Austrian Justice Minister reintroduces taser guns

April 24, 2009
By Thomas Hochwarter, Austrian Times

People’s Party (ÖVP) Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner has given the green light for taser guns to be used in prisons after a one year ban on the weapons.

Taser guns were introduced in Austria in November 2004 and have been used since summer 2005. But Bandion-Ortner’s predecessor Maria Berger of the Social Democrats banned them in February 2008 after protests by human rights organisations.

Bandion-Ortner though has said the weapon as a help to ensure security within prisons and yesterday (Thurs) she announced that trained wardens will be allowed to use the weapon.

There are two taser guns in every Austrian prison, the minister added.

Taser guns have a range of seven metres and can shoot dart-like electrodes into a person’s body that will transfer an electric current into it to produce what manufacturer Taser International calls "neuromuscular incapacitation."

Use of Tasers has been criticised after a number of deaths. Amnesty International claims 334 people died between 2001 and August 2008 in the United States after being shot by the stun-guns. The organisation says the use of Tasers can cause nausea, cramps, loss of consciousness, involuntary defecation and heart-rhythm disturbances.

Bandion-Ortner said there will be new, stricter rules regarding their use which meet the recommendations of Amnesty International.

The minister explained that new rules include that the "tasered" person be examined by a doctor afterwards.

Dziekanski timeline

It couldn't be more clear - check it out at excited-delirium.

Police use Tasers four times, report reveals

Belleville, Ontario - Population 45,986 - has 6 tasers - "used" the taser 18 times, discharged it *only* 9 times last year

Waterloo, Ontario - Population 97,475 - has ?? tasers - discharged 29 times last year

Chatham, Ontario - Population 108,177 - has ?? tasers - used seven times and "only in specific circumstances" last year

Kingston, Ontario - Population 114,195 - has 34 tasers - fired them 4 times last year

April 23, 2009
ROB TRIPP, Kingston Whig Standard

Kingston Police officers fired electric stun guns four times last year, according to a report presented today at Police Service Board meeting on the use of force by officers in 2008.

The Taser shootings were among 40 uses of force, including seven incidents in which guns were fired to euthanize deer that had been hit by vehicles.

Pepper spray was used seven times. A baton was used once. A Taser was drawn from a holster by an officer five times without being fired.

Police Chief Stephen Tanner also revealed that a second round of laboratory testing has been completed on Tasers used by Kingston Police. A second weapon was found to be operating outside specifications.

The gun was not pulsing properly and will be sent to the American manufacturer, either for repair or replacement.

Last month, Tanner said tests on 19 of the department’s 34 Tasers found that all are discharging the correct amount of electricity, but one was not pulsing properly.

The weapons are designed to deliver 50,000 volts of electricity that briefly incapacitates a person.

Tanner said Kingston Police have one more Taser to be tested.

Don Martin: RCMP's Dziekanski cover-up becoming worse than the crime

April 23, 2009
Don Martin, The National Post

The retired police officer thought it was pretty bad when he helped drag an RCMP commissioner before Parliament to face perjury accusations and allegations of a cover up.

But what’s surfacing daily on the witness stand at the Braidwood Inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski has even Ron Lewis mortified.

In performing its duty to document the truth internally, properly brief the public externally and testify to the facts accurately, this inquiry has become a nightmarish example of a police force that is not always with us.

Mr. Lewis spent 35 years with the RCMP, including time on Pierre Trudeau’s prime ministerial security detail followed by riot squad, intelligence gathering and remote patrolling duties.

But it was his whistleblower role in exposing RCMP pension plan irregularities that ultimately brought Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli before MPs for a performance which, coupled with his erratic testimony on the Maher Arar file, cut short his career as Canada’s top cop in late 2006.

Mr. Lewis has documented his battle in a just-released book This Is Not the RCMP I Joined, a detailed account of his fight against an RCMP boardroom seemingly more concerned with protecting its squeaky clean red-serge Mounties image than doing the right thing in law enforcement.

He admits the force got a black eye from a prolonged pension scandal featuring nepotism, contract irregularities and a refusal by senior officers to enforce the rules.

But the parade of Vancouver RCMP officers who Tasered a confused and unarmed immigrant five times, restraining him on the floor until he died while a civilian’s video camera rolled from the far side of the glass, is now giving way to evidence of a higher-level communications whitewash where critical information was ignored, suppressed or manipulated.

In vintage Watergate style, the cover-up is becoming worse than the crime.

“The investigators must’ve known immediately they had a huge problem, but didn’t handle it well out of a sense of self-preservation,” Mr. Lewis told me. “Now they’re locked on a global stage and they can’t get off. This is not a localized event people will easily forget. It’s going to take a generation for a lot of this to go away.”

It’s not that Mr. Lewis has qualms about Taser use. When he applied to join the force on his 18th birthday, electrical zapper guns were only found in science fiction comic books. His usual method of taking down an unruly suspect was to apply a now-banned choke hold or whack the offender with a force-issued flashlight that usually lost its bottom and sent batteries flying. The Taser is far safer and easier, he says.

But the problem for the mounties goes beyond using excessive force against a frightened immigrant trapped alone in a situation he could not comprehend and waving around a stapler for protection.

While it falls far short of a justification, there’s a plausible explanation for their bizarre heavy-handed response.

Talk to RCMP and they’ll confide that airport duty is a dog job where long boring days are spent serving as armed security guards, directing passengers to the nearest washroom or giving them directions downtown.

When excitement surfaces, there’s a tendency to overreact. In this case, this exuberance may have been compounded by the failure of the two-pronged Taser darts to properly connect with Robert Dziekanski’s torso, which could explain the multiple jolts fired by the weapon.

But nothing explains why officers acutely aware they had been captured as stars of riveting video footage would together craft and stick with a bogus script that conflicted with the pictures. And nothing justifies police communicators deliberately allowing such stories to remain as police facts for more than a year.

The pension plan fiasco was confined to the top level of the police force. This inquiry-probing incident started at the lowest level of policing, but is now creeping up the chain of command.

If the two RCMP apologies this week aren’t backed by fresh evidence to exonerate the lethal response to the hapless Mr. Dziekanski, the RCMP will need more than boosted manpower and better weapons to do their job properly in the public eye.

Perhaps the automatic videotaping of every arrest is needed to help keep their memories and the facts in sync.

National Post
dmartin@nationalpost.com

Calgary police will not pull tasers from use

April 23, 2009
Dominic Terry, 660 News

The Calgary Police Force says it has no plans to pull it's tasers from its officers, even though a provincial investigation has found that 31 of them were operating outside the manufacturers specifications.

Superintendent Trevor Daroux says the level of deviance from the specifications is so small, either higher or lower, that they pose no risk to the police force, or those who would have the device deployed on them.

Daroux adds there will be ongoing testing of the rest of the tasers, using the same program used this time around, and said the police force has accepted the fact that ongoing taser testing may have to come directly out of the services own budget.

The 31 devices that were found to be outside of the manufacturers specifications are under warranty and will be sent back to Taser International to be replaced.

RCMP Taser trainees told jolts don't hurt heart or respiration, inquiry hears

April 23, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Mounties who confronted Robert Dziekanski and stunned him with a Taser were told in training there's no medical evidence the high-voltage device disrupts breathing or the heart, says the officer who trained them.

Instead, Cpl. Gregg Gillis told the public inquiry into Dziekanski's death that the RCMP's Taser training course warns about the risk of sports-type injuries such as pulled muscles or ligaments and even stress fractures, especially with multiple stuns.

Gillis, the B.C. RCMP's use-of-force expert, testified there's no medical evidence that conducted-energy weapons like the Taser can cause death or interfere with core body functions such as respiration and cardiac function.

However, increased exposure carries increased injury risk, he said Thursday.

The initial risk comes in the first standard five-second application, when the target loses control of their muscles and falls limply to the ground, said Gillis. After that, muscle spasms can create "stress-type injuries similar to a sporting event," he said.

"Equally, if I do more than one, I continue to increase the risk of those sort of injuries," said Gillis.

Those risks should be factored in when officers check the subject after using the Taser, he said.

Gillis, who appeared at the inquiry last May to talk generally about Taser use, put constables Gerry Rundel, Bill Bentley and Kwesi Millington - who used his Taser on Dziekanski - through a two-day training program in the summer of 2007. All three passed and received a three-year Taser certification.

The officers' training reinforced the RCMP's policy on the reasonable use of force, said Gillis.

"They are held accountable to the standards set by Canadian society, that their actions should be reasonable based on the totality of circumstances as to what we would expect a reasonably trained police officer to do in a similar set of circumstances," he said.

Dziekanski died Oct. 14, 2007, at Vancouver airport's international arrivals area after being confronted by four Mounties summoned after he started throwing furniture.

Dziekanski stopped breathing as he lay handcuffed on the floor.

Millington deployed the Taser five times. He told the inquiry he did not believe the device worked initially because he heard a clacking sound.

Gillis, who discussed training and not the incident itself, said trainees are shown a PowerPoint slide that says "silence is golden."

He said it means that if they hear the clacking sound, it could indicate the Taser's fish hook-shaped probes have snagged in clothing and are not creating a complete circuit, which could decrease or even negate the electrical jolt.

Trainees are taught to use sound combined with their observation of the target's behaviour as indicators of the Taser's effectiveness, Gillis said.

Dziekanski spoke no English and the officers deployed their Taser just seconds after backing him up against an airport counter.

Gillis said officers are taught to reassess before each Taser use if there's time and warned they will have to justify jolting someone for more than the standard five seconds.

