Transit cop turned off by Tasers-Ex-VPD officer says he now doubts safety, usefulness of devices

"Dickhout, a former Vancouver Police Department officer who still works as a transit cop, said he will never carry a Taser again because he believes they are not appropriate for transit policing."

January 27, 2012
Sam Cooper, The Province

A SkyTrain transit cop who Tasered an intoxicated fare evader in Surrey testified Thursday that he believed the man was assaulting his partner, but in the aftermath he was sickened and decided to never use a Taser again.

In an Office of Police Complaints Commissioner discipline hearing, Const. Daniel Dickhout is alleged to have used excessive force on Christopher Lypchuk, who fell and smacked his face on a concrete stairwell after being Tasered at Scott Road SkyTrain station in September 2007.

"I don't think it was excessive," Dickhout testified of his use of the Taser.

"In my view at that time, he was attacking [partner] Const. Chartrand."

Lypchuk was cut over his eye in his fall but could have been concussed or even have died, according to public hearing counsel Joe Doyle.

Dickhout said he escorted Lypchuk off the train for fare evasion and was writing up a ticket on the platform when Lypchuk suddenly picked up two unopened beers and fled for the stairwell exit.

Security-camera footage shows Dickhout quickly drawing his Taser and catching Lypchuk in a steep and narrow stairwell, with his partner blocking Lypchuk from above.

Dickhout's partner "interjected" with a comment, according to Dickhout, and Lypchuk took a jerky step toward the second officer, before stopping.

Dickhout said from below, as Lypchuk took his step: "I see his right elbow back, in what I take to be cocking and throwing a punch."

At that point, Dickhout said, he pulled the trigger and Lypchuk stiffened and fell down several steps.

"I realized, days later when I watched the video from the top of the stairs, that he may not have been doing what I thought he was, and that made me sick," Dickhout said.

Dickhout, a former Vancouver Police Department officer who still works as a transit cop, said he will never carry a Taser again because he believes they are not appropriate for transit policing.

"Since that time, we had the [Robert] Dziekanski incident," Dickhout said.

"I don't think they are quite as safe and useful as I once believed."

Dziekanski died at the Vancouver airport in October 2007 after being Tasered and restrained by RCMP officers.

In cross-examination, Doyle established several inconsistencies between Dickhout's incident report and video evidence shown in court.

Doyle suggested Dickhout truly did not perceive an imminent assault, because Dickhout did not write in his report that he feared Lypchuk was about to punch his partner.

"When I reviewed the video, I was reminded of a punch," Dickhout said. "I don't know why it didn't get into my report."

The hearing has been adjourned until Feb. 22.

Hearing delayed in Tasering of transit fare-evader

May 3, 2011
Sarah Douziech, The Province

A public hearing into a Vancouver transit cop’s alleged abuse of authority stemming from the Tasering of an alleged fare-evader in 2007 was delayed Monday.

The hearing, originally scheduled for May 2, was announced by B.C.’s police watchdog in November after police agencies that investigated the case disagreed about the appropriateness of the officer’s actions.

Police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe has alleged Const. Dan Dickhout abused his authority during the incident.

On Sept. 13, 2007, Dickhout was checking SkyTrain fares and found Christopher Lypchuk had allegedly not paid the fare.

While Dickhout was writing a ticket, Lypchuk fled down a stairwell at Scott Road Station.

Dickhout caught up and Tasered him, causing Lypchuk to fall to the ground and hit his head.

The hearing has been delayed because the transit officer’s lawyer is challenging Lowe’s power to call a hearing, a spokesperson for the police complaints commission in B.C. said.

Last Wednesday, Steven M. Boorne filed an injunction in court that, if approved, could cancel the public hearing entirely.

If it’s overruled, MacDonald said the hearing could be rescheduled., but it wouldn’t be until 40 days following the ruling.

Bruce MacDonald, a senior investigative analyst with the commission, said their role is to restore or preserve public confidence in investigations of police misconduct or discipline.

“In terms of transparency and accountability, the police complaints commissioner retains the discretion to call a public hearing at any time,” MacDonald said.

The use of Tasers by law enforcement created an international black eye for Canada in October 2007 when Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport.

Taser use by Transit police was called into question in early 2008 after it was reported they were used on two non-violent alleged fare evaders.

Vancouver: Tasering transit cop to face public hearing

November 22, 2010
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER - The B.C. Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner will hold a public hearing into allegations a Vancouver area transit abused his authority by shocking a passenger with a Taser.

The hearing has not yet been scheduled but the office says it's in the public interest to hold one.

The incident occurred Sept. 13, 2007, when a transit officer tried to write a ticket for a suspected fare cheat who the officer said appeared to be drunk.

The passenger ran away and the officer chased him into a stairwell where he used a conducted energy weapon to jolt the man, who fell and struck his head.

An initial complaint over the incident resulted in differing conclusions, went to a judicial review and eventually back before the commission, which has now ordered a public hearing.

The use of Tasers by police has come under close scrutiny in B.C. since Robert Dziekanski died after being shocked with an RCMP Taser in October 2007.

Use of shock weapons by Metro Vancouver transit police came under scrutiny at the public inquiry into Dziekanski's death and officials from the B.C. Transit Authority Police Service had to be ordered by the B.C. solicitor general to appear at the inquiry.

The inquiry commissioner later recommended the province enact standard rules for forces across B.C. in the use of conducted energy weapons.

