Report Shreds Argument Tasers Result in Less Use of Lethal Force by Arizona Police

June 29, 2011
Kevin Gosztola, Fire Dog Lake

ACLU of Arizona Report Finds Arizona Law Enforcement Lacks Guidelines for Taser Use on Children & Pregnant Women

Law enforcement and correctional agencies in Arizona, the state where TASER International has its corporate headquarters, often use Tasers “preemptively” against citizens, according to a recent ACLU of Arizona report. Even if citizens do not present an imminent safety threat to officers, officers will use the Taser. They’ll also use it “offensively as a pain compliance tool,” a use TASER International anticipates in its training material and agency policies.

The report, which the ACLU of Arizona claims is the “most comprehensive survey of Taser use by law enforcement agencies in Arizona to date,” illuminates the following key findings: Tasers are widespread among law enforcement, providing officers with Tasers does not guarantee lower levels of use of lethal force, officers often receive inconsistent guidance on when it’s appropriate to use a Taser, agencies lack clear guidance on Taser safety including the use of Tasers against vulnerable populations, law enforcement is too reliant on TASER International for training and agencies lack data collection and other mechanisms for monitoring Taser use.

The ACLU of Arizona recommends the implementation of a “strong accountability mechanism” for Taser use that would include data collection. It suggests law enforcement re-assess where the use of a Taser should be on the “use-of-force continuum.” Furthermore, it calls for more regular training on Taser use and the establishment of a statewide body to review Taser use and develop policies and training resources for law enforcement.

The finding that Taser proponents are completely off when they argue in favor of Tasers because deployment of lethal force will decline is perhaps the most significant finding of the report. The report calls attentions to the fact that “TASER’s marketing campaign has always been that Tasers are a safe alternative to the use of lethal force. Indeed, the company’s slogan, ‘Saving Lives Every Day,’ is emblazoned on its corporate headquarters in Scottsdale.”

Taser shocks have most often been used in the place of “less-lethal uses of force, such as baton strikes, chemical sprays, and the like” and situations when “situations where lethal force would not be justified (i.e., in the absence of an immediate threat to officer or public safety).”

After completing an analysis of Phoenix Police Department use-of-force reports, The Arizona Republic found 377 incidents involving the use of a Taser. In nearly nine out of ten of the incidents, the subjects had posed no imminent threat to officers with any weapons. For example: “A shoplifter who stole four cans of soup from a Food City, and fled on a bike who was shocked as officers dragged him to the ground; a 15-year-old boy at Alhambra High School who was shocked in the back as officers attempted to arrest him on a marijuana charge; and an intoxicated man who ignored commands to leave a bar and was shocked in the back as he walked away.”

ACLU of Arizona notes TASER International has insisted its weapons are “non-lethal.” A file released by LulzSecurity, a computer hacker group that recently released data from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, shows since the release of an October 12 training bulletin from TASER International, law enforcement has been aware they should not be aiming Tasers at any person’s chest.

In the bulletin, TASER International suggests the 50,000-volt weapon could possibly lead to someone going into cardiac arrest. Officers in Phoenix adopted the new guidelines immediately, although Mark Spencer of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association did not initially instruct line officers on the development. Instead, Spencer only had praise for Tasers as he said, “It really minimizes harm, not only to officers but to suspects.”

TASER International, after issuing the bulletin, worked to spin the findings saying, “We have not stated that the Taser causes (cardiac) events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic.”

To the question of whether law enforcement could still deploy a TASER into a subject’s chest, TASER’s position was that officers should not “intentionally” target “when possible.” The recommendation, according to TASER, would go a long way toward “reducing risk management issues and avoiding litigation.” (What, in emails released by LulzSec, could be characterized as a policy of CYA.)

The TASER weapon’s propellant was changed from gunpowder to nitrogen in 1994, according to the ACLU report. This allowed TASER International to escape regulation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and made it possible to “aggressively market the weapon as an alternative to lethal force” and escape testing of the product by the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Vulnerable people, such as children, elderly, pregnant women and those with heart problems, are widely understood to be at risk of death or injury if they are subjected to the voltage of a Taser. The ACLU report shows the alarming reality that much of Arizona law enforcement lacks guidelines on what to do if faced with a “vulnerable” person.