However, he said the Taser's built-in timer rounds up fractions and some longer deployments in push-stun mode - where the Taser is pressed directly against a person - include seconds where the unit is not actually touching the body.

Gillis's testimony was limited to the Mounties' training program but the commission may recall him to comment on the circumstances of their encounter with Dziekanski based on a set of facts agreed to by all sides.

The veteran officer, who also teaches other Mounties to be Taser instructors, revealed he has never seen the infamous video of Dziekanski's final moments that in part sparked this inquiry.

"You would wonder how the use-of-force expert for the province of British Columbia for the RCMP would not have taken the opportunity to review a Tasering event that has attracted worldwide attention," said Walter Kosteckyj, lawyer for Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski.

"But that's what he says."

Campaigning B.C. Green party leader Jane Sterk took advantage of the inquiry to call for banning Taser use and replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force.

RCMP Spokesman Speaks

April 22, 2009
CBC News

Corporal Dale Carr admits he gave incorrect information to the public after the Dziekanski incident. Now, he's being asked why, and why he didn't correct it

Hyde inquiry online - Lawyers support precedent-setting webcast into jail death

April 23, 2009
By JEFFREY SIMPSON, Halifax Chronicle Herald

The public inquiry into the case of a mentally ill man who died after collapsing in a Dartmouth jail in 2007 will be broadcast live on the Internet this summer.

Judge Anne Derrick agreed with lawyers Wednesday to a webcast of upcoming sessions of the hearing as it investigates the circumstances surrounding Howard Hyde’s death 30 hours after police shocked him with a Taser.

"It’s an important precedent," Dan Mac-Rury, the inquiry’s counsel, told reporters.

"I believe this is the first fatality inquiry that is going to be broadcasting and I think it’s a positive step forward in the administration of justice."

Mr. Hyde, 45, who suffered from schizophrenia, had been arrested and charged with assault stemming from a domestic dispute in November 2007. His girlfriend, Karen Ellet, said at the time he had stopped taking his medication.

The inquiry will look at whether Mr. Hyde should have been in a hospital psychiatric ward instead of being taken to the police station and then jail.

Kevin MacDonald, the lawyer who represents Mr. Hyde’s sister, said that she supports the decision.

"The public are interested," Mr. MacDonald said.

"The inquiry is going to be held in Halifax. And but for the webcast, it really would be closed off to many members of the public."

The webcast would also benefit Mr. Hyde’s father, who lives in the United States, Mr. MacDonald said.

"He could choose to remain home and watch all of the proceedings," Mr. MacDonald said.

Mr. Hyde’s sister, Joanna Blair, and her husband, Hunter Blair, hope the inquiry will shed some light on what happened to the man.

"They were really strongly in favour of this inquiry at the outset, so they welcome it and they’re hoping the inquiry process will answer some of the questions they have," Mr. MacDonald said.

"There were a number of people who had control of Mr. Hyde and the family wants to know what those people did and why."

Mr. MacDonald wouldn’t comment on the possibility of further legal action, but he’s confident the use of the Taser several times on Mr. Hyde was integral to his death.

"It definitely played a part. What part it played in his ultimate death, I think it’s too early to say. But it was a factor in the chain of events."

After being Tasered, Mr. Hyde was rushed to hospital where he was medically cleared and released back into police custody. He went to court later that day before being jailed for the night.

The province’s chief medical examiner ruled Mr. Hyde’s death was accidental and not from the Taser shock.

Blair Mitchell, a lawyer for the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia, which is also participating in the inquiry, said the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hyde’s death raise serious questions about how people with mental illnesses are treated when authorities intervene.

"There are a series of reforms or changes that need to be made. And we trust that those recommendations will result from this process."

The inquiry will meet again in June to discuss more procedural issues before further sessions in July, when witnesses will appear.

Alberta to test all 700 Tasers - Study finds about 12% malfunctioned

"In all, more than 400 from Alberta were tested and results showed 50 were not operating as they should."

April 23, 2009
By Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald

The Alberta government has ordered the testing of all municipal police Tasers after a preliminary investigation found more than one in 10 were malfunctioning, a source tells the Herald.

Initial testing on roughly 400 stun guns was completed at the end of March and results showed about 12 per cent of the Tasers were functioning outside of the manufacturer's specifications.

About 60 per cent of those tested were performing below specifications. The province will now test the remaining Tasers -- about 700 more -- the source said.

How concerned Albertans should be about the safety of the weapons will become clear today when the province details how the Tasers are malfunctioning.

Mount Royal College criminologist Doug King said if the malfunctions are minor and don't have the potential to harm either the officer or the person being Tasered, then the rate of malfunction is irrelevant.

"Not all malfunctioning is bad or will lead to people Tasered being inappropriately harmed," he said.

But the president of the Alberta Civil Liberties Association said the results do raise the question about whether Tasers are safe, particularly in light of the fact that even newer models were found to not be operating properly.

"I don't know which is more frightening:that they're buying Tasers that didn't work from the beginning or Tasers sit on a shelf, get old and break down," Stephen Jenuth said.

The province announced in December it would be joining other provinces and the RCMP in having an independent company test model X-26 Tasers acquired prior to Jan. 1,2006,over concerns their voltage could be exceeding the manufacturer's specifications.

The government also sent more than 70 newer models to be examined.

In all, more than 400 from Alberta were tested and results showed 50 were not operating as they should.

Of those, 42 were older models and eight were newer.

The safety of Tasers has been under the microscope, especially following the high-profile case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski who died at the Vancouver airport on Oct. 14, 2007, after he was hit by a stun gun five times. An inquiry is underway in Vancouver examining the incident.

In Alberta, a fatality inquiry has already been held into the death of Red Deer's Jason Doan, who was jolted three times by a Taser as RCMP officers tried to subdue him in Au-gust 2006. He died three weeks later in hospital after going into cardiac arrest following the Taser deployments.

The judge has yet to release his findings in the case.

Across the country, more than 25 people have died after they were Tasered.

Jenuth said it is essential the province implements ongoing testing for the stun guns--a move the Alberta government has already said it is examining-- to ensure Tasers remain working properly.

"If you're going to use them, you'd better test them,"he said, "especially with a better than one in 10 malfunction rate."

However, he commended the province for taking the additional step of having all the remaining Tasers tested.

Compared to other provinces, the percentage of malfunctioning Tasers from Alberta is about the same.

In B. C., eight Tasers used by police forces and corrections workers were found to be malfunctioning and will be destroyed or repaired.

A total of 82 stun guns were tested for a 10 per cent failure rate.

A similar rate was seen in Quebec where 52 model X-26 Tasers were tested and five were expected to be destroyed after malfunctioning.

Alberta had more of the devices tested than any other jurisdiction.

Those found not to be functioning properly will be returned and individual police services will decide whether to destroy the stun guns or return them to the manufacturer for repairs. If they are repaired, they will have to be retested before they can go back into service.

Stun guns get the job done, police tell board

April 23, 2009
Cherri Greeno, The Record (Waterloo, Ontario)

Tasers are one of the most effective forms of force available to regional police, according to a report released yesterday.

Stun guns were discharged 29 times last year, says the annual report on "use of force" incidents.

In all but one case, the weapon was effective in getting combative suspects to comply with police.

The one failure was blamed on the probe getting tangled in the suspect's clothes.

"It's one of the most consistently effective methods . . . with the least amount of injuries,"said Insp. Steve Beckett of Waterloo Regional Police.

The report to the Waterloo Regional Police Services board also said that officers fired their guns 45 times last year.

One shot killed a 26-year-old robbery suspect.

Forty-three shots were aimed at animals, and one was fired at the lock of a door.

Another officer's gun discharged into the floor of a house after he was attacked while entering.

The use-of-force report describes stun guns as "conducted energy weapons," also known by the brand name Taser.

Police have found the Taser even works well when it is simply shown to a suspect, according to the report.

Officers displayed a Taser 26 times last year. In each case, the suspect complied.

Whenever a Taser has been used or displayed, "there's been less injury to the subject and to the officer," Beckett said.

Some supporters of stun guns believe they provide officers with a less-lethal form of force.

But their use became controversial after the death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007.

Dziekanski was stunned several times during a confrontation with RCMP at Vancouver's airport.

The weapons can be used two ways.

One is the drive-stun method, in which an officer subdues a suspect by simply touching him with the device.

The other method is to fire a probe that makes contact with the suspect's skin and incapacitates him.

Deputy Chief Brent Thomlison told police board members yesterday that Tasers have "an extremely high rate of effectiveness."

The use of physical-control methods -- such as wrist locks and arm bars -- more than doubled, from 30 in 2007 to 63 in 2008.

The increase is likely due to recent training on physical-control techniques and the fact officers were more confident in using them, Beckett said.

This could also explain the increase in reported injuries -- 15 in 2008, compared with seven in 2007.

Of the 15, five were from takedowns by police dogs.

Another five were from hard physical control methods, such as punching or kicking.

Four cases of injuries were the result of soft-control methods, and one happened when a suspect darted in front of a cruiser.

All of the injuries were minor.

Overall, the use-of-force statistics show that officers "are effectively and appropriately using their use-of-force protocols," Thomlison told board members.

Waterloo Regional Police made 13,318 arrests in 2008, compared with 13,642 in 2007.

RCMP apologizes for misleading information on Dziekanski Tasering

2 + 2 almost always = 4

ex SENIOR RCMP media relations officer + "now working in the traffic section" almost always = a huge embarrassment to the force

This ain't yer run-of-the-mill rocket science.