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

See also: WWW.EXCITED-DELIRIUM.COM

March 6, 2010
Frank Luba, The Province

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

B.C. transit police release video of taser incidents

March 6, 2010
CBC News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vancouver's transit police applaud new guildelines on Taser use

July 25, 2009
VANCOUVER
The Canadian Press

Vancouver's transit cops are welcoming new guidelines for police on Taser use and will immediately comply with the province's demand that their use be restricted.

The force's Sgt. Tom Seaman says a public inquiry commissioner's conclusion that B.C. should enact standard rules for forces across the province will make things much clearer.

Former justice Thomas Braidwood released his report into Taser use in British Columbia on Thursday and slammed the government for "abdicating" its responsibility to provide guidelines on the weapons' use.

Seaman says his force must work across several municipalities and having consistent rules is important.

Seaman says transit police have only used a Taser once so far this year.

Seaman's force came under scrutiny in 2008 when documents were released showing Tasers had been used five times against riders who allegedly were trying to evade paying fares, but the force says the victims were part of a criminal investigation.

Taser inquiry hears about lack of stats on weapon's use and no common policy

May 24, 2008
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — An inquiry into Taser use heard from police, academics, scientists and lawyers with a common theme emerging for retired judge Thomas Braidwood to address in his report - the lack of statistics on Taser use, limited knowledge of their effects and an absence of a common policy on their deployment.

The president of the B.C. Association of Municipal Police Chiefs summed up for Braidwood what is almost certainly to be addressed in one of his recommendations: the absence of a uniform policy among municipal police forces in British Columbia on the use of the Taser.

Bob Rich, who is also deputy chief of the Vancouver Police Department, said steps are being taken to address that, but that currently policies on the use of force are left to each municipal department.

"The lack of clarity, the lack of a provincial policy, and different opinions is something that has made it more difficult and I look forward to the process of making it clear for our officers what we actually expect them to do," Rich told the inquiry during the second week of its three-week duration.

The inquiry's first of two phases concluded Friday, with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association also noting the lack of police governance regulation.

"The (association) submits that there has been an utter failure, indeed an abdication, of government control over the evaluation, approval and regulation of Taser use by police forces in B.C. and Canada," association executive director Murray Mollard said in the inquiry's final submission.

Braidwood will also have to deal with a multitude of calls for a moratorium on Taser use until its effects are better understood.

The mother of deceased would-be Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski made a tearful plea for a moratorium during her appearance at the inquiry.

Its first phase examined the use of Tasers in a general sense. The second phase, which has not yet been scheduled, will look at the stun gun's use in connection with Dziekanski's death last fall at the Vancouver airport.

Dziekanski died after RCMP stunned him twice with a Taser after they were summoned by airport security.

A call for a moratorium also came from the civil liberties association and other group.

Although the inquiry's terms of reference were directed only at municipal forces in B.C., the RCMP made a submission and also noted the lack of standardized training procedures.

RCMP training, the inquiry also heard, teaches officers that the weapon is "not without risk" but does not mention that its use might result in cardiac arrest and death.

Another police spokesman also told Braidwood that trainees are told the Taser is not without risk but that they're not told a jolt may cause death.

Police presenters and others told the inquiry that the training conducted by police forces is supplied by the manufacturer, Taser International, whose position is that the Taser does not cause death.

The inquiry had no subpoena powers and could do nothing when the Metro Vancouver transit police declined to show up.

They were eventually ordered to give a submission by the province's solicitor general, and the much-maligned force informed the inquiry that it had changed its Taser policy.

The transit force altered its stun gun policy after it was revealed some fare-evading transit users had been zapped. The initial policy on Taser indicated the weapon could be used on "non compliant" transit users but transit force deputy chief Ken Allen said there were problems with that term. The transit police board later approved the removal of non compliance and replaced it with "actively resistant."

The RCMP also changed their wording on Taser use to "actively resistant" from "combative behaviour."

Police vehemently defended the use of the weapon, saying it reduces injuries to officers and suspects and that in most circumstances is far preferable to a bullet.

Even a heart surgeon and cardiologist who told the inquiry that a Taser jolt can lead to cardiac arrest in some cases agreed that the weapon is preferable to lethal force.

The bluntest submission at the inquiry came from a psychologist and former RCMP member who now works as a consultant to police forces on crisis management.

Mike Webster told the commission that he was embarrassed to be associated with police who use Tasers on "sick old men" and "confused immigrants." His first reference was to a recent incident involving an elderly Kamloops man who was laying in his hospital bed and hit with the stun gun after he became delirious and pulled a pen knife from his pocket. The second reference was to Dziekanski, who'd wandered around the secure arrivals area of the airport for hours while his mother waited for him nearby, unable to get any information about her son.

Webster also tore a strip off Taser International, the weapon maker, for what he suggested was the "brainwashing" of police organizations. The company, he said, has conducted a "brilliant marketing scheme and created a lucrative business" based on selling Tasers as a necessary tool when confronted with a disorder known as "excited delirium."

But "excited delirium" as a medical condition is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, he said, an opinion that was also reiterated by several medical experts.

Braidwood will have to deal with a plethora of confusing and incomplete data and information on how widespread is the Taser's use and what connection, if any, it has to a sudden death after its application.

Dr. Zian Tseng, a San Francisco cardiologist and electrophysiologist, said any normal, healthy person could die from a jolt of the conducted energy weapon if the shock was given in the right area of the chest and during the vulnerable point in the beating of the heart.

