperson told CBC News that senior officers were examining their options, which could include buying new Tasers to replace the ones taken out of service.

The RCMP also plans to test each Taser, to see if it performs to specifications.

Meanwhile, the company that makes the device said the older model Tasers are actually safer, not more dangerous.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the company said the M26 delivers a lower energy output, making it safer to use.

Taser International also questioned tests that found some of the Tasers were flawed.

RCMP boss and Solicitor General pick busy news day for Taser revelations

June 1, 2009
By Charlie Smith, Georgia Strait

Call me cynical and jaded, but I am somewhat suspicious about the timing of two Taser-related news stories today.

In the first instance, Solicitor General and former RCMP officer Rich Coleman ordered the immediate recall of 578 older-model M-26 Tasers.

Coleman's announcement came conveniently after the last witness appeared at the Braidwood Inquiry on May 26.

Final arguments will begin on June 19 at the inquiry, which is probing the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in 2007 after being stunned five times by a Taser.

The solicitor general also chose one of the busiest news days in recent memory.

The morning began with General Motors seeking bankruptcy protection.

There was also an Air France plane that went missing over the Atlantic, with all the passengers and crew presumed dead.

Here in Vancouver, there was a riveting tale of a high-school student being arrested, allegedly with a hit list of students and staff at Templeton secondary.

If Coleman's spin doctors in the public-affairs bureau wanted to ensure there would be minimal coverage of the Taser announcement, they picked the right day to leak the news. It ranks up there with TransLink holding its annual general meeting on election day.

Meanwhile, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott also showed a similar knack for timing his Taser-related revelation of the day.

Before the Senate defence and national security committee in the late afternoon in Ottawa, Elliott declared: "We are very sorry for Mr. Dziekanski's death, and are committed to learning as much as possible from this terrible event."

Elliott promised senators that there will be "further change" in the RCMP's policy regarding Tasers.

This comes after CBC Radio-Canada reporter Frederic Zalac exposed last March how the Mounties actually loosened the rules on the use of the stun guns by lifting a restriction on multiple uses.

Elliott told senators today that it wasn't the RCMP's intention to allow Mounties to make more liberal use of their Tasers.

Perhaps the RCMP's spin doctors have advised Elliott that allowing the force to zap suspects several times might not be such a good idea--particularly while this is being examined as part of the high-profile public inquiry into the death of Dziekanski, who himself was the recipient of five jolts.

Mounties shelve older tasers

June 1, 2009
Robert Matas, Globe and Mail

The RCMP is following B.C.'s lead in pulling older tasers from their arsenals and taking 1,600 older-model tasers out of service across the country until each unit can be tested.

B.C. testing discovered that 80 per cent of 128 units of the M-26 model were unable to meet manufacturers' specifications.

Solicitor-General Rich Coleman, who was appointed as minister responsible for policing in the heat of the provincial election race, replacing John van Dongen, said he acted without hesitation when he heard the test results on Friday.

"Quite frankly, I'm not taking any risks," Mr. Coleman said yesterday in an interview at his constituency office.

"As soon as I heard there was a failure rate, I cancelled them. It's the right thing to do," he said.

Mr. Coleman said he directed the older M-26 units to be pulled immediately from service. Newer models continue to be used.

The RCMP, which serves as a municipal police force in several urban areas, agreed, he said.

The Mounties also decided over the weekend to pull the older tasers nationwide.

The use of tasers to subdue agitated people has been in the spotlight since Robert Dziekanski died in October, 2007, after he was shot five times with a taser at Vancouver airport.

The taser emits an electrical shock. The testing revealed that the units produced less electrical output than expected 90 per cent of the time.

"They were ineffective," Mr. Coleman said. "That means what happens is you have a tendency to shoot them more than once."

But he dismissed the suggestion that the test results may reflect on what happened to Mr. Dziekanski.

The taser used at the Vancouver airport was tested and functioned as it was intended, he said.

Tasers will not be re-introduced into policing until they meet the appropriate standards or are replaced, Mr. Coleman said.

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, speaking to reporters, said the RCMP had not found the same problems in its own testing. But the Mounties still decided to pull the weapons from their arsenal across the country.

"We want to make sure that the weapon, in the odd case that it is resorted to, does what the officer expects it to," Mr. Elliott said.

"The public and our officers need to know that we take our responsibilities seriously and that we ensure that the devices and other weapons that [our officers] have perform appropriately."

The RCMP in B.C. will continue to use newer X-26 models.