April 22, 2009
Neal Hall, The Vancouver Sun


A senior RCMP officer issued an apology Tuesday after a former media relations officer testified at the Braidwood Inquiry that he provided inaccurate information about a fatal incident at Vancouver's airport in 2007.

"The role of the media information officer is to provide information very quickly and to provide accurate information," Vancouver RCMP Sgt. Tim Shields told reporters during a break in the inquiry, which is probing the death of Robert Dziekanski on Oct. 14, 2007, after he was Tasered five times at the airport.

"In this case, during the course of the investigation, we found some information that was made public that was not accurate and for those inaccuracies we apologize and we are sorry," he added. "A police media liaison officer is only as good as the information he or she has been given," said Shields, the senior media liaison officer for the RCMP in B.C.

The apology came after a former RCMP media liaison officer, Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre, testified he released inaccurate information about the Dziekanski incident, which was provided by another officer, Cpl. Dale Carr.

Lemaitre recalled he didn't initially realize he was inaccurate when he first told the media that Dziekanski died at the airport after he was Tasered twice.

Lemaitre said in one CTV interview, broadcast a day after Dziekanski's death and played Tuesday at the inquiry, that Dziekanski didn't respond to the first Taser shot so the weapon had to be deployed again.

The sergeant admitted under questioning by commission counsel Art Vertlieb that he had watched a portion of the video taken by an airport bystander before making any statements to the media, but did not notice Dziekanski fell after the first Taser shot.

Lemaitre, then the senior RCMP media relations officer and now working in the traffic section, recalled he was given information by Carr during a briefing at the Richmond RCMP detachment hours after the fatal incident.

"My only point of contact was Cpl. Dale Carr," he recalled of the early morning briefing, which was attended by about a dozen officers, including Cpl. Monty Robinson, one of the officers involved in the death of Dziekanski.

By the time he realized he had provided the media with incorrect information, he added, Carr had taken over as media spokesman for the investigation.

He said he thought Carr, who is scheduled to testify today, would correct the errors but he never did.

Lemaitre stressed he did not intentionally mislead the media. "Contrary to popular belief, we are not spin doctors."

The public didn't learn that five Taser shots were fired until last Dec. 12, when the Crown announced no charges would be laid against the officers involved in the incident.

Top-level Mountie decided not to correct Dziekanski facts, inquiry told

April 22, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — A senior Mountie handling the RCMP's public response to Robert Dziekanski's death at Vancouver airport says he watched a witness video of Dziekanski's death twice and didn't want to see it again.

Cpl. Dale Carr told a public inquiry into the death that he saw the video of the last moments of Dziekanski's life at a homicide briefing the morning he died.

"I didn't have a desire to rewatch it," Carr said Wednesday during his appearance at the inquiry. "I just found it upsetting and didn't really want to see it again."

The RCMP spokesman said it was clear within two days of Dziekanski's Oct. 14, 2007, death that some of the information being provided to the public was wrong.

But Carr, media relations officer for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said he decided not to correct the misleading information.

Carr said the homicide unit's boss, Supt. Wayne Rideout, decided two days after the incident that public statements should focus on the investigation process, not on potential evidence.

"It was decided that we weren't going to attempt to try and correct any of that information until we had all of the facts and all of the evidence before us," Carr said. "I knew that eventually this would all come out at the proverbial end of the day."

Dziekanski died after being stunned several times with a Taser in a confrontation with RCMP officers at the international arrivals area of the airport. Police were summoned after Dziekanski began throwing furniture.

In the hours after his death, RCMP made several crucial mistakes in describing what happened.

Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre, the spokesman for the force in the case, told reporters Dziekanski had been stunned twice when, in fact, the Taser had been deployed five times.

He said Dziekanski had been struggling with officers and swinging an object at them, although the bystander's video shows otherwise and that three, not four, Mounties faced off against the agitated man, who spoke no English.

When the witness video, shot by Paul Pritchard of Victoria, was broadcast after the Mounties returned it to him, the discrepancies sparked an international furor that, in part, led to the inquiry currently underway.

Lemaitre, senior RCMP spokesman at the time, earlier told the inquiry that Carr was his sole source of information about the incident.

Carr said Wednesday that he quickly realized an in-custody death - especially involving a Taser and at the airport - would excite a lot of media attention, including outside Canada.

He and Lemaitre attended a homicide unit briefing and viewed the video before heading to the airport to talk to reporters, Carr told the inquiry.

He said he took notes during the briefing but admitted they don't show precisely where some of the erroneous information came from. No one who spoke is identified in the notes and Carr said he can't recall the names 18 months later.

Carr was at Lemaitre's side for media scrums at the airport but testified he paid little attention to what the senior spokesman was saying.

He suggested Lemaitre may have embellished some of facts, including the number of times Dziekanski was stunned.

"I gave Sgt. Lemaitre the information that's here in my notebook," Carr said. "Additional information, additional editorial comments that Sgt. Lemaitre made, I can't be confident that I gave him that information."

Lemaitre was taken off the case after 48 hours, mainly for logistical reasons, Carr said.

The two had agreed at the outset the best strategy was to get timely and accurate information out to the media without compromising the investigation.

Carr said he became aware there were mistakes in the public statements that releasing the video could have cleared up.

But investigators considered the recording as evidence, he said, and did not want to release it and risk tainting the independent recollections of witnesses.

Carr said the case was evolving from an in-custody death to a criminal probe, where discussing the evidence could derail a future court case.

"I was prepared to say that we're not going to talk about the video, we're not going to talk about evidence until the entire investigation is complete," he said.

Insiders Perspective

April 20, 2009
CBC News

Terry Milewski speaks to two former Mounties about how the Robert Dziekanski incident and its ongoing inquiry have affected the reputation of the RCMP

Multiple Taser strikes left to Mountie's discretion

April 21, 2009
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service

The RCMP was questioned Tuesday on its new policy that no longer prohibits Mounties from firing multiple Taser shocks at suspects, instead leaving it up to officers to make their own judgment calls.

Commissioner William Elliott was grilled by the House of Commons public safety committee, where several members accused the RCMP of watering down rules governing use of the controversial weapons.

Elliott defended the new directive, saying the force does not want to straitjacket officers into making bad decisions that do not reflect the severity of the circumstances.

"You have to teach officers to make good decisions," said Elliott. They must be free of "overly instructive" rules and be trained to use the weapons only when it is "reasonable and necessary in the circumstances," he said.

The former policy warned against firing Tasers repeatedly, nor for more than 15-20 seconds at a time, "unless situational factors dictate otherwise."

The new policy, adopted in February, says only that: "Multiple deployment or continuous cycling of a CEW (conducted energy weapon) may be hazardous to a subject."

While the new rule may appear more relaxed at first glance, it must be interpreted as part of an overall revamped policy on Taser use that is more restrictive than in the past, said Elliott.

Officers are now cautioned to only use the stun guns in situations that pose a safety risk, rather than to simply restrain a suspect.

Furthermore, officers must be recertified on Taser use annually, instead of every three years.

Elliott said it makes sense that Mounties should have the same discretion in deploying Tasers as they do in using their batons.

"There's no simple or universal prescription of once, twice, three times, or five times," he said.

The revelation of a rule change comes at a time when a public inquiry in British Columbia is probing the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died in 2007 when he was repeatedly Tasered at the Vancouver airport — including four shots after he fell to the floor.

Opposition members on the committee denounced the multiple-shot policy as too vague and said that officers must be given clearer direction on repeated usage of Tasers.

Elliott suggested that the force, which is more aware than ever of the risks associated with Taser use, is open to making changes to its new policy on multiple use.

"I'm not suggesting that the current language of our policy is perfect and I'm not suggesting we aren't prepared to look at further changes," he said, citing a policy in the United Kingdom that details the risks associated with repeated shocks.

Elliott, who told the public safety committee two months ago that the RCMP had reined in its Taser policy, was called back Tuesday to explain why the force had abandoned its restrictions on multiple firings.

Liberal MP Mark Holland said that, according to RCMP reports, 16 suspects were Tasered five or more times successively.

"I don't see why we can't have policies that say if someone is down on the ground writhing in pain, they shouldn't be hit again with a Taser," he told reporters.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said that new RCMP position on multiple shocks makes sense, when the policy on Tasers is viewed as a whole.

"They have also made the policy much more restrictive with a number of other changes, for example, Tasers are only to be used in a situation where there is a threat and that's something that wasn't there before," he said in the foyer of the House of Commons.

Also, the Mounties now have a heightened awareness of the perils of Taser use, he said.

Taser expert: Rules bar stunning cops during training

April 21, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — A police Taser expert who analyzed the unit used on Robert Dziekanski says his department no longer uses the electric stun guns on its own officers in training.

Const. Craig Baltzer of the Delta police force told the public inquiry into Dziekanski’s death at Vancouver airport that he himself has been stunned multiple times but WorkSafe BC rules now forbid demonstrating the weapons on officers during training.

The inquiry has heard that the Taser was deployed five times the night four RCMP officers confronted Dziekanski in October 2007.

The RCMP officer who fired it has testified he deployed it several times because it didn’t appear to be working properly.

Baltzer earlier told the inquiry that he cannot tell how many times the shocks connected with Dzkiekanski.

Baltzer says he believed WorkSafe BC, the province’s workplace regulator, has had a rule in place forbidding the use of Tasers on officers for about three years.

Mountie tells Taser inquiry he made errors in media interviews after fatal airport incident

April 21, 2009
By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun

A former media relations officer for RCMP headquarters admitted he made factual errors during media interviews one day after a fatal incident at Vancouver's airport in 2007.

Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre recalled Tuesday at the Braidwood Inquiry that his strategy was "to get out as much information as possible" about the fatal incident involving Robert Dziekanski.