He said the risk of death is far greater if there is adrenaline or illicit drugs coursing through the body or if the person has a history of heart or other medical issues - an opinion that was also shared to varying degrees by other medical experts.

Perhaps the inquiry's star presenter - and the man who attracted the largest attendance - was the chairman of Taser International, Tom Smith.

Smith conceded his product is not risk free, is designed to incapacitate and the term "non lethal" does not mean safe. But he also wanted the inquiry to be clear that there's a big distinction between a Taser jolt being the cause of a death and it being a contributing factor. "I would never say never," he replied when commission counsel Art Vertlieb asked if a jolt could result in a death.

Vertlieb told the inquiry statistics indicate more than 300 people - including about 20 in Canada - have had Taser use noted as a contributing factor in their deaths.

Smith said 350,000 police officers carry the weapons in 40 countries.

Public sold a phony story on taser safety, use

May 21, 2008
PAUL WILLCOCKS, Special to The [Prince George] Citizen

VICTORIA -- Two things have jumped out from the provincial inquiry into Taser use.

First, the public has been misled at best, lied to at worst, about the safety of Tasers and the way they would be used.

And second, that civilian oversight of police is a myth in B.C. Government's claims that it sets policy on Taser use and most other police activities are empty.

I was an advocate for Tasers after a pilot project here in Victoria in 1999. They were pitched as a great tool that could make things safer for police and public.

At the end of a six-month trial, one of the officers enthusiastically cited examples from the nine times the Taser was used zap someone.

One case involved a naked, crazed man coming at officers with a long metal spike and deer antlers. If the Taser hadn't been available, he might have been shot. Another involved a deranged man determined to leap up the window in his 12th-floor apartment. Police tasered him in the nick of time. (The officer who provided the examples and pushed to have the weapon approved received stock options from Taser International two years later for his work on a holster design.)

The police convinced me the weapon offered a safer alternative than other options in some cases. The claims were always about taking down armed attackers or dealing at a safe distance with suicidal or dangerous people, something not possible with pepper spray.

More importantly, they convinced then attorney general Ujjal Dosanjh. But Dosanjh told the inquiry this month he was misled about the way police would use Tasers.

Kevin Begg, assistant deputy minister in the Solicitor General's Ministry, referred to "slippage" in Taser use. Instead of taking the time to de-escalate a situation, police are just zapping people who don't co-operate. Begg isn't an armchair quarterback; he was an RCMP officer for 23 years. And he, too, was an initial supporter, describing the Taser as "a very valuable alternative to shooting someone with a firearm" when the pilot project was launched.

But that's now how the Taser has been used. The provincial inquiry was ordered after the death of Robert Dzienkanski at Vancouver's airport. Video evidence showed police made no effort to defuse the situation.

Earlier this month police zapped an 82-year-old man, who needs oxygen just to walk, as he lay in a Kamloops hospital bed. He was delusional because he couldn't catch his breath and refused to drop a knife with a three-inch blade. But he wasn't enough of a danger to prevent an RCMP officer from approaching close enough to press the Taser against his stomach and zap him three times.

And Vancouver's transit police have tasered people, including fare evaders, for being "non-compliant." That policy, changed last week, highlights the underlying problem.

As the death toll mounted, B.C.'s Police Complaints Commissioner did a review of Taser use and recommended clear limits. People had to be "actively resisting" officers before they could be hit with the electric charge. The Solicitor General's Ministry claimed the new policy was in place. But all it did was send a one-page letter to police chiefs. As the transit police confirmed, the policy was widely and blatantly ignored. (Transit police even ignored a call to testify at the public inquiry until Solicitor General John van Dongen ordered the force to appear.)

Anyway, the policy is irrelevant for most British Columbians. About 70 per cent of them are policed by some 8,000 RCMP officers. The force does not accept any civilian oversight and refuses to allow the provincial government to set policies.

The Taser is still a potentially valuable tool. But seven people have died in B.C. after being the weapon was used on them; more than 300 in North America. Police continue to insist there is no risk, and use it accordingly. Many continue to reject the notion of civilian control or oversight.

It's a dangerous combination.

Footnote: Taser International continues to insist the only risk from using the weapon is that the victim might fall and be injured and tells police to use it on that basis. This week, two cardiologists told the inquiry the stun guns could "almost certainly" cause heart attacks.

New use-of-taser term is 'actively resistant'

Saturday, May 17, 2008
Neal Hall and David Hogben, Vancouver Sun

The deputy chief of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service told a provincial Taser inquiry Friday that it has changed its controversial Taser policy.

The new policy replaces the term "non-compliant" with "actively resistant," Ken Allen said.

The Taser policy was changed Monday by the GVTAPS board, which includes four senior officers and three civilians.

"The original policy allowed Tasering in situations where a person was non-compliant," Allen told the inquiry.

He said the change was done in response to concerns raised by the public.

"The concern was non-compliant could be construed as non-payment of fares by the public," Allen explained.

The old policy, adopted a year ago, caused a public outcry after it was learned through a Freedom of Information request that transit police had deployed a Taser on non-violent passengers, including a person who had not paid his fare and tried to run away from an officer.

The old policy stated: "A Taser may be deployed. . . to gain physical control of a non-compliant, suicidal or potentially violent subject."

Inquiry counsel Art Vertlieb asked Allen if the new policy would allow a Taser to be deployed on a person fleeing police during a "fare blitz" -- a check to see if passengers had paid fares.

"It would depend on the extenuating circumstances surrounding why the individual was fleeing," the deputy chief replied.