Ten agencies were found to be silent whether to Tase pregnant women. Only four agencies explicitly ban tasing pregnant women. Twelve agencies were found to be silent on the tasing of children or the elderly. Only one agency explicitly prohibited tasing young or elderly people. And, eleven out of ten agencies had no policy on using a Taser on a subject multiple times, an action that has been seen as a key factor behind ECW-induced deaths.

Of particular interest to those who have followed the story of the SB1070 law and the issue of immigration in Arizona is the fact that Maricopa County, where the anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio is in charge, has developed no policies or guidelines on when and when not to deploy a Taser in high-risk situations. Maricopa County is the only police department with over 500 sworn officers that did not offer its own training in addition to TASER International’s training. This is especially troubling given the fact that an Amnesty International 127-page report found Maricopa County had the highest number of reported deaths from Taser use in the United States.

Taser use has been posing increased liability for law enforcement. As of September 2010, five deaths from Taser use were occurring on average each month.

Courts have found Tasers constitute the use of “excessive force” and thus violate the Fourth Amendment, provided the Taser was used in an instance when its deployment was unjustified. Victims of Taser use can seek compensation but only if an agency’s use guidelines are deficient and if training is so poor that it could be considered “deliberately indifferent.

Memphis, Tennessee, San Francisco, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, have all opted to ban the use of Tasers.

To date, ACLU’s work on Taser use has been mostly on a state-by-state basis without a federal campaign. The report clearly demonstrates the risks posed by Tasers. More importantly, it shows the growing private influence of TASER International and how law enforcement has become dependent on using Tasers to make police work much easier, even if that means putting a person at risk of death or injury and violating the rights of an individual.

[A side note: A Los Angeles City Council voted in May 2010 to bar official travel to Arizona and consider the termination of contracts with businesses as part of a boycott in response to the SB1070 law. The Council made one exception: it would not cut off business with TASER International because, according to a councilman, “various local public safety agencies need its stun guns and no other company can provide the service satisfactorily.]

Mounties - taser charges 2 month delay

CFJC TV
Kamloops

Both the Crown and the Defence asked for the case against 4 RCMP officers to be adjounred until the end of August. The officers, Constables Bill Bentley, Kwesi Millington and Gerry Rundell as well as Corporal Benjamin Robinson, are all facing perjury charges in connection with the multiple tasering and death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport.

The four testified they feared for their safety when they confornted the agitated Dziekansi at Vancouver airport. But Commissioner Thomas Braidwood dismissed their stories.

ACLU: Rules vary on police Taser use

June 29, 2011
JJ Hensley, The Arizona Republic

A patchwork of policies governing the use of Tasers has left some Arizona police officers reaching for the electronic weapon at the first sign of trouble and others using the weapons when lives are threatened, according to a study by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.

The varied regulations mean officers in Phoenix might try to subdue a disobedient suspect with a baton or pepper spray before reaching for the Taser, but a suspect taking the same actions might receive an incapacitating electric charge if confronted by police in another jurisdiction, according to the ACLU report made public Tuesday.

Citing its research, the ACLU is now pushing for more uniformity in police training in use of the weapon.

Steve Tuttle, Taser's vice president of communications, responded, "While we all agree that good policies and recurring training are crucial for successful Taser programs, the position of the Arizona chapter of the ACLU appears to be at odds with U.S. Department of Justice's recently released report which supports the use of Taser devices based upon the study of 24,000 field uses showing Taser technology protects law-enforcement officers, reduces injuries to suspects, and may prevent injuries to bystanders."

The ACLU report examined data from 20 police agencies on their use of force from 2000 to 2008.

The study found:

- Police agencies do not have consistent and clear guidelines on using Tasers on the young, elderly or ill.

- Arizona police agencies are inconsistent when it comes to use of Tasers on handcuffed, threatening or fleeing suspects.

- Arming more officers with Tasers did not equate to fewer deadly encounters with police. Agencies rolled out the product quickly in the early 2000s, and Taser use increased before reaching a plateau and declining in the latter half of the decade as questions arose about its use. The number of encounters that turned fatal for suspects remained the same in many agencies. That raises questions about whether Tasers were deployed in favor of batons or guns, ACLU said.