He initially told the media that the man died after he was violent at the airport and was Tasered twice.

Lemaitre said in one CTV interview, played at the inquiry, that the man didn't respond to the first Taser shot so the weapon had to be deployed again.

Dziekanski died after he encountered four Mounties at the airport about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2007, and was Tasered five times.

Lemaitre admitted, under questioning by commission counsel Art Vertlieb, that he had a watched a portion of the video taken by an airport bystander before making any statements to the media, but hadn't noticed Dziekanski fell after the first Taser shot.

Lemaitre, then the senior RCMP media relations officer and now working in the traffic section, recalled he initially got a phone call at 4:30 a.m., about three hours after the fatal incident, from Cpl. Dale Carr, who said there may be international media interest in the incident.

Carr asked Lemaitre to meet him at the Richmond RCMP detachment, where there was a "briefing" about 7:30 a.m. attended by about a dozen officers, including Cpl. Monty Robinson, one of the officers involved in the in-custody death.

Lemaitre recalled asking Carr: "Dale, what is it you want me to say?"

He added he didn't take any notes during the briefing but an RCMP news release was typed up.

"How is it that your information was inaccurate?" Vertlieb asked.

"That was the information I had obtained that morning," Lemaitre said.

"My only point of contact was Cpl. Dale Carr...I did not receive information from any other source than Cpl. Carr."

Lemaitre said by the time he realized he had provided the media with incorrect information, Carr had taken over being spokesman for the investigation by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).

He added he thought Carr would correct the facts later when he saw fit.

He said he did "absolutely not" intentionally give the media inaccurate information.

"Contrary to popular belief, we are not spin doctors," Lemaitre said.

The RCMP didn't reveal that five Taser shots were fired until last Dec. 12, when Crown announced no charges would be laid against the officers involved in the Dziekanski incident.

Carr is expected to testify next.

Earlier Tuesday, a police Taser expert testified that multiple Taser shocks could cause the person's arms and legs to lock up.

"I've experienced that myself," recalled Delta police Const. Craig Baltzer, who has been Tasered about 30 times for durations of up to 15 seconds.

He said he has seen a person receive multiple shocks and be unable to move their arms or legs because the debilitating electrical current from the weapon "locks up" the muscles.

Baltzer, who trains officers on the use of Tasers, said police are taught that multiple Taser shocks can be hazardous.

"It's a situation to be aware of because you are putting people through an extreme workout," he explained.

"Everything is ramped up," he said, adding the body reacts to the "shock and awe from the experience" of 50,000 volts being discharged from the weapon.

The inquiry is probing the death of Dziekanski, 40, who had left his home in Poland about 30 hours earlier and had come to Canada to live with his mother.

But the mother and son never connected at the airport.

The mother had told her son she would meet him at the baggage carousel, not realizing it was in the international arrivals area, which is inaccessible to the public.

After waiting many hours for her son in the public area, the mother went home after being told by airport officials that Dziekanski could not be found.

Dziekanski eventually became agitated and began throwing around a chair and laptop computer.

Police received a 911 call reporting a possibly intoxicated man throwing around luggage.

Dziekanski, who had no alcohol in his system, likely was suffering delirium from prolonged lack of sleep and dehydration.

Four RCMP officers arrived and tried to speak with Dziekanski, who spoke no English.

The Polish man threw up his hands and grabbed a stapler, prompting an officer to deploy a Taser, causing the man to fall to the floor.

The Taser was deployed another four times because police believed Dziekanski was resisting having his hands handcuffed behind his back.

He died at the scene minutes later.

Remarks for Commissioner Elliott - Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Check against delivery

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I am happy to be here. I welcome the opportunity to appear again before this committee to talk about the work of the RCMP, and to expand on the information I provided during my last appearance.

The RCMP's use of force, including the use of conducted energy weapons, or CEWs, is an important and complex matter that understandably is of concern to members of this committee and to the public we are all sworn to serve.

We recognize that in a democratic society, public scrutiny is a fundamental aspect of maintaining the accountability of public institutions. This certainly applies to the police, who should be, and are in fact, held to a very high standard given our extraordinary powers and obligations to enforce the law and protect the peace. So the RCMP fully expects--and indeed welcomes--scrutiny by parliamentarians and others.

The RCMP's ability to provide effective policing services depends on the support of the communities we serve. We believe the more the public knows about the work that we do and the challenges that we face, the more likely they are to support us, despite our shortcomings and despite the fact that, try as we might to avoid doing so, sometimes we make mistakes.

The RCMP, and I as commissioner, are dedicated to working as hard as we can, to ensure that we provide quality police services to Canadians, in ways that respect and reflect the values that Canadians and the force hold dear. The RCMP's values include honesty, integrity, professionalism, compassion, respect and accountability. An important aspect of our accountability is our interaction with parliament and parliamentarians. So, as I said, I am happy to be here.

The RCMP is also committed to continuous learning and continuous improvement, including in relation to our policies.

As I outlined during my previous appearance, the RCMP has taken significant steps to improve our policies relating to CEWs, as well as associated training and reporting requirements. An important factor in this work has been this committee's recommendations in its June 2008 report. Last time I was before you, I talked about improvements we have made to our Incident Management Intervention Model, policy amendments that further restrict the use of CEWs, enhanced reporting, and more frequent re-certification requirements for those trained to use CEWs.

I told you that the RCMP's revised policy restricts the use of CEWs and specifically warns of the hazards of multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the CEW.

As a learning organization, the RCMP monitors its policies, procedures and training on an ongoing basis to identify areas for improvement.

Since its inception in 2001, the RCMP's CEW policy has undergone a number of updates and amendments. In June 2008, we directed that the CEW must only be used where there is a threat to public or officer safety. This and other restrictions and enhancements to the policy were subsequently incorporated in the RCMP's current CEW policy which was published on February 3, 2009.

I would like to take a few minutes to highlight a few of the significant changes in the new policy that restrict the use of the CEW beyond what was provided for in the previous version. These changes and the policy itself do not stand alone but rather are linked with and relate to our training, including our certification and re-certification of RCMP officers authorized to use a CEW.

Let me start with section 3.1.1. which provides that "the CEW must only be used in accordance with CEW training, the principles of the Incident Management Intervention Model (IMIM) and in response to a threat to public or officer safety as determined by a member's assessment of the totality of the circumstances being encountered."

This is a fundamental provision that underpins all elements of the policy. It directs that the CEW may only be used where a member has assessed all the factors of the situation and has concluded that there is a threat to public or officer safety.

This section goes further to say that "a member's actions must be reasonable and the force used must be necessary in the circumstances." The section goes on to set out specific reporting requirements when a CEW is deployed.

Language was added to enhance accountability, both for the officer deploying the CEW and for their supervisor. It places responsibility on members to properly report and articulate their actions following CEW deployments. It also makes supervisors accountable for reviewing each deployment and ensuring compliance with policy.

Section 3.1.2 of the new policy adds to this, directing that "all members must recognize that any use of force entails risk."

This is followed by section 3.1.3 which clearly warns that "multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the CEW may be hazardous to a subject." With any prolonged struggle, the potential for injury increases. The objective is to reduce the potential of injury by reducing the exposure to the CEW either through multiple deployments or continuous cycling.

This provision is fortified by the addition of section 3.1.5 which directs members to take control of a suspect as soon as possible during a CEW deployment and clearly indicates that "the CEW is not intended as a restraint device".

Finally, section 3.1.4 cautions that, "acutely agitated or delirious persons may be at a high risk of death. If an individual is in an acutely agitated or delirious state, and whenever possible when responding to reports of violent individuals, request the assistance of emergency medical services. If possible bring medical assistance to the scene."

This section was changed due to lack of consensus within the medical community regarding the term "excited delirium" with the revised wording, the policy is now more encompassing and also eliminates any perception that members are being asked to make a medical diagnosis.

In considering all of this, it is important to note that only appropriately trained RCMP members are authorized to use the CEW, and RCMP policy has been changed to require yearly mandatory re-certification of these officers. Previously the requirement was re-certification every three years.

The RCMP's training standard for CEWs is comprehensive, includes theoretical and practical components and makes use of scenario-based training. It is important to note that before being trained to use a CEW, all RCMP members are taught the Incident Management Intervention Model (or IMIM), which guides them in their decision making process. The IMIM helps police officers choose appropriate intervention options.

We have also developed a new Subject Behaviour Officer Response (SBOR) reporting tool for reporting use of force incidents which is currently being piloted.

SBOR will be used to report on all use-of-force incidents, not just those involving the CEW. This new reporting process will help members record relevant details following incidents and provide useful data for future analysis. It will also aid the articulation of the circumstances that led officers to decide to resort to the use of force.

I would like to stress again, that when properly used in appropriate situations by officers who are well trained, the RCMP believes that the CEW contributes overall to the safety and security of the public and police. It has been used in situations where, in its absence, police officers may have had to resort to greater force.

The RCMP strives to be a learning organization and to improve our services to Canadians on an ongoing basis. In fact, the story of today's RCMP includes a sincere commitment to change, renewal and growth. While fully recognizing that there is more to do, we are proud that our comprehensive transformation initiative is progressing well B as confirmed by two reports to date by the reform implementation council, an independent panel appointed to advise and report on renewal in the RCMP.

Perhaps on another occasion you will invite me to come back before the committee to speak further about our transformation initiative. Today, I know you are interested in learning more about our CEW policy, so I will end here.

My colleague Deputy Commissioner Madill and I would be happy to respond to any questions.

Thank you.