Allen said the GVTAPS has also asked the Police Complaints Commissioner to investigate every incident of Taser use by the transit police force in the last 10 months.

The transit police initially declined an invitation to appear before the inquiry but were ordered this week by Solicitor-General John van Dongen to appear.

The police force said it didn't initially make a submission at the inquiry because it did not want to do anything to interfere with the Police Complaints Commission investigation into Taser use by the force.

Allen told inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood that 93 of the force's 156 officers are trained to use Tasers. The force has 20 Tasers, which officers sign out each shift.

Allen said GVTAPS is the only armed transit police force in Canada. Last year, he said, the force recorded 43,000 incidents and made more than 2,300 arrests, including 666 for outstanding warrants, 92 involving weapons associated with robberies, 143 for assaults with weapons and 619 for drug offences.

Gordon Keast, whose freedom-of-information requests kicked off the transit police Taser-use controversy, was unimpressed with the change in wording for Taser-use policy.

"Combative or posing a risk of death or grievous bodily harm would be better" and is what the RCMP's public complaints commissioner has recommended, Keast said.

"Changing the wording does not mean the Taser is safe," said Keast, who pointed out that "actively resistant" is still open to a broad interpretation.

"It could mean turning away or saying no" to a transit police officer, he said.

He hopes the inquiry leads to provincial guidelines that do not allow for use of the Taser unless absolutely necessary.

"We need a provincial use-of-force policy governing Tasers and it's something the solicitor-general should be involved in determining," Keast said.

Earlier Friday, Dr. Joe Noone, a psychiatrist who is a director of a secure ward at Riverview Hospital, told the inquiry that police often use the term "excited delirium" to describe the agitated behaviour of people who die in police custody.

"It's being used more and more frequently to absolve law enforcement for in-custody deaths," he said, adding "excited delirium" is non-existent medical diagnosis that is used by Taser International, the U.S. manufacturer of Tasers.

He said he prefers the old police term "emotionally disturbed person."

Dealing with such people, he said, requires treating the person with respect and using non-threatening communication skills.

"We're working with them, not against him," Noone said.

Vancouver transit police change their policy on taser use

May 16, 2008
Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER - Ken Allen, the deputy chef of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service told a provincial Taser inquiry today that it has changed its Taser policy after recent controversy.

He said the new policy replaces the term "non-compliant" with "actively resistant," he said.

He said the Taser policy was changed Monday by the. GVTAS board, which includes fouir senior officers and three non-officers.

"The original policy allowed Tasering of persons who were non-compliant," Allen told the inquiry..

He said the change was done in response to concerns raised by the public.

The old policy, adopted a year ago, raised a public outcry after it was reported that transit police had deployed a Taser against a person who had not paid his fare and tried to run away from an officer.

Allen said the GVTAPS has also asked the Police Complaints Commisioner to investigate every incident of Taser use by the transit police force in the last 10 months.

The transit police initially declined an invitation to appear before the inquiry but were ordered this week by the solicitor general to appear.

The inquiry will resume Monday.

Tasers save lives, prevent injuries police chiefs tell B.C. public inquiry

May 14, 2008
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- There is no uniform policy among municipal police forces in British Columbia on the use of the Taser, says the president of the B.C. Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police.

Bob Rich, who is also deputy chief of the Vancouver Police Department, told a B.C. public inquiry into the use of Tasers that steps are being taken to address that, but right now policies on the use of force are left to each municipal department.

"The lack of clarity, the lack of a provincial policy, and different opinions is something that has made it more difficult and I look forward to the process of making it clear for our officers what we actually expect them to do,'' Rich testified Wednesday.

While there is no uniform policy, Rich said the Police Act "scheme'' on levels of force is used as a guideline.

Yet he said he would support implementation of a provincewide conducted energy weapon policy.

"The association believes a provincewide policy would ensure consistency,'' said Rich. "This province is policed by both municipal and RCMP officers and it would be appropriate for all us to be working with one policy.''

A provincial use-of-force co-ordinator has been asked to recommend uniform standards for Taser use in B.C., Rich testified.

But he testified that while he had not read the Taser policies of each police department, he believes there is reasonable consistency in training for police issued Tasers.

Bill McNaughton, interim police chief in Victoria, said the Taser is now considered an "intermediate'' weapon on the use-of-force continuum, but he conceded there are different models there, too.

"Discussion around this is clouded because of different use-of-force models and potentially different wording that can create some confusion,'' McNaughton said.

But there is an "overarching principle'' that guides all use of force, he said.

"That is the principle of proportionality or reasonableness. They are determined by a wide range of circumstances over which officers generally will have control over very few of those elements.''

But McNaughton agreed with commissioner counsel Patrick McGowan that specific language to better guide Taser users might address so-called "active resistance'' or "assaultive behaviour.''

McGowan suggested that without a clearly defined minimum standard before deployment, there will always be the potential for inappropriate use.

"Are you in favour of a clearly defined minimum standard before which the Taser can be deployed?'' he asked Rich.

"We owe it to our officers to be clear to them when we expect them to use it and not,'' Rich responded.

The inquiry is currently looking into Taser in general by B.C. law enforcement officers.

A later phase will look specifically into the case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after being hit with a Taser last fall at the Vancouver airport.

Solicitor General John van Dongen ordered the Metro Vancouver transit police Wednesday to make submissions before the inquiry.

Inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood, a former judge, expanded the inquiry to include transit police after documents revealed Tasers were used 10 times in the previous 18 months, including five times against riders trying to ride for free.