"Tasers should be placed higher on the use-of-force continuum and should be used as appropriate," said Annie Lai, an ACLU attorney who wrote the report and invited police agencies to work with the ACLU on more uniform training.

"We're not trying to handcuff officers, we're trying to give them more tools," she said.

Establishing uniform guidelines in Arizona would also make it easier for cash-strapped and rural police departments to provide training tailored for Arizona police officers, Lai said, in addition to whatever training comes with the weapon.

But declaring a blanket Taser policy for law-enforcement agencies throughout Arizona might not be feasible because an officer working patrol in Phoenix and handling a domestic-violence call would encounter different scenarios than a state Department of Public Safety officer dealing with an uncooperative driver along the side of a highway, said DPS Capt. Steve Harrison.

DPS officers receive Taser training every other year, Harrison said, from DPS officers who have been certified as instructors through the weapon's manufacturer. The training DPS officers receive is tailored to fit scenarios DPS frequently encounters, Harrison said.

But even the agency's tailored training cannot prepare officers for every situation they encounter, which is why officers are encouraged to look at the "totality of circumstances" before deploying any less lethal use of force such as a Taser, baton or bean bag, Harrison said.

Maryland man dies

June 28, 2011: Delric Tyrone East, 40, Burtonsville, Maryland

Toronto Cop who threatened Tasing gets conditional discharge

June 27, 2011
CTV News

A Toronto police officer who admitted he threatened to Taser a man's genitals was given a conditional discharge on Monday.

Const. Christopher Hominuk was sentenced to nine months of probation, 50 hours of community service and a $500 fine after being caught on video threatening two people in custody in May, 2010.

He is also required to have no contact with the victims.

On Monday, a judge ruled Hominuk's actions were caused by a medical issue.

The constable, a Type 1 diabetic, pleaded guilty to one count of threatening bodily harm but claimed he was suffering from low blood sugar at the time of the incident.

Video released during Hominuk's trial shows the officer using his Taser to try to exact information from two men in custody.

The video was captured on May 24, 2010, while police were investigating a theft call in Etobicoke. It shows Hominuk holding a Taser to a man's neck while the man lies in handcuffs across the back seat of a police cruiser.

In the same video, the officer can be seen threatening a second man's genitals with the Taser, saying he will be shocked if he fails to co-operate.

In February, a spokesperson for Chief Bill Blair described the officer's behaviour as "disgraceful."

The officer did not discharge his Taser on either prisoner.

With files from CTV Toronto's John Musselman

Georgia man dies

June 22, 2011: Otto Kolberg, 55, Waycross, Georgia

Crown alleges diabetic cop covered up Taser threats

June 16, 2011
Betsy Powell, Toronto Star

A prosecutor has suggested a Toronto police officer tried to conceal the fact he threatened to Taser two burglary suspects and only came clean after his arrest.

Christopher Hominuk, 38, a type 1 diabetic, blames his low blood sugar level for his aberrant, violent behaviour during the May 24, 2010 incident.

He has testified at this week’s sentencing hearing that he pleaded guilty to one count of threaten bodily harm because he immediately wanted to take responsibility.

But Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter noted Wednesday the incidents only came to light weeks later after a superior officer “stumbled” across the incidents while reviewing in-car video recordings for an unrelated purpose.

“You were quite prepared to let this pass if you could,” in order to protect your job, Perlmutter said during cross examination in the Ontario Court of Justice.

The prosecutor also suggested Hominuk wrote “low blood sugar” in his notebook just in case things “blew up,” making no mention of the Taser threats which he knew the in-car cameras had recorded.

The guilty plea came only as a result of knowing about the damaging video footage, Perlmutter stated. “You had no choice.” Hominuk shook his head and said he had been scared.

Perlmutter also played segments of other video footage showing Hominuk outside his cruiser before and after making the threats where he appears “perfectly normal and fine.”

Hominuk responded that may be how he looked but he insisted he was in a confused state.

He did, however, agree that he didn’t take adequate precautions to guard against a hypoglycemic episode.

On that day, Hominuk started his 3 p.m. shift after only eating a bowl of cereal and was, in fact, not wearing a blood sugar monitoring device as was previously suggested because it caused him discomfort and malfunctioned.

“It was pretty irresponsible not to eat,” Perlmutter said.