MPs grill top Mountie on tasers

April 21, 2009
BILL CURRY, Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — Opposition MPs accused RCMP Commissioner William Elliott of watering down the police force's restrictions on tasers, challenging the Commissioner to explain why a reference in the RCMP manual warning against repeated use of the stun gun was removed in the latest version of the policy.

Mr. Elliott said the new policy, which was completed in February and distributed to MPs this week, should be taken as a whole and he stressed that it does make the use of tasers more restrictive.

Liberal, Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs all asked Mr. Elliott to explain why a line in the previous policy informing officers not to use a taser repeatedly has been deleted.

Mr. Elliott said that if someone is in a life-or-death situation, he would not want a rule that would prevent an officer from defending him or herself. He also said new policies in place stress the need for officers to assess the risk of using a taser and supervisors are now obliged to take a closer look at each incident where a taser is used.

“It's a more restrictive policy than in the past,” he said. “We do not prescribe in our policies, for example, how many times at minimum or maximum it is permissible or advisable to strike someone with a baton... Yes, officers can use [tasers] repeatedly if it is necessary and reasonable in the circumstances to do so.”

Mr. Elliott made the comments during a one hour appearance before the House of Commons committee on national security and public safety, which is currently studying police use of tasers.

The RCMP's use of stun guns is under heavy scrutiny, particularly in British Columbia, where the Braidwood inquiry is examining the actions of RCMP officers in connection to the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

The widely viewed video of RCMP officers using a taser on Mr. Dziekanski led to concern that the RCMP may have used undue force in the incident.

Mr. Elliott drew considerable criticism himself last month when he addressed the issue of stun guns during a tour of police activities in Afghanistan.

“I think there is a real danger in us making judgments, particularly the judgments about the character of people or organizations, based on our own limited experience,” the Commissioner said last month. “Even in situations where people make mistakes or don't act appropriately, I think there is a requirement to do a sober, sound examination of the facts or the circumstances and I think the expression ‘Walk a mile in my shoes' comes to mind.”

In a report released earlier this month, the RCMP complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy urged Canada's national police force to be more careful about using stun guns, particularly on young people and the mentally ill. The report also called on the RCMP to improve its tracking and analysis of stun gun incidents.

Taser expert suggests at Dziekanski inquiry that some deployments ineffective

April 20, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — It's difficult to say how many times Robert Dziekanski would have actually felt the jarring shock of an RCMP Taser before he died at Vancouver's airport, says a police expert on stun guns.

Const. Craig Baltzer of the Delta police department is the investigator who downloaded the information from the Taser used on Dziekanski in October 2007.

A public inquiry into Dziekanski's death has already heard that the trigger was pulled on the RCMP stun gun five times, but it's unclear how many times the device actually made contact with Dziekanski.

Baltzer told the inquiry Monday that he listened to a witness' video of the final moments of Dziekanski's life.

He said a Taser makes a distinctive clack, clack, clack noise when it is deployed ineffectively, and that sound could be heard during the first two of the five deployments the night Dziekanski died.

"You don't hear it right off the bat, you don't hear the Taser working. But within a second or so you can hear the clack, clack, clack sound and it's intermittent in relation to his movements," Baltzer said.

"So from that were you determining intermittent contact from the first deployment?" asked commission counsel Patrick McGowan.

"Yes," said Baltzer.

The witness video shows Dziekanski drop to the ground after the first deployment. Baltzer was asked about the second deployment.

"On the second deployment as he's gone to the ground and he's starting to curl up you can still hear at the very start of that the loudness of the Taser, but then it goes quieter as there is better contact. You can hear the clack, clack, clack sound but then it sort of shuts off after about one and a half to two seconds into it," Baltzer said.

Baltzer said Dziekanski "appeared to be under the influence of the Taser" with the second deployment.

Baltzer said he could hear no clack-clack noise during the third deployment.

"What does that make you conclude?" McGowan asked.

"That he was under the effect of the Taser," the officer replied

The fourth and fifth deployments were in the push stun mode, where an officer holds the Taser device against the suspect to deliver the shock, as opposed to the probe mode, which shoots probes at the suspect from a distance to deliver the shock.

Baltzer said ambient noise in the airport and from the commotion prevented him from hearing enough on the video soundtrack to draw any conclusions about the fourth and fifth deployments.

Police were called after Dziekanski started throwing furniture in the early hours of Oct. 14, 2007. They stunned him within seconds of arriving, and he died shortly after on the floor of the airport.

The number of times he was shocked, as well as the speed with which the Taser was deployed, have been issues at the inquiry, along with the manner in which he was monitored and treated after his collapse.

Taser Sues Second Life Virtual World Creator Over Gun Sales

April 20, 2009
By Erik Larson, Bloomberg

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Taser International Inc. filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit against the Second Life online virtual world creator over claims it sells unauthorized virtual versions of its electric stun guns.

Taser, the world’s biggest maker of stun guns, claims San Francisco-based Linden Research Inc. is damaging the company’s reputation and hurting its sales by allowing virtual weapons to be sold online under the Taser brand name, according to a 102- page complaint filed April 17 in federal court in Phoenix.

Linden and third-party companies such as Virtualtrade LLC, which also was sued, are “selling virtual weaponry in a fully fledged copy of plaintiff’s real ones for use in the Second Life computer simulation,” Taser, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, said in the complaint.

In the virtual world, participants create alter egos known as avatars that use real money to buy property, open businesses, dance at clubs, engage in combat or have sex. Companies including International Business Machines Corp. and Xerox Inc. have established presences in Second Life.

The complaint also names Linden founder and Chairman Philip Rosedale, as well as its chief executive officer, Mark Kingdon, and chief financial officer, John Zdanowski. Linden was founded in 1999 and has more than 250 employees.

Taser says the alleged infringement is especially harmful because the online stores include pornographic content.

“All of the defendants that sell virtual weaponry like plaintiff’s real ones, under the mark Taser for use in the Second Life programs and grids, also sell adult-only explicit images and scenes” and drugs, according to the complaint.

A call to Linden wasn’t immediately returned.

The case is Taser International Inc. v. Linden Research Inc., 2:09-cv-00811, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (Phoenix).

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net.

EDITORIAL: A recipe for police abuses

April 20, 2009
Winnipeg Free Press

CANADIANS gained useful insight last week into why the RCMP officers were cleared by an outside review for their actions at the Vancouver airport the day Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was Tasered multiple times. Despite evidence the RCMP used excessive force, resulting in the man’s death, the officer who analysed their actions told an inquiry Thursday the force used was reasonable. That officer is wrong.

Canadians know this by now, having watched a bystander video of the RCMP’s encounter with Mr. Dziekanski Oct. 14, 2007. Some of those four officers have conceded at the inquiry that their accounts, recorded in notes, of Mr. Dziekanski’s actions at the airport were wrong.

That did not dissuade Sgt. Brad Fawcett of the Vancouver Police Department from sticking to his report's conclusions, rationalizing the use of force at the inquiry into Mr. Dziekanski's death. Sgt. Fawcett said the RCMP perceived they were under threat, that Mr. Dziekanski was combative and, under those conditions, acted reasonably when they discharged a Taser five times.

The traveller, who was lost in the airport for 10 hours, was agitated and threw furniture, but when the RCMP arrived, Mr. Dziekanski was not combative. In fact, he turned away from them, picked up a stapler and then faced them again. The officers said he raised the stapler and moved toward them combatively, but the video showed otherwise. They said, fearing for their safety, they had to wrestle him to the ground after he was Tasered once -- in fact, he flailed for a few seconds and then collapsed on the ground. The officers jumped on him, as he was still screaming, and tried to cuff him, at which point Mr. Dziekanski was Tasered again repeatedly.

Canadians have been shocked that a non-combative man with a harmless office tool was levelled by such force, with little effort made by police to understand the circumstances. Sgt. Fawcett himself said he would have reacted differently. But, he said, those officers reacted according to their perceptions of what was unfolding in front of them.

Sgt. Fawcett's report showed that he had to ignore the evidence to rationalize the inaccurate versions of events told by the RCMP -- saying the video supported their stories, when it didn't and then discounting as "minor in nature" the contradiction between the officers' account that Mr. Dziekanski had to be wrestled to the ground and the video that showed he collapsed.

Sgt. Fawcett ignored the obvious need for officers to explain their actions, and their perceptions, in the context of the facts of an event, of the circumstances in front of them, to justify their use of force. In the absence of that, reasonable becomes arbitrary and any use of force can be justified. That is not the kind of authority any officer should have.

Sgt. Fawcett's conclusions are insupportable and his weak attempts to paint the RCMP officers' actions as reasonable do them a disservice.

What a Surprise

This song by Canadian musician Bob Wiseman says it all.

Braidwood Inquiry

Scheduled Witnesses (Subject To Change)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Cst. Craig Baltzer (Delta Police Department)(continued)
Sgt. Lemaitre (RCMP)
Cpl. Carr (RCMP)

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Cpl. Gillis (RCMP)

Monday, April 20, 2009
Dr. Michael Webster (psychiatrist)

Texas Man Dead After Police Use Taser

Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Fort Worth, Texas - UNARMED - died on April 18, 2009

Stray dog's death apparently unrelated to Taser

April 18, 2009 - 7:39 PM
BY CHRIS McDANIEL, SUN STAFF WRITER


According to Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttel, the dog that died after being tased by a police officer on April 4 was not killed by the Taser.

"Dogs have been used in most of our animal Taser device studies that we conducted in the late ’90s and early 2000s. We continue to use canines and pigs in most of our studies today without any problems at all. Additionally, they are used against animals quite often as a secondary tool to stop them. If a dog has very aggressive, strange or attacking behavior, a Taser can be used."