"I think it is a tool, used properly, that saves lives - both police officers and community lives - and protects the public," Mr. Coleman said later during a news conference.

"But it is a question of training and use and calibration," he added.

Peter T. Holrann of Taser International said the company stands behind the quality and safety of its electronic control devices.

"It is not unusual for some high-tech electrical devices to experience a slight degradation in the electrical components over time, similar to what occurs in other electronic products," he said.

Test results revealing lower output show that the devices did not compromise medical safety, he added.

"Since there has been confusion over proper testing protocol and specification resulting in invalid test results in other provinces, under no circumstance should any of these devices be destroyed so as to preclude further analysis by other labs and Taser International Inc.," Mr. Holrann stated in a news release.

RCMP halts use of older model Tasers after B.C. decision

Be sure to read the comments that follow the report, from my fellow Canadians. Here are just a few prime examples:

"Lets see
1.) 101 units had output below the manufacturer's specification (more safe)
2). The new model is smaller and produces less output while achieving the same operational result (more safe)
3.) An old M26 equals a new X26
4.) Lets buy some new X-26's.
5.) I get it now"

"If the old model was defective, what makes them trust the newer ones? Have they tested the newer model tazers before handing them out to cops on the street? Will taxpayers get a refund for the older models? Or is Canada a cash cow for Tazer International? Will the poor Polish immigrant be refunded his life? I say we take ALL electrocution guns off OUR streets yesterday!"

"Hold up just a minute....am I reading this right? The tasers are being pulled because they are delivering a shock that is TOO LOW?!? Email your local MP to get rid of this dammed device!"

"Think people. If they don't meet the manufacturers' specs, then who the hell made them? If they weren't up to snuff then they should have been recalled."

"so when is the lawsuit comin' against Taser for false advertising or a product recall by them or other legal remedies! probably just drop it as maybe some payoffs might get uncovered!"

"Not good enough. Take them all away, permanently before more people are killed. How many people have to die before tasers are considered a safety hazard?"

June 1, 2009
CBC News

The RCMP is pulling all older model M-26 Tasers from service nationwide after the B.C. government announced Monday such weapons don't meet the manufacturer's specifications.

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman ordered the province's RCMP service to pull all 578 of its older-model M-26 Tasers from service after testing showed the same models used by municipal police forces, sheriffs and corrections officers didn't meet the manufacturer's specifications 80 per cent of the time.

The province's decision prompted the Mounties to issue a statement from Ottawa saying the force is removing all its M-26 stun guns from active service "until each unit can be tested."

"The RCMP will continue testing the M-26 [conducted energy weapons] in its inventory across the country. Only those confirmed to be functioning appropriately will be returned to service," the statement said.

The RCMP is updating its Taser inventory, replacing older M-26 units with the more reliable X-26 model, the statement said. The new model is smaller and produces less output while achieving the same operational result, it added.

102 older model M-26 Tasers failed test

MPB Technologies Electronic Centre, an independent laboratory in Ontario, conducted the testing last month for the B.C. government. It examined 128 older-model M-26 Tasers used by the B.C. municipal police, sheriffs and corrections officers. Of those, 102 failed the test.

Test results of the 128 stun guns revealed:

102 did not meet the manufacturer's specifications.
101 units had output below the manufacturer's specifications.
one unit failed due to a combination of factors.
Coleman said none of the M-26 models can be put back in service until they've been repaired and retested.

Last December, the B.C. government requested municipal chiefs of police to pull from service, for testing, all Tasers that were acquired before Jan. 1, 2006.

The first round of testing on X-26 models was completed and made public in April. Ten per cent of the 82 stun guns tested failed to meet the manufacturer's specifications.

Testing on 280 X-26 models purchased after 2006 by provincial agencies was also underway.

The police use of Tasers has become more controversial since Robert Dziekanski died in October 2007 at the Vancouver airport, shortly after being shocked up to five times by the Mounties.

His death prompted a provincially mandated inquiry, which is being overseen by retired B.C. Court of Appeal justice Thomas Braidwood.

B.C. orders Mounties to stop using almost 600 M26 Tasers after failed tests

"Independent testing completed last month for the province [of British Columbia] showed the same models used by municipal police forces, sheriffs and corrections did not meet manufacturer's specifications 80 per cent of the time."

This is not just an RCMP problem - this ban must be imposed on police forces, sheriffs and corrections nationwide!!

June 1, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

VICTORIA, B.C. — The RCMP is pulling older-model Tasers nationwide after testing conducted for the British Columbia government found the weapons failed to meet manufacturer's specifications 80 per cent of the time.