“To a degree, yes,” replied the tall, grey-haired man who was diagnosed with the disease at 15. He added later that after following a strict regime for two decades, you can “back off a bit. You get complacent after 20 years.”

But he disagreed with Perlmutter’s suggestion that he has, over the years, put himself and the public at risk by failing to notify Toronto Police medical services about incidents where he has lost consciousness due to low blood sugar levels.

The maximum sentence Hominuk could face is 18 months in jail. The Crown is asking for a jail sentence. Defence lawyer Peter Brauti is seeking a non-custodial sentence.

Regardless of the sentence, Hominuk will still face a disciplinary tribunal that will determine whether he keeps his job.

Outside court, Brauti said he was shocked to learn from the Toronto Police Service an officer can remain on the job after a period of incarceration — something he said was unprecedented in Ontario.

A TPS spokesman told the Toronto Star that “each case is dealt with on a case-by-case basis.”

Final arguments are expected Thursday.

EDITORIAL: Trailblazing on tasers

June 15, 2011
The Halifax Chronicle

THREE years ago, a mentally ill man died in custody 30 hours after being Tasered at an HRM police station. Howard Hyde’s heart stopped and he had to be revived. The subsequent inquiry determined that it was a restraint hold — properly applied a day later by correctional officers — which caused his heart to stop forever.

Mr. Hyde’s death could have been avoided if he had been handled differently at every turn. Many Nova Scotians still suspect the Tasering was a contributing factor.

Ironically, they might be surprised to hear that many Quebecers were left wondering last week why Montreal police didn’t Taser a mentally ill man who allegedly charged them with a knife. Tragically, the suspect was shot dead instead, and an innocent bystander was killed in the crossfire.

We do not yet know the answers to these questions. If the officers believed they were in immediate, mortal danger, they would not have reached for a (generally) non-lethal weapon. Most likely, they were not armed with Tasers anyway — the Montreal force only has 42 stun guns on hand, compared to Toronto’s 700.

The use of Tasers, especially on emotionally disturbed people, is an emotional issue. But last week, Nova Scotia contributed something useful to the debate: the voice of reason.

In becoming the first province to clarify the rules of engagement in such circumstances, Justice Minister Ross Landry has found the right balance and created a model for other jurisdictions to follow.

We agree with Nova Scotia’s new guidelines that law enforcement officers should consider whether an agitated person is mentally ill and do everything in their power to de-escalate a confrontation, before deploying a stun gun.

We further agree with the precaution — although it’s not always practical — of calling paramedics to the scene before making the call to Taser a medically precarious or disturbed individual.

Most important, police as well as correctional and sheriff’s officers in Nova Scotia will be better trained to recognize signs of a mental illness.

The Hyde inquiry made the salient point that the jail guards didn’t know how to de-escalate confrontations. Better training is certainly the key to enforcing this province’s policy of minimizing harm to the mentally ill.

Four officers fought to subdue man in tragic struggle

June 15, 2011
Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Police had no alternative but to use physical force to subdue a man who was combative in resisting arrest, one of four officers who struggled with him at a southeast home testified at a fatality inquiry on Wednesday.

Const. Aron Johnston said it was believed that Gordon Walker Bowe, who allegedly broke into the unoccupied home on Erin Meadows Close on Nov. 1, 2008, was in a state of excited delirium.

“It was like bull wrestling ... he had incredible strength,” Johnston told lawyer Chad Babiuk, who represents Bowe’s relatives. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.

“Excited delirium has been recognized for 25 years. The best example I can use to describe it is ‘an adrenalin overdose.’ ”

Bowe, 40, was Tasered by one of the officers and died later at hospital, although it was subsequently determined by the medical examiner and the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team that the Taser played no role in his death.

Court heard earlier he had consumed cocaine prior to the incident.

Johnson said he never saw the Taser being used, but did see the stun gun laying on the floor by the door after the struggle, picked it up and put it into his pocket.

He said he and his partner were about the fourth police car to arrive at the home that night.

Johnson said he looked in through a basement window into the dark bedroom and saw what looked like an intense struggle between Bowe and other officers.

“The officers were challenging someone to stop resisting and show his hands,” Johnston told Crown lawyer Cynthia Hykaway. “They were trying to get him to co-operate and restrain him. They were almost pleading with him to stop fighting.”