The transit police had been invited to appear but declined. Van Dongen said that is not an option.

"I have been very clear, unequivocally clear, with the chair of the board what my expectation is and if that isn't met, then I will pursue whatever remedies that I believe are appropriate,'' said van Dongen.

Sgt. Willie Merenick, spokesman for the Metro Vancouver transit police, said they would indeed attend. "We have made application for a time slot and we are waiting for them to get back to us (for a time),'' he said.

Several police chiefs defended use of the controversial shock weapons at the inquiry Wednesday.

Rich said things can go wrong in two ways: misconduct and mistakes. "One, is there is going to be misconduct instances. The other issue is competence, where officers make mistakes. They are human,'' he testified.

Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu told the inquiry that Tasers were used about 100 times in total in 2007 -- about 0.4 per cent of the 25,000 arrests Vancouver police made that year. The province's largest municipal force has 130 Tasers.

Taser use -- and the number of Tasers in the hands of various forces -- also varied greatly from force to force.

Delta police Chief Jim Cessford said he has 160 officers, 30 Tasers, and the weapon was deployed 27 times in the past six years.

But Victoria has 241 officers and 20 Tasers, and deployed them 106 times last year -- more than in Vancouver.

McNaughton said the high percentage reflects the nature of the policing in Victoria.

Although the force polices about 90,000 residents, "the number of people in the city during the day can triple.''

He blamed "significant under-resourcing'' and said that Vancouver police have more backup.

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SEE ALSO: TASER INTERNATIONAL A MAJOR SPONSOR OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE CONFERENCE

SEE ALSO: BC POLICE CHIEFS VOTE IN SUPPORT OF TASER
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Vancouver transit police refuse to testify at taser inquiry

May 14, 2008
David Hogben and Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun

The transit police force -- under fire last month for using Tasers against nonviolent passengers -- is refusing to testify at the provincial inquiry into the use of the stun guns.

The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service was to make a submission Tuesday at former appeal court justice Thomas Braidwood's provincially ordered inquiry, but decided not to attend.

"The Braidwood inquiry is to get at the policies; it's not to lay blame," inquiry counsel Art Vertlieb said in an interview. "They had issues in the media and it was a chance for them to be transparent, but they felt it was better to deal with the Police Complaints Commission."

Transit police were embroiled in a Taser-related controversy after an article in The Vancouver Sun revealed they had used the electroshock device 10 times over 18 months. On four occasions, transit police used the Tasers on non-aggressive, non-compliant passengers, according to information acquired through access-to-information legislation.

Sgt. Willie Merenick, a spokesman for the transit police, said Tuesday the transit police did not want to do anything to interfere with the Police Complaints Commission investigation into Taser use by the force. "It's like any investigation really. You cannot really take the evidence and disrupt the investigation," Merenick said.

The complaints commission announced it would investigate Taser use by the transit police after a complaint by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. Rob Holmes, president of the association, said the transit police explanation for not attending did "not make sense. He said there was no legal reason why the transit police could not participate in the Braidwood inquiry, noting Braidwood is "obviously engaging in a civil inquiry."

Bruce Brown, Police Complaints Commission deputy commissioner, said he could not comment on the decision by the transit police.

Braidwood has included the use of Tasers by transit police in his inquiry's mandate.

Solicitor-General John van Dongen refused to say Tuesday whether he believes members of the transit police should appear at the inquiry.

"Commissioner Braidwood has conduct of the inquiry. I would assume that's up to his discretion if he wants to bring them in front of the inquiry," said van Dongen. "I have confidence in Commissioner Braidwood to make all of the decisions and call whatever witnesses he feels are appropriate for him to conduct the mandate of his inquiry."

New Democratic Party public safety critic Mike Farnworth said he can't understand why the transit force will not appear. Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Zofia Cisowski, Robert Dziekanski's mother, said: "We expected to hear from the transit authority this afternoon. They were invited to speak. They are an organization that uses a Taser. They declined to appear. What does that tell you about the public trust you can have in a police force not prepared to show up at a public forum and put their views forward before the public?"

VPD to investigate taser use by Translink

May 8, 2008
straight.com

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

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

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

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

No waking up from proliferation of 'nonlethal' weapons

April 25, 2008
Geoff Olson, Vancouver Courier

North America not far away from becoming Deadwood with stun guns

Several years ago, in his essay Shadow Dancing, the San-Francisco based tech writer Erik Davis wrote on how post 9/11 America had invaded his dream world.

"I have more than occasionally found myself half-awake at 3 a.m., facing hypnagogic bouts of fear and paranoia induced by current events. Sometimes these apocalyptic spectres slip into my dream life proper. Once I found myself outside of Berlin at night, on the side of some wet and nameless interstate. The city was hosting a gathering of national police forces from around the developed world, there to show off their latest tech. With a steel roar, a stream of the latest urban tanks careened out of an underpass, bulbous cartoon things festooned with the baroque weaponry of Japanese mecha and designed, clearly, to control domestic unrest. My god, I thought, it has begun."

Has it?

Last Saturday's Vancouver Sun headline, "Fare Prey," was sub-headed "Greater Vancouver transit cops tell fare cheats: comply with police or expect to be tasered." Asked if officers would continue with the practice of tasering non-violent fare evaders, Inspector Daniel Dureau of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police is quoted, "Absolutely. Absolutely. Yup."