Mounties say all of its M26 conducted energy weapons will be removed from active service until each unit is tested.

The announcement follows a B.C. government decision to order RCMP to immediately stop using 578 M26 model Tasers it had in its B.C. arsenal after tests showed the weapons didn't always meet specifications.

Independent testing completed last month for the province showed the same models used by municipal police forces, sheriffs and corrections did not meet manufacturer's specifications 80 per cent of the time.

RCMP pointed out that the results found that the units produced less electrical output than expected 90 per cent of the time.

Mounties say they still have more than 1,500 newer model Tasers.

The weapons have been under increased scrutiny since the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski after he was jolted with an RCMP Taser at Vancouver's airport.

RCMP stop using nearly 600 older-model M26 Tasers

June 1, 2009
CTV.ca News

RCMP are pulling all older-model M-26 Tasers from service across the country, after independent tests in B.C. showed the devices did not meet manufacturer's specifications 80 per cent of the time.

B.C. Solicitor-General Rich Coleman ordered the Mounties to stop using the model in the province, and RCMP said Monday they would follow suit from coast to coast.

Mounties had 578 such devices in their arsenal. They said they would stop using the M-26 Tasers until each unit is tested for safety.

However, RCMP noted that the independent test showed the M-26 Tasers produced less electrical output than expected 90 per cent of the time.

Mounties still have 1,500 newer-model Tasers at their disposal.

Tasers have been under increased scrutiny ever since the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver's airport.

"It's really a remarkable turn of events, when you consider how long the Mounties have stood by the technology in the face of great criticism," CTV's Rob Brown said in Vancouver.

Developing story...

Top Mountie says sorry for Dziekanski death

June 1, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The top Mountie says the RCMP is very sorry for the death of a Polish immigrant who was Tasered by officers.

Robert Dziekanski died after four Mounties confronted him at Vancouver airport in October 2007, stunned him repeatedly with a Taser and pinned him to the floor. RCMP Commissioner William Elliott told a Senate committee today that the force is sorry and plans to learn from the terrible event.

But he stopped short of accepting blame on behalf of the RCMP for Dziekanski's death.

His words echoed those of his deputy Bill Sweeney, who appeared before the senators last month.

The RCMP says it has changed the way it uses the electronic guns since the high-profile event, which was caught on amateur videotape and beamed around the world.

A British Columbia inquiry led by Thomas Braidwood is probing the incident.

The B.C. hearings have revealed some stark differences between the video of Dziekanski's death and statements by RCMP officers.

The tape reveals an officer continued to zap the confused, agitated traveller even after he crumpled to the floor.

Case for tasers still to be proved, says police chief David Strang

June 1, 2009
Mike Wade, Times Online

A chief constable has broken ranks with frontline officers and come out against the use of tasers or stun guns in Scotland.

Delegates at the Scottish Police Federation’s annual conference in April voted overwhelming for more widespread use of tasers, mirroring moves in England and Wales to give the guns to 10,000 officers.

However, David Strang, the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, said that the suitability of tasers in Scotland had still to be proved, arguing that CS spray and body armour were adequate enough defences for officers on the beat.

Mr Strang, 51, said: “I think the taser question is an interesting one and I know it was discussed at the annual conference in Peebles but I don’t think that is a universal view of cops.

“[Using tasers] is quite a specialist skill and I think we would need to be convinced that there was more of a need for it on the front line. I feel that we operate in a much less hostile environment compared to some inner-city areas down south and I feel that the protection we offer officers — through training, the protective equipment and the CS spray — is adequate.”

About 700 police officers in Scotland are trained to use tasers, but the weapons have been discharged only 12 times since their introduction in 2004, on 11 occasions by Strathclyde Police and once by Lothian and Borders Police.

The £8 million plan to expand the use of tasers in England and Wales, which was announced by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, in November, has been opposed by some forces, including the Metropolitan Police.

They argue that the widespread use of tasers will alarm the public and increase tension on the streets while Amnesty International claims that the guns are potentially lethal and have been linked to hundreds of deaths in the US and Canada.

Mr Strang said that it was important to assess the success of tasers in England and Wales before Scottish forces increased their use of the guns.

However, he said claims that tasers could escalate violence were wrong. When CS spray was introduced, he said, there were some people who thought that criminals would respond more violently. “We find that that is not the case at all and CS spray is very effective and quite often when the officers pull it out the offender put their hands up and give up.”

He said that tasers were preferable to firearms. “Clearly it is preferable to use the taser than to shoot someone with a bullet.”

...