The officer said he entered the home and joined the other three officers.

They soon got Bowe to his knees, but he wasn’t giving up.

“I thought the officers were losing grip on the fight, so I kicked him, jumped on top of him and held him. It was like wrestling. I held him tight.”

Johnston said the suspect continued to wriggle and kick, trying to break free, then suddenly “the movements of his body were less and less” and after 15 seconds he stopped resisting.

The constable looked up and saw fellow officers Dave Stewart and Stefan Van Tassel were pouring sweat and breathing heavily.

It was only then, he said, that the rest of the house was checked for other people and EMS personnel who had been waiting outside the home were summoned to come inside.

When asked by Babiuk why the paramedics were not called in earlier, so they would be available immediately after Bowe was subdued, Johnston said they could not come in while a struggle was ensuing and the house was not cleared to ensure no other suspects were inside.

“We would never call EMS into a scene we don’t feel is safe. It was a fast-paced situation when we have someone who has committed a break and enter to a house and we don’t know if anybody else is in there,” he answered.

“I’d find it extremely difficult to have medical personnel standing behind us when there was a struggle with Mr. Bowe. Having medical personnel in the room when there is a major struggle would be dangerous.”

The inquiry before provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureaux wraps up later today (Wednesday), the resumes on Aug. 24.

The judge in a fatality inquiry cannot find fault, but can make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Cop’s excuse shocking — DAVE DALE’s Soapboxing

June 14, 2011
By DAVE DALE, The North Bay Nugget

There's a funny quote in one of the Toronto Sun articles Tuesday.

A tearful Toronto cop apologized in court for threatening two suspects with an electronic shock to the testicles if they didn't give up the name of their break-in accomplice.

That's not the humorous part, although it depends if you're a sick puppy who gets off when someone is tortured. George W. Bush might giggle if given the opportunity to Taser a Democrat.

Part of Const. Christopher Hominuk's defence was the fact he was diabetic and may have experienced a hypoglycemic incident.

An expert medical witness said his actions were compatible with such events which can dramatically alter a diabetic's behaviour temporarily from gentle to aggressive.

If you don't eat properly, diabetics develop low blood sugar levels and certainly can alter moods as the body tries to function on a bad mix of fuel coursing through their veins.

He also slapped one suspect across the face.

It's a bit of stretch, however, to excuse specific, repeated violent behaviour just because you may have skipped lunch.

Not a bad attempt to sway a judge's view of a cop taking matters into his own hands, but too silly to be taken seriously.

Still, that's not what made me laugh out loud.

The probationary sergeant, who was demoted after the Taser threats came to light, told the court he wanted to cry when he realized what he had done — all of it caught on video as the handcuffed suspects were detained in the back of two cruisers.

"I knew what I had done was wrong," Hominuk said, leading to the knee-slapper of a quote.

Drum roll please . . .

"You'll always get more information from people by being nice than threatening them."

It's true, actually. People are often more eager to share information if you don't appear as a threat. Defence mechanisms go up and it takes a long time for them to go down when someone holds an energy conducting device to your crotch.

The court heard that neither suspect co-operated despite Hominuk's extreme investigative strategy. It doesn't say, however, if they sang like canaries when the "good" cop arrived on the scene with lollipops.

Seriously, it's a major stain on an otherwise exemplary 14-year career and it's a shame one bad moment will likely ruin his changes of moving up the ranks.

But it's good to see an incident like this being aired in public. Canada needs good cops, we have some of the best in the world. Prosecuting the bad apples is important to build public trust.

Don't get me wrong. Crap like this used to go on all the time. Every town had its bruisers in cruisers. I just didn't realize it was because they were eating too many doughnuts and not enough veggies.

Tearful Toronto cop sorry for Taser threat

June 14, 2011
By SAM PAZZANO, QMI Agency (Toronto Sun)

TORONTO - A city cop who threatened to Taser two burglary suspects in the testicles to force them to surrender a cohort wept on the witness stand Tuesday as he apologized to his victims.

Const. Christopher Hominuk burst into tears at his sentencing hearing before Justice Hugh Fraser on Tuesday, while reading letters of apology.