Welcome to the new normal. With deaths and injuries climbing from Taser use across North America, it appears law enforcement agencies--including TransLink's paramilitary arm--feel emboldened to carry on with business as usual. Last November, the Vancouver Police Department said it was getting 70 more of the stun guns, in spite of the public outcry over a Polish immigrant's death at Vancouver International Airport.

And now we learn that several hours of surveillance footage recorded at YVR the night Robert Dziekanski was Tasered and died were "inadvertently erased" by the Canada Border Services Agency.

In our post-9/11 world, we're told we have to trade some of our freedom for security. Or is it security for freedom? I forget. And I'm not sure what fare evasion or a foreigner's desperate confusion has to do with any of this. I'm starting to feel like Erik Davis, tossing and turning in his sleep.

This story is bigger than excitable cops with new toys. A few weeks ago, I caught a 60 Minutes report on the newest entry into the U.S. military's arsenal of "non-lethal weapons," a microwave ray gun that can create localized hotspots hundreds of metres away. An enthusiastic CBS reporter offered himself as a guinea pig, standing in a test range and waiting for the cannon to fire. He grimaced and moved quickly out of the hotspot, smarting but uninjured.

Proponents of the microwave cannon tout it as a safe alternative to traditional weapons for crowd control, and hope to earmark it for trouble spots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 60 Minutes episode continued with scenes of volunteers out in the field, playing the part of placard-carrying protestors. They scrambled the moment the 100,000 watt beam hit them. But something caught my eye; I hit the rewind to get a closer look at the wording on the protestors' placards. "World Peace." "Peace Not War." "Love for All."

Of course, placards on a test range aren't proof the Pentagon's ray gun is actually intended for domestic crowd control. But surely these field tests, filmed for the edification of higher-ups in the Pentagon, say something about the military mindset--if not the grunts testing the new tech, then the bigwigs in Washington's five-sided fear factory.

To make sense of all this, we need a bit of historical context. After the 1993 Waco debacle, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and Deputy Secretary of Defense John Deutch signed a "memo of understanding," under which the Pentagon would share "dual use" non-lethal technology with domestic law enforcement agencies. What that meant is that over a decade ago, a path was smoothed so that more so-called "nonlethals" could find their way into the lockers of U.S. SWAT teams and police officers. With the "harmonization" of Canada and the U.S., it's probably no accident we now find ourselves in an electrified wild west, from Kelowna to Kansas. It's Deadwood with stun guns.

And now nonlethals are available for domestic use: Taser has short-range models for everyone from housewives to gangbangers, and even offers a Taser holster with space for a music player. You can't make this stuff up--but you can imagine the profits if there's ever an arms race in nonlethals between flatfoots and fare-evaders.

God knows where we'll be a decade hence with this nonsense, unless we start demanding some accountability from our supposed public servants. In his Shadow Dancing essay, Erik Davis had the option of curling up and going back to sleep. We may not have it so comfortable.

Memo to tasering transit coppers

April 20, 2008
The Province

Interdepartmental memorandum

Re: Use of Tasers

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

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

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

Priority: Top

- - - -

Fellow troopers,

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

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

Number one would be:

- Encountering a Freedom of Information request.

Other situations in which your Taser can be deployed:

- On people who are violent.

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

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

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

Do we Taser people for not paying their fare?

No.

Do we Taser people for being non-compliant?

Absolutely.

What does non-compliance consist of?

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

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

There is:

- Aggressive non-compliance.

- Passive non-compliance.

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

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

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

How did Tasering him protect the public in that instance?

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

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

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

Inappropriate Taser use:

- To reheat coffee or make toast during break.

- Re-charge a personal digital music device.

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

- To light a post-tryst pair of cigarettes.

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

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

And we remain confident they'll comply.

Where else can we use a taser?

April 19, 2008
Rod Allen, Assistant Managing Editor, The Moncton Times & Transcript

Recent incidents in Vancouver raise fresh questions about use of stun guns

Our cousins up on The Rock just north and east of here have a special word -- 'stunned' or sometimes just 'stun' -- to describe a person who might not be thinking clearly or, less kindly, is just plain stupid. Rarely do they use this word to describe actual 'stunnedness' -- that altered mental state which mysteriously occurs when we are smacked upside the head with, for example, a hakapik.

Incidentally, the spiked 'hakapik' club might be banned from the seal hunt down here on the East Coast, according to news reports this week, but fortunately there is still a potential market for our vital hakapik-making industry with the municipal government of Vancouver.

This august body may soon be on the hunt for an appropriate replacement for the taser, also currently under fire from various panty-waisted civic groups in this seething, hippie-infested west-coast birthplace of the seal-hunt protest.

Opponents of the taser are mewling piteously over Vancouver's decision to supply this mostly non-lethal device to the security dicks who prowl the city's vast public transit system. This, despite the fact the taser has produced stunning (chuckle) results in the maintenance of discipline amongst the citizenry, says Sgt. Willie Merenick of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority Police Service.

According to 'Wild' Willie, all 10 incidents of taser use by his 'officers' since early 2007 were completely justified, and that's all he's got to say about a public outcry based on a separate report which states that in five of those 10 incidents, tasers were applied to people trying to avoid paying the fare.

Furthermore, in one of those five cases the offender was tasered because he (or she) wouldn't let go of a railing.

Well said, Willie, or not-said as the case may be. I'm pretty sure I know what you're trying to not-say. Why should the taser be confined, un-asks Willie, to the rather unimaginative role of somewhat largely non-lethal alternative to the scattergun or the hakapik or the morning-star in cases of self-defence? Why should it not be used by cops to teach the citizenry the meaning of the word "respect?" Willie, in fact, inspires us to wonder aloud whether the taser has yet to find its full and rightful place in our society.