Tuttel said the device has been used on many different animals with great success.

"It has been used on pitbulls, German shepherds, moose, elk, reindeer, mule deer, crocodiles and even Bengal tigers - really just a plethora of animals."

The company cited one of these studies as evidence of the product's safety.

According to them, in a study in 1996, Dr. Robert Stratbucker shocked an anaesthetized pig 48 times with an older lower-powered Taser and found that it did not kill the pig.

They said in a later study at the University of Missouri, he and another researcher, Wayne McDaniel, shocked five dogs 236 times in the chest area with no episodes of death. McDaniel later repeated the study on 10 anesthetized pigs and determined the device could be used safely even at 15 times its standard power.

Tuttel said the labrador must have been sick to begin with. "The Taser has been used on animals with great success, so there must have already been a pre-existing condition in the dog that had nothing to do with the Taser device."

The dog had been a stray and had bitten a Yuma police officer the preceding week. It was cornered and tased with a five-second burst after the police officer and an animal control officer failed to restrain the dog using conventional methods. It later died in captivity.

Crowd attends funeral today for teen killed by Taser

April 18, 2009
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

Detroit -- A large crowd filled Second Ebenezer Church Saturday to bid farewell to a 16-year-old boy who died after police zapped him with a Taser.

Warren police used the Taser, an electronic stun gun, April 10 while chasing Robert Mitchell, who dashed from a car in a traffic stop. Officers said Robert resisted arrest. He died shortly after he was zapped.

Robert, of Detroit, was a Detroit Kettering High School sophomore, who took medication for attention deficit disorder, his family said.

Police said Mitchell bailed out of the Dodge Stratus he was riding in on Eight Mile near Schoenherr after the stop for an expired license plate. Officers say he led them on a foot chase that ended inside an abandoned home in Detroit.

Police and family said it is unclear why the teen ran.

Mitchell is the second Michigan teen to die after being hit with a Taser in less than a month; a 15-year-old Bay City resident died March 22.

Autopsy results are pending.

Arizona man dies after police use taser

Gary A. Decker, 50, UNARMED, died on April 16, 2009.

Australian man dies after police stun gun attack

An unidentified 39-year-old man, UNARMED, became the first Australian to die after being tasered.

'Perception' justified Tasering immigrant, expert tells inquiry

April 16, 2009
Suzanne Fournier, Vancouver Province

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver police expert on use of force on Thursday told an inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski — the Polish immigrant who died after being Tasered in Vancouver's airport — that the four RCMP officers involved used "appropriate force."

Sgt. Brad Fawcett came to the conclusion without interviewing any of the officers involved, airport staff or bystanders who witnessed the Oct. 14, 2007 incident.

Fawcett based his report on written statements provided by the four officers involved — despite knowing they changed their accounts after viewing contradictory video evidence. And the investigator called the fact police Tasered Dziekanski five times in 31 seconds a "minor discrepancy" from their original statement they hit him only twice.

Fawcett, who provided a report to homicide investigators on the officers' use of force, testified that, in his opinion, all that matters in determining whether an officer used appropriate force is his or her perception entering into the conflict.

"What really matters is the officers' perception," said Fawcett.

Fawcett, who is a Justice Institute of B.C. instructor in the use of force for all rookie police officers, did admit that the guidelines for "use of force" are based on what a "reasonable" police officer would do in a critical situation.

Pressured by commission counsel Art Vertlieb to say whether he would have responded the same as the RCMP, Fawcett admitted: "Would I have done the same thing? . . . Probably not."

After viewing a video of the incident, the four RCMP officers recanted their evidence on several key points, agreeing at the inquiry that Dziekanski was not combative, was given conflicting commands he didn't understand, did not raise a stapler in the air as a weapon.

He also agreed that the officers did not wrestle Dziekanski to the ground, as they initially asserted, but rather Dziekanski is seen on the video to crash down with the first Taser blast by RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington.

"The perception of the officers was that they were forced to wrestle the deceased to the ground," insisted Fawcett.

Fawcett said that few, if any, of his own apparent errors mattered in reaching his conclusion that the RCMP used appropriate force.

Nor did Fawcett think his opinion would change had he closely compared the Pritchard video — which he said he viewed "a long time ago" — with the officers' assertions, later recanted, that Dziekanski raised the stapler "near his head."

At no time is Dziekanski seen to raise the stapler, which the officers testified they viewed as a potential weapon, until it flies out of his hand after he is Tasered, a fact Fawcett doesn't acknowledge in his report.

Fawcett called that, along with several other points such as how many times the Taser was actually deployed, a "minor discrepancy."

Dziekanski, who would have celebrated his 42nd birthday Wednesday, was Tasered and restrained by the RCMP, who did not first speak to bystanders, obtain an interpreter, conduct a scene assessment or try to calm down the distraught man.

Mountie can't recall discussions in meeting, Taser inquiry hears

April 15, 2009
CBC News

An officer who convened a counselling session for the four Mounties involved in the death of Robert Dziekanski cannot remember details of the meeting, a public inquiry heard Wednesday.

At the Braidwood inquiry into Dziekanski's death, which is being held in Vancouver, RCMP Cpl. Nycki Basra testified she volunteered with the RCMP's employee assistance program and organized the critical incident debriefing session for Cpl. Monty Robinson, Const. Bill Bentley, Const. Kwesi Millington and Const. Gerry Rundel.

The session took place on Oct. 27, 2007, two weeks after Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant, died in Vancouver's airport shortly after the RCMP stunned him with a Taser up to five times.

Basra was trained to listen — she had been a peer counsellor since high school — but her job at the session was to monitor the officers' emotions, provide tissues, water and moral support, the inquiry heard.

A psychologist led the meeting, which lasted about 2½ hours, with another RCMP corporal also taking a monitoring role, the inquiry heard.

When asked whether she recalled any of the discussion of the events that took place at the airport the night Dzieskansi died, Basra said she could not remember.

"My focus is really on their emotions, their speed of speech and physiological symptoms. Having said that, I don't recall the exact specifics of what was said," she testified.

"What I do want to stress is that I am a police officer first. And although [I was] there as a support person, if I had any inclination that … there was anything being discussed that would suggest any wrongdoing, any criminal elements … I would have dealt with that," she said.

The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch announced last December that Robinson, Bentley, Millington and Rundel acted with reasonable force and would not be charged in Dziekanski's death.

Robert Dziekanski died in October 2007 after he was jolted several times with a Taser. (Paul Pritchard) But Thomas Braidwood, the inquiry commissioner, could make findings of misconduct against the officers or anyone else involved.

Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, has been calling for a thorough review of the decision by Crown prosecutors' not to lay charges in her son's death.

A frequent spectator at the inquiry, Cisowski did not hear Basra's testimony about the meeting to deal with the officers' emotions.

Cisowski was at Vancouver International Airport Wednesday morning, laying flowers to mark what would have been her son's 42nd birthday.

"I just feel I have to [be here today]," she said.

Media cops told to testify

April 15, 2009
By Suzanne Fournier, The Province

Commissioner Tom Braidwood has ruled that two RCMP media-relations officers who have spoken out publicly about the death of Robert Dziekanski must testify under oath at the Taser inquiry.

Helen Roberts, lawyer for the government of Canada and the RCMP, argued yesterday that Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Unit (IHIT) and RCMP spokesman Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre should not appear as witnesses before the inquiry, which is looking into Taser use and the Oct. 14, 2007, death of Dziekanski.

IHIT conducted the investigation of the four RCMP officers involved in the Tasering and restraint of the Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport.

Lemaitre made several erroneous statements about the incident to media.

Both officers are slated to testify at the inquiry later this week or early next week.

"Neither Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre or Cpl. Dale Carr were witnesses to what happened to Mr. Dziekanski. They have no first-hand knowledge of the events leading to Mr. Dziekanski's death," argued Roberts.

But Braidwood noted that he is faced with a stark conflict between the RCMP version of events and the objective evidence of a video shot by a bystander.

"We have on the one hand the video itself . . . and we have the officers' recollections and various statements by the officers," said Braidwood.

Outside the inquiry, Braidwood's ruling was hailed by lawyers for the government of Poland and Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, who is planning to place flowers today, on what would have been her son's 41st birthday, at the Vancouver airport's international arrivals area, where her son died.

"The misinformation from the RCMP began in the hours immediately following this incident and still continues," said Don Rosenbloom, who is acting for the Polish government.

Rosenbloom said there is "enormous public mistrust" due to the wide gap between video evidence and RCMP statements about Dziekanski's death.

Walter Kosteckyj, Cisowski's lawyer, asked: "Why did IHIT not confront the RCMP officers they interviewed with the conflicts between their statements and the video?"

"We must hear directly from Carr and Lemaitre."

The four officers involved recanted key parts of statements they gave to IHIT after Dziekanski's death.

The Criminal Justice Branch has ruled that none of the four officers will face criminal charges in Dziekanski's death, but the branch could reopen the case.

Poles seek mysterious OPP report into fatal Tasering

Apr 15, 2009
Petti Fong
WESTERN CANADA BUREAU CHIEF
Toronto Star

VANCOUVER – The Polish government is calling for the release of a mysterious report prepared by the Ontario Provincial Police into the RCMP's conduct in the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

Don Rosenbloom, the lawyer representing the Republic of Poland at a public inquiry, said he didn't learn about the report's existence until this past weekend.

Dziekanski died Oct. 14, 2007, after an RCMP officer jolted him several times with a Taser during a confrontation with four Mounties at the Vancouver airport. The inquiry into the Polish man's death began on Jan. 19.