He said his judgment and behaviour was affected by a hypoglycemic incident, which is characterized by dangerously low blood sugar levels.

An expert medical witness testified Tuesday Hominuk's actions were "compatible with hypoglycemic" events that can dramatically -- but temporarily -- alter a diabetic's behaviour from gentle to aggressive.

Hominuk said he felt "horrible and ashamed" after he vowed to use his Taser against the handcuffed suspects.

Hominuk, who was diagnosed at age 15 as a Type 1 diabetic, said he wanted to cry when he realized what he had done.

"I knew what I had done was wrong. You'll always get more information from people by being nice than threatening them," said Hominuk.

After being charged, he was stripped of his probationary sergeant status despite outstanding performance reviews for 11 months.

His 14-year career was exemplary and Hominuk was universally respected by both peers and commanding officers, court heard.

Hominuk's actions were captured on in-cruiser cameras, which showed him slapping Robert James Bolgan, 47, in the face and forcing him to lay down in the backseat.

Hominuk, 38, pleaded guilty in January to one count of threatening bodily harm in a May 24, 2010, incident involving two suspects, who were both sitting alone in separate cruisers.

As soon as Hominuk opened the cruiser door, he shoved his Taser into Bolgan's genital area.

Hominuk demanded to know the name of a missing suspect. Bolgan answered that he didn't know.

"If you are lying to me, when I get back to the station, I'm Tasering you in the f---ing nuts," Hominuk barked at Bolgan.

Bolgan had redness to the side of his face where he was struck, court heard.

Hominuk confronted his second victim, Roger William Bradshaw, 39, who was lying in a nearby cruiser's backseat.

Hominuk pressed his Taser into Bradshaw's neck and repeated his demand for the identity of the fugitive. When Bradshaw emphasized he didn't know him, Hominuk snapped: "If I find out you're lying, I'm going to f---ing Taser you in the nuts."

Bradshaw was unharmed. The Taser was never activated or used on either man.

Hominuk and other officers were investigating a break-in of some tractor-trailers when police arrested the two men and another suspect.

Taser CEO testifies at fatality inquiry

June 14, 2011
Kevin Martin, Calgary Sun

Startled, a Calgary judge nearly jumped from her chair Tuesday when she thought a witness had activated a Taser gun.

But Rick Smith, CEO of Taser International Inc., assured provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux the weapon he held on the witness stand was completely harmless.

Smith, using a Taser borrowed from the Calgary Police Service, was showing Lamoureux how the weapon is deployed by peace officers.

But when he clicked a disposable cartridge which contained the weapons darts and wires, Lamoureux jumped back.

“Ew, did you load it?” the judge said.

“No, because the battery is not in,” Smith said.

Smith, who founded the company which makes the law enforcement weapon, was testifying at a fatality inquiry into the death of a man in police custody.

Lamoureux is presiding over the hearing to determine what, if any measures, might be implemented to prevent deaths in the future like that of Gordon Walker Bowe’s.

Bowe’s November, 2008 death is being blamed on excited delirium syndrome, a drug-induced condition.

The 30-year-old was shot by police with a Taser when they found him in a vacant house under construction in the 500 block of 42 St. S.E., although the device didn’t conduct an electrical shock.

Smith testified that while there has been significant litigation commenced over the use of Tasers in the U.S., only one case in 140 that have been settled found any fault for his company.

In that instance, the weapon was determined by a jury to be a 15% contributor in the plaintiff’s death, he told inquiry lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess.

But while his company now instructs cops to aim towards the abdomen of suspects, instead of chest areas to avoid the risk of cardiac arrhythmia, there’s no evidence linking Tasers to heart attacks.

The hearing, which can’t find blame, resumes Wednesday.

Officer says man 'appeared crazy'

June 15, 2011
By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald

A city police officer called to a break and enter at an Erin Woods home on Nov. 1, 2008, testified on Tuesday that it quickly became apparent the intruder was in a state of excited delirium.

"He appeared crazy," Const. Dave Stewart told Crown lawyer Cynthia Hykaway during the second day of a fatality inquiry into the death of Gordon Walker Bowe.

"His speech . . . I couldn't make out what he was saying. There was incredible jumping and sweating."