True, there have been some slightly unsettling taser-related incidents on both coasts of late. A few people have died. Untidy business, that.

But think of the potential benefits if taser use was expanded to other professions. If a weapon originally intended for the police is now good enough for transit security guards then why not mall-cops? Hey, why not the little man in the booth at Moncton's downtown parking garage?

'Lost yer ticket, eh? Suuure, Mac.' Zap.

Would it be so wrong to supply tasers to teachers? Think of how this might be applied not only in matters of discipline in the hallways but in matters of correction, shall we say, in the spelling bee. One imagines New Brunswick's woeful academic record in our high schools improving overnight.

And don't forget: Education Begins At Home. 'Didn't do your homework eh, you disrespectful little brat?' Zap. 'Now eat your broccoli.' Zap. 'Faster.' Zap.

Verily, the possibilities are endless.

Think of tourism. Think of how Montrealers stroll along Moncton's Main Street in the summers and spy, to their horror, the locals wearing white, last year's black. Should Downtown Moncton Inc. consider augmenting its force of 'summer ambassadors' with, oh, I don't know, maybe the DMI Fashion Police? 'Oh my Gawwwd. Yellow sou-wester and tartan toreador pants with a horizontally striped orange blazer? Zap. And gum-rubbers?! Zap. With the tops rolled down?!!' Zap. 'Oh, why not?' Zap-Zap.

And let us not forget we inhabit the Age of Information and robots are getting smarter and smarter. The day will come when Automated Teller Machines will demand not only the vote, but the right to demand satisfaction from that disrespectful old lady trying to withdraw 50 bucks from an overdrawn account. Zip-zap, zippity doo-da pay.

Accept no delays, dear readers; we are speeding headlong into the future.

Foot-draggers will be considered disrespectful and stunned stupid.

Transit police's taser use left to officers' discretion, force says

April 19, 2008
David Hogben, Vancouver Sun

Greater Vancouver's transit police, under fire for Tasering so-called "non-compliant" passengers, said Friday the department's policy for Taser use is very broad and leaves a lot to individual officers' discretion.

Insp. Bob Huston made the statement in a news conference on the sidewalk outside transit police headquarters in New Westminster. He had been asked whether allowing Tasers to be used against anyone who is "non-compliant" is a pretty broad policy.

"Yes," Huston responded. "We depend upon the judgment of our officers to deploy the Tasers properly."

Huston spent 20 minutes vociferously defending the use of Tasers. "If we didn't fully believe that Tasers save lives, reduce and prevent injuries and are effective we wouldn't use them," he said, reading from a written text.

The latest controversy over Taser use erupted this week after an article on The Vancouver Sun's editorial pages revealed the TransLink police -- Canada's only armed transit police force -- has used Tasers at least 10 times since last July.

The department's own records state that in four of those cases, the electro-shock device was used against non-violent, non-threatening passengers. In three of the incidents, the passengers Tasered were being investigated for possible fare evasion.

The use of Tasers by law enforcement officers created an international black eye for Canada last October when Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport.

Despite recent controversy over whether Tasers represent too great a danger to be used against "non-compliant" fare evaders, Huston maintained there is sufficient medical evidence to support their use.

He could not cite independent studies to support his case.

"All I can tell you is I believe, our department believes, that the Taser is a safe and effective tool."

Huston acknowledged he was not aware of any Taser testing done on subjects with medical problems such as heart disease. "I know there has been studies done in relation to animals," he said. "I am not aware of any specific studies in relation to people with heart problems."

Meanwhile, the B.C. division of the Canadian Mental Health Association re-entered the Taser debate Friday. Despite the association's earlier support for the use of Tasers as an alternative to lethal force, it said in a news release the device should be used only in extreme situations.

The association recommended that:

- "Rigorous, independent research into the effect of Tasers on vulnerable persons" be conducted, especially those suffering from mental illness, psychosis or heart problems.

- Police use-of-force policies "should be changed to place Tasers as a last choice before lethal force."

- A separate use-of-force policy be developed "for individuals apparently suffering from a psychiatric crisis."

Solicitor-general John van Dongen could not be reached for comment Friday.

No change to TransLink (Skytrain) taser use: police

There will be no change to the way Lower Mainland transit police use their Taser stun guns, Insp. Bob Houston said at a TransLink news conference on Friday. The South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service, the police patrolling Greater Vancouver's TransLink system, defended their use of the stun guns at the news conference, saying that they are used only according to a written policy.

"We have tens of thousand of contacts with the public every year. We have deployed the Taser 10 times," Houston said. "We do not, have not and will never Taser those in our care for the non-payment of fares." When asked whether the Taser has damaged anyone’s health, he said: "All I can tell you is I believe, our department believes, Tasers are a safe and effective tool."

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association filed a complaint with the police complaints commissioner Thursday over TransLink constables' use of Tasers, which deliver an incapacitating electric shock to a targeted person.

Recently released documents confirm Houston's figure, showing that transit police have used Tasers on people 10 times since January 2007.

But the civil liberties association says transit police are turning to the Taser too quickly and for the wrong reasons. In its complaint filed with the complaint commissioner, the group says transit police are using the weapons in non-violent situations. In some cases, according to documents, police used stun guns on people who fled during fare checks.