Rosenbloom said he doesn't know if the OPP report is a review of the investigation conducted by the RCMP or a separate report into the incident. He first learned about the existence of the OPP's involvement after looking at transcripts and seeing a senior RCMP officer in B.C. mention that the outside police force was involved.

"I don't know what it is until we all see it and it can be presented to us," said Rosenbloom.

The Delta municipal police force, a suburban unit not related to the RCMP, was brought in to prepare a report on the Taser weapon used and the Vancouver police was also consulted for a report on use of force. But the RCMP has never released the OPP report.

"Here's another report that has been sought after by the RCMP by a third party and we haven't seen it," said Rosenbloom. It's the first time the involvement of the OPP has been raised at the inquiry.

The Polish man died after a 911 call was made by bystanders at the Vancouver International Airport complaining that a distraught man unable to speak English was throwing furniture and computers around at the international arrivals lounge. Four RCMP officers arrived at the scene and within 30 seconds, Dziekanski was shot with a Taser gun. He fell to the ground and was hit with four more shots.

Commission chair Thomas Braidwood, a retired judge, did not make a decision yesterday on whether the report from the OPP can be released.

'Innocent explanation' for RCMP inaccuracies, gov't lawyer tells Taser inquiry

April 14, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Erroneous statements by the four RCMP officers involved in Robert Dziekanski's death were nothing more than innocent mistakes, not a sign of a cover-up, says a lawyer for the federal government.

A public inquiry into what happened when Dziekanski was stunned with a Taser at Vancouver's airport has heard of numerous inaccuracies between a witness video and the statements officers gave to homicide investigators after the fatal encounter.

All four officers initially told investigators Dziekanski was yelling as they arrived at the airport arrivals area early the morning of Oct. 14, 2007, and moving toward them swinging a stapler.

They said he continued standing after the first shock and had to be wrestled to the floor.

But the Mounties recanted at the inquiry, where the witness video has been played again and again, refuting the version of events they gave before the video surfaced.

The lawyer for the Polish government has accused the officers of outright lying, but a lawyer for the federal government said Tuesday that is not the case.

"Much time was spent attempting to highlight the fact that there were some discrepancies and suggesting that there was some nefarious explanation," Jan Brongers told the inquiry.

"My point is that other witnesses, too, have had discrepancies between what they told police and that there is a perfectly innocent explanation."

The officers made similar errors in the notes they jotted in their police notebooks at the scene and in other internal reports about what happened.

When the officers testified at the inquiry, they said they gave their best recollections of a fast-paced, stressful situation.

Crown prosecutors announced last December that Cpl. Monty Robinson, Const. Bill Bentley, Const. Kwesi Millington and Const. Gerry Rundel would not be charged in Dziekanski's death, saying they used reasonable force.

In announcing the decision, B.C. Criminal Justice Branch spokesman Stan Lowe said the officers' statements were "materially consistent" with the amateur video of the confrontation, although he didn't elaborate on that point.

The errors have led some, including Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, to call for that decision to be reconsidered.

The province's attorney general, Wally Oppal, said prosecutors have the power to reconsider charges if they receive new evidence.

But Oppal told The Canadian Press he was merely "talking theory," and cautioned that he hasn't seen anything so far that he believes could change the decision on charges.

"All I said is that if new evidence emerges, there's always a possibility to lay charges, but I didn't specifically say in this case it would happen," said Oppal, who has made similar comments in the past.

Oppal said he's "not prepared to buy in" that there was a significant change in evidence and there were false statements made.

The Crown has said it would be up to homicide investigators to decide whether to re-open the case. The RCMP has said the decision will have to wait until after the inquiry.

Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother, said the officers' inaccuracies beg for a second look - and that second look shouldn't be in the hands of the RCMP themselves.

"Whenever there is a police incident, it's high time we had completely independent oversight. We cannot have police investigating themselves," Kosteckyj said outside the inquiry.

The inquiry is also scheduled to hear from two RCMP spokesmen this week - Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre and Cpl. Dale Carr - who handled the storm of media coverage immediately after Dziekanski's death.

Parts of the RCMP's initial accounts were called into question when the eye-witness video was made public more than a month later.

For example, Lemaitre repeatedly insisted the officers tried to calm Dziekanski down, but the tape shows the man was stunned within seconds of the four Mounties arriving.

The sergeant also said the Taser's internal computer recorded just two jolts - even though the weapon was used five times.

Another federal government lawyer asked the inquiry commissioner, retired judge Thomas Braidwood, whether the officers' testimony would be relevant.

"Neither were involved in the investigation of his death or the events at the airport - in other words, they have no first-hand knowledge," Helen Roberts said Tuesday.

"Given your understanding of your mandate ... Canada is asking whether you want to hear from these media relations officers."

Braidwood said he can't decide in advance whether the officers' testimony would be useful, and asked that they appear.

Mistrial declared in trial of deputy who used Taser

April 14, 2009
By ANDREW GALVIN and SERENA MARIA DANIELS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FULLERTON – A deadlocked jury forced a judge Monday to declare a mistrial in the case of an Orange County sheriff's deputy accused of abusing his authority by using a Taser on a handcuffed suspect.

Christopher Hibbs, 45, of Corona, was indicted by a grand jury on one felony count each of felony assault or battery by a public officer and assault with a Taser.

The jury, which began deliberations late last Thursday, deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal, defense attorney Robert Gazley said.

Gazley, who insisted during the trial that his client did not break the law, said he will argue on Friday that the charges – which could bring up to three years in prison – should be dismissed. Prosecutors are expected to respond then as to whether they want to retry the case, Gazley said.

Deputy District Attorney Israel Claustro could not be reached for immediate comment.

Hibbs was riding in the passenger seat of a patrol car with a trainee about 2 a.m. Sept. 13, 2007, when the deputies noticed a man wearing a trench coat and carrying an open beer bottle walking east on Ball Road toward Brookhurst Street, in an unincorporated island surrounded by Anaheim.

When Hibbs asked 31-year-old Ignacio Gomez Lares if he could search him for weapons, the Santa Ana resident refused and briefly struggled with Hibbs before knocking him to the ground, according to Farrah Emami of the Orange County District Attorney's Office. Lares left his trench coat behind as he ran away, she said.

Hibbs and the trainee, joined by an off-duty Los Angeles police officer who saw the struggle, chased Lares, who was caught about 250 feet from the patrol car, Emami said.

Hibbs fired the stun gun at Lares, who he said was resisting, and Lares was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and walked by all three officers back to the patrol car and placed inside, Emami said.

The LAPD officer left, and while searching the trench coat, Hibbs and the trainee found a loaded firearm inside, Emami said.

When Hibbs asked Lares for his name and date of birth, Lares provided his correct birthdate, but gave his name as “Ignacio Gomez,” which resulted in no computer matches, she said.

After several demands for his real name, Hibbs then took the Taser and asked the suspect one last time, Emami said. When he repeated the same name again, Hibbs zapped him again, Emami said.

Prosecutors said Hibbs was within his legal training when he used the Taser on Lares the first time, because he was not handcuffed and was resisting arrest.

But it was not legal for Hibbs to use the Taser on Lares after he was handcuffed in the patrol car, according to the prosecution.

But Gazley argued to the jury that Lares put his foot in the door jam as if trying to get out of the patrol car, and/or attack Hibbs, which allowed the deputy to use “controlled force.”

“He had already tried to escape, he was high on methamphetamine and he was acting erratically,” Gazley said. “(Hibbs) is not required to wait and see if (Lares) was trying to get out.”

One juror was replaced during deliberations because he refused to take part in the discussions, Gazley said. That juror, who wanted a guilty verdict, was replaced with a woman who also was in favor of conviction, but who continued to deliberate even though she was the holdout, he said.

Gazley said he talked to jurors after the mistrial, but the holdout did not explain her stance.

“The sense I got from the jurors is that there simply was not enough evidence, or even close to it” to convict, Gazley said.

The charges marked the first time an Orange County sheriff's deputy had been accused of illegal use of a Taser since the department started using them about four years ago, a department spokesman said.

Gazley said earlier that his client had never been disciplined during his 14 years on the job and had received several awards.

Word that Hibbs may have unnecessarily used a Taser on a suspect came to the attention of another sheriff's sergeant when Hibbs requested a transfer to another city, Emami said.

After a Sheriff's Department investigation, the case was turned over to the District Attorney's Office for a follow-up probe, which led to the case going to the grand jury.

Hibbs, who has remained free on his own recognizance since being indicted last fall, is on administrative leave from the department.

Braidwood Inquiry - Scheduled Witnesses

Scheduled Witnesses (Subject To Change)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Peter Dore (YVR)
Greg Sambrook (YVR)
Cpl. Nycki Basra (RCMP)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Cst. Hoivik (RCMP)
Sgt. Christianssen (RCMP)
Officer Lemaitre (RCMP)

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Officer Carr (RCMP)
Adam Chapin (Canadian Border Services Agency (recall))
Craig Baltzer (Delta Police Department)

Braidwood Inquiry back on after break

April 14, 2009
News1130 VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The Braidwood Inquiry is back on again today after a break. Three witnesses are expected to testify, including Corporal Nycki Basra, who was the media relations officer for the Richmond Mounties the night Robert Dziekanski died at Y.V.R. But before they take the stand, Commissioner Thomas Braidwood is expected to rule whether Dziekanski's medical records can be added to the evidence. Lawyers for the R.C.M.P. may claim Dziekanski had an unusual heart rhythm that could have affected what happened when he was hit by five jolts from a Mounties' Taser in October 2007.