"There's been a review … internally that suggests they have deployed their Tasers according to their policy," said the association's executive director, Murray Mollard. "I think on a second, closer look, it would be interesting to see if in fact the Taser use was not authorized by policy, and if it was, then clearly [we] want to take a run at a policy that we think would be inappropriate. We see how far police have come in their use of Tasers, and it has to stop somewhere," he said.

Transit police policy says officers are allowed to use their Tasers to control non-compliant, suicidal or violent people. The civil liberties association complaint takes issue with the phrase "non-compliant." A person's failure to obey transit police is insufficient to justify the use of a Taser, the association says.

In statement released Thursday, the police service said: "If the use of force is ever considered necessary to ensure our passengers are safe, then that event is subject to multi levels of internal review." The release went on to say, "On the rare occasions when the use of the Taser has been required, it has never generated a complaint."

Mollard said that seems to contradict the civil liberties association's own report into the 10 Taser incidents.

In response, TransLink said it won't discuss specific incidents while they remain under review.

Tasers have been condemned by the United Nations, whose Committee Against Torture determined the stun guns to be "a form of torture" that "can even cause death." Amnesty International says it has recorded 245 cases of Taser-related deaths.

B.C. Police Complaints Commission to probe taser use by transit police

April 18, 2008
The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is the latest to demand an investigation into the use of Tasers by armed transit police in Metro Vancouver. The association has filed a complaint with the province's Police Complaints Commissioner saying newly released documents suggest Tasers are being used against transit passengers in situations that border on debt collection.

The body that oversees Canada's only armed transit police service has called a news conference today and has issued a release saying members "do not, have not and will never" use Tasers on passengers for non-payment of fares. That appears to contradict documents indicating Tasers have been used 10 times in the past 18 months, including five times against riders who allegedly were trying to ride for free.

Fare prey - Greater Vancouver transit cops tell fare cheats: comply with police or expect to be tasered

April 18, 2008
David Hogben, Vancouver Sun; With files from Kelly Sinoski

Rules for passage on trains and buses are on the back of every ticket. Fare cheats who resist police can expect a Taser jolt.

Transit police say they will continue Tasering "non-compliant" passengers, despite outrage over reports that the weapon has been used against non-violent fare-evaders.

"Absolutely. Absolutely. Yup," Insp. Daniel Dureau of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police said Thursday, in a telephone interview, after he was asked if officers would still use Tasers on non-violent passengers.

Dureau, the force's media liaison officer, insisted the Tasers are used in compliance with TransLink police policy, and the force has no intention of changing that policy before a provincial inquiry into the use of Tasers makes its recommendations.

Sgt. Willie Merenick said claims that Tasers were being used on fare evaders were "really unwarranted." When Tasers are used on fare evaders, it is because they are refusing to comply with police, he said, not because they are fare evaders. "We do not, have not and will never Taser those in our care for non-payment of fares," Merenick said in a news release.

In an interview later, Merenick confirmed Tasers have been used 10 times on members of the public and were deployed "for the safety of the public, the people themselves and the police." There have been no public complaints about the force's user of Tasers, he added.

"If we didn't believe that Tasers save lives, reduce and prevent injuries and are effective, we wouldn't use them," he said. "They are an essential tool in helping us achieve our goal of keeping everyone safe."

The issue arose earlier this week when a Vancouver Sun columnist, relying on freedom-of-information legislation, revealed that non-violent passengers have been Tasered for "non-compliance" with officers.

Former B.C. Court of Appeal justice Thomas Braidwood said later the TransLink police will be included in one of two inquiries he is preparing to conduct into the use of Tasers by law enforcement officers.

Braidwood was asked to conduct the reviews by B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal after Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being Tasered at Vancouver International Airport last October.

Other than a brief e-mail statement, transit police had refused to discuss their use of Tasers until Thursday. "Our Tasers were used against people who, within the policy, did not comply after being arrested and therefore [Tasers] were used within the policy as has been reported," Dureau said. "So we are not going to give any other detail or further detail on them. We are being reviewed, as all other police agencies, provincial police agencies are . . . by Mr. Braidwood," he said.

Dureau said the transit police will comply with any directions given by the provincial government after the inquiry is complete.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the provincial New Democrats have called for a moratorium on the use of Tasers.

The FOI documents revealed the weapons have been used on 10 occasions since last July. In four incidents, they were used against non-violent and non-threatening individuals, three of whom were fare evaders.

The BCCLA, meanwhile, complained Thursday to the provincial police watchdog over the force's use of Tasers. "The fact that Tasers are being used in situations that border on debt collection by the government is outrageous," BCCLA president Rob Holmes said in a news release. "The public has every right to be concerned that there is a lack of proper control over the use and application of these devices. A full investigation is required."

In his letter to Police Complaint Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld, Holmes said using Tasers on non-violent people is repugnant. "The use of a Taser to gain compliance over non-threatening and non-violent individuals clearly does not accord with the 'use of force' policy and, in any event, is repugnant," he wrote.

Rules of engagement: SkyTrain police are the same as any other B.C. force, therefore they can use the same policing tools (including Tasers) as other police. The 93 transit police trained* in the use of the Taser must qualify at least every two years to use the weapons. Transit police now use the X-26 model, billed by its maker as Taser's "premier law enforcement electronic control device." The Taser is meant to be "an alternative option to more intrusive force response measures." A Taser is issued to qualified two-member teams, when they report for duty. Twenty of the stun guns are in the force's arsenal.

Source: Solicitor-General of B.C., February 2008 *As of December 2007