Delta's Tasers ace test

April 14, 2009
Jessica Kerr, Surrey Now

The results of the first round of Tasers to be independently tested have come back and the ones submitted by Delta's police department passed.

In December, municipal police forces from around the province submitted a total of 82 model X-26 conducted energy weapons (CEW) that were manufactured prior to 2006 for testing. The Delta department had five of that model submitted for testing.

Delta's five Tasers were found to be in working order.

"All of the Tasers from our agency were within the compliance with respect to the manufacturer's specifications," said Delta police Const. Sharlene Brooks.

Those weapons have now been returned to service.

The department has 31 Tasers and any of the approximately 160 officers can sign out one of the devices while on duty. At any one time, there are about six Tasers on the street in Delta. Out of the more than 80 Tasers tested, eight failed to meet the manufacturer's specifications. They must either be destroyed or repaired and re-tested before being returned to service, the solicitor general's office said last week. Of the models tested, seven failed to produce a pulse rate high enough to meet the manufacturer's specifications. The other one failed due to a combination of factors.

The New Westminster, Port Moody and Saanich police departments each had one Taser fail, Vancouver had two faulty weapons and B.C. Corrections had three Tasers fail.

B.C. Attorney General watches Taser inquiry to see if new evidence arises

April 14, 2009
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — RCMP officers who testified at the inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport could still face charges after the inquiry but so far there is nothing to suggest that might happen, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said Monday.

"It's always the case in any determination where we decide that no charges were warranted that if there was new evidence and that new evidence was appreciably different then in those circumstances charges could be laid," Oppal told The Canadian Press. "But we're talking theory here."

The last of the four officers who confronted Dziekanski at the airport in October 2007 finished his testimony last month.

Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson said Dziekanski was not, as he has been portrayed in the past, the agitated man who withstood the shock from a Taser and swung a stapler at police.

In the hours and days after Dziekanski collapsed and died on the floor of Vancouver's airport, the four RCMP officers involved told investigators he was an aggressive threat to public safety, even after he took the first shock from an RCMP Taser.

The officers said they had to wrestle Dziekanski to the ground - evidence disputed by a witness video of Dziekanski's dying moments.

Robinson told the public inquiry into Dziekanski's death on Wednesday that he made erroneous statements to those homicide investigators.

Dziekanski, a Polish man who didn't speak English, died on the floor of the arrivals terminal. The Taser was used five times, although it's not clear if all of those firings actually connected with the man.

The three other officers have said they gave their best recollections of a fast-paced, stressful event.

Robinson also conceded that Dziekanski didn't swing a stapler, as officers told investigators, and collapsed to the floor on his own after the first shock.

Their initial accounts said he continued standing after the first hit.

All the officers have retracted parts of their statements to homicide investigators when confronted with the bystander's video.

Some of the officers' errors - for instance, that Dziekanski had to be wrestled to the floor - were consistent among them.

When announcing its decision last December, B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch said the bystander's video supported the officers' accounts.

"(The criminal justice branch) said at that time there would be no charges and all I said is that if new evidence emerges there's always a possibility to lay charges, but I didn't specifically say in this case it would happen," said Oppal.

Oppal said he's "not prepared to buy in" that there was a significant change in evidence and there were false statements made.

"I said if there were false statements made then that's something the commissioner would consider. But I'm not going to second-guess anybody at this stage."

A Crown spokesman in B.C. said last month that it would be up to homicide investigators to decide whether to re-open the case.

The RCMP has said the decision will have to wait until after the inquiry.

Oppal emphasized that "there is an inquiry going on and we're not about to jump into the middle of the inquiry."

B.C. minister hints Mounties could face charges in Taser death

April 13, 2009
CBC News

British Columbia's attorney general suggested Monday that criminal charges could be laid against the four Mounties involved in the Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

Last December, Crown prosecutors decided that RCMP Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson, Const. Kwesi Millington, Const. Bill Bentley and Const. Gerry Rundel wouldn't face criminal charges, although the final report from the Braidwood inquiry looking into Dziekanski's death could include findings of misconduct.

But in an interview, Wally Oppal told the CBC's Terry Milewski, "Well, nothing is final, Terry, particularly where we're getting more and more evidence being elicited on a daily basis. So it may well be, at the end of the day, the people in the Criminal Justice Branch could re-examine this."

Oppal made the comments before the inquiry has concluded. The Vancouver hearing, which resumes Tuesday, is looking into the death of Dziekanski, who was hit multiple times with a police stun gun and died on Oct. 14, 2007, at Vancouver International Airport.

Robert Dziekanski was jolted up to five times with a Taser by the RCMP at the international arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport. (Paul Pritchard)
Robinson was the officer in charge of a team of four when Dziekanski died. At the inquiry last month, he admitted after viewing a tape of the incident that his police statement was wrong.

His three fellow officers testified earlier at the inquiry that Dziekanski was throwing things, yelling and had to be stunned twice with a Taser before being "wrestled" to the ground. Those three testified that Dziekanski, who had been at the airport for nearly 10 hours and didn't speak English, resisted and ignored police commands.

The officers' recollections conflict with what appears on video shot by eyewitness Paul Pritchard.

"The fact that a lot of this evidence is now being tested in a different light may result in something different happening," Oppal said.

2 Warren cops reinstated in death of teen hit by Taser

April 13, 2009
BY STEVE NEAVLING • DETROIT FREE PRESS

Two Warren Police officers were reinstated today following the death Friday of a teenager who was Tasered by officers.

Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said investigators determined the unnamed officers used appropriate force when one of them Tasered 15-year-old Robert Mitchell.

Dwyer said Mitchell endangered officers when he physically confronted them after fleeing during a traffic stop.

“When you are confronted with a situation of resisting arrest, the officers are trained in using the Taser,” Dwyer said. “The officers acted appropriately.

Dwyer added: “It’s an unfortunate incident.”

It’s still unclear why Mitchell fled police after they pulled over a car in which he was a passenger. He has no outstanding warrants, police said.

“There must have been a reason for him to run,” Dwyer said.

The Macomb County Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Officials said Mitchell had asthma and was on prescription medicine.

Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz didn’t return a call for comment this afternoon.

Taser Crusader: a Belleville woman is on a crusade to halt the use of tasers by police

April 13, 2009
Chris Harvey, CKWS Television, Kingston


A BELLEVILLE WOMAN IS ON A CRUSADE TO HALT THE USE OF TASERS BY POLICE.
THE WOMAN'S BROTHER DIED 5 YEARS AGO IN VANCOUVER AFTER BEING TASERED.
AND SHE'S CALLING FOR A MORATORIUM ON THEIR USE -- UNTIL THE ISSUE OF THEIR SAFETY IS SETTLED ONCE AND FOR ALL.
THE STORY FROM NEWSWATCH'S CHRIS HARVEY.

PATTI GILLMAN HAS A LIST OF THE NAMES AND AGES OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED AFTER BEING SHOCKED WITH A TASER.
HER BROTHER BOB BAGNELL IS ON THAT LIST.
HE DIED IN JUNE OF 2004 AFTER BEING TASERED BY POLICE IN VANCOUVER---THE 58TH PERSON IN NORTH AMERICA TO DIE AFTER BEING SHOCKED BY THE STUN GUN.
AND SHE WANTS A HALT TO THEIR USE.

PATTI GILLMAN:
"UNTIL THEY CAN DETERMINE WHAT IT IS THAT'S MAKING, THAT'S CAUSING THESE PEOPLE TO DIE.
WE HAVE 403 DEAD PEOPLE AND THE ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL OF THOSE IS THE TASER."

DURING HER 5 YEAR CRUSADE TO HALT THE USE OF TASERS GILLMAN HAS EVEN SPOKEN TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND NATIONAL [SECURITY].

PATTI GILLMAN
"BECAUSE I KNOW I'M NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO FEELS THIS WAY.
I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LARGE CONTINGENT OF CANADIANS WHO FEEL THAT WE'VE GOT QUITE A MESS ON OUR HANDS AND IT'S GOT TO BE SORTED OUT."
GILLMAN SAYS SHE BELIEVES POLICE ARE USING TASERS AS A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE, NOT IN A LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION.

PATTI GILLMAN:
"IT'S BEING USED AS A COME-ALONG TOOL.
IT'S BEING USED IN SITUATIONS WHERE A GUN WOULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED."

BUT THIS DEPUTY CHIEF SAYS THAT IS NOT THE CASE IN BELLEVILLE.

DEPUTY CHIEF BRIAN HARDER:
"THE TASER IS SPECIFIC TO AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR.
AND ONCE SOMEONE IS NO LONGER AGGRESSIVE, THEN WE CERTAINLY DON'T DEPLOY IT."

HARDER SAYS BELLEVILLE POLICE HAVE SIX TASERS WHICH ARE CARRIED BY TACTICAL UNIT MEMBERS AND SUPERVISORS ONLY.

DEPUTY CHIEF BRIAN HARDER:
"AND I CAN TELL YOU FOR INSTANCE LAST YEAR WE ONLY USED IT 18 TIMES, OF WHICH ONLY 9 DID WE HAVE TO DISCHARGE IT.
SO JUST MERELY THE PRESENCE IN MANY CASES, HALTS A SITUATION."

GILLMAN SAYS SHE WON'T STOP PUSHING FOR A MORATORIUM ON TASER USE.
AND SHE SAYS POLITICIANS WILL HAVE TO ACT IF ENOUGH PEOPLE HELP HER GET THAT MESSAGE ACROSS.

CHRIS HARVEY, CKWS NEWSWATCH, BELLEVILLE.