Stewart said he had some experience dealing with delirium in recruit training, but never dealt with a suspect before or since that day.

Bowe, 40, was Tasered by a fellow officer and died in hospital, but it was later ruled the stun gun did not play a role in his death. Rather, it was deemed to be from the delirium caused by use of cocaine.

Dr. Sam Andrews, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Bowe, earlier told co-Crown lawyer Jo-Ann Burgess there was no physical evidence that both probes from the Taser struck Bowe. He agreed that even if the Taser was properly deployed and successful in giving a deceased electrical charge, it had no prolonged effect on him.

Andrews said the state of delirium was caused by the use of cocaine, likely from a binge situation.

Rick Smith, CEO and founder of Taser International in 1993, told court there have been 170 civil litigation cases in the United States where the weapon was used and of the 130 or so completed cases, only once has Taser been deemed even partially responsible -and it was only for 15 per cent of the cause of a death.

He said most of the cases have been triggered by the victim taking toxic doses of amphetamines.

Smith, who demonstrated the use of the gun while in a safe mode without its battery, said they are now being equipped with video cameras to see what occurs for the five seconds or so they are being deployed.

However, he added, officers are using head cams to be able to capture not only the firing time, but what leads up to it and afterward, to give it context. That, however, was not the case in the confrontation with Bowe.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) investigated the actions of four Calgary police officers in the death of the Castlegar, B.C., resident, who travelled back and forth to Calgary for work, and reported there would be no charges laid against the officers.

ASIRT concluded Bowe, 30, was high on cocaine and died of excited delirium and not as a the result of a Taser or police actions.

The fatality inquiry continues today, then will be adjourned until Aug. 24 for continuation. A fatality inquiry cannot find fault, but the judge can make recommendations.

Ohio man dies after police taser him

June 13, 2011: Howard Hammon, 41, Middleburg Heights, Ohio

Autopsy confirms inmate killed by Taser

June 14, 2011
ABC News

LILLINGTON, NC (WTVD) -- The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner issued autopsy results Tuesday that list a Harnett County inmate's cause of death as complications from being Tasered multiple times.

"Given the autopsy and investigative findings, it is our opinion that the cause of death is complications of conducted energy device application," reads the report.

In March, Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins told ABC11 that 24-year-old Brandon Jolvon Bethea of Fayetteville was Tasered at the Harnett County Detention Center in Lillington after getting into an altercation with deputies.

Rollins said Bethea been in court earlier in the day and grew agitated when he was returned to jail. The medical examiner's report said Bethea suffered from schizophrenia and asthma.

Officers used a Taser - which emits a powerful electric charge - to control Bethea.

The autopsy report says officers noticed Bethea was non-responsive about 20 minutes after he was Tasered and they began CPR until EMS paramedics arrived.

Bethea was taken to Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital in Dunn where he was pronounced dead.

The report says Bethea was not handcuffed or restrained in any other way when he was Tasered.

Bethea had been in the Harnett County Detention Center under a $150,000 bond since January 23 after his arrest on two counts of attempted first-degree sex offense, attempted armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, and selling a counterfeit controlled substance.

Inquiry probes 2008 arrest death

June 13, 2011
CBC News

An inquiry began Monday about a B.C. man who died after Calgary police used a stun gun to arrest him three years ago.

Gordon Walker Bowe, a 30-year-old resident of Castlegar, B.C. died one day after he was arrested in Calgary while intoxicated by cocaine on Nov. 1, 2008.

The father of two was taken into custody after officers found him behaving erratically in the basement of a vacant home in the 500 block of 42nd Street S.E.

Staff Sgt. Jim Gamlin — who was a team commander for the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which probes any use of force by police that results in serious injury or death — told the inquiry that officers struggled to subdue Bowe, even with several Taser shots.

ASIRT's probe concluded in 2009 that while a Taser was fired during the arrest, Bowe had "life-threatening levels of cocaine in his body."

Bowe's death was caused by excited delirium due to the ingestion of cocaine, ASIRT said, citing the medical examiner's report. The medical examiner is set to testify on Tuesday along with a representative from Taser International, the makers of the stun guns.

Provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux will hear three days of testimony from witnesses before the proceedings adjourn, to resume again in August.

New N.S. guidelines for stun gun use

June 9, 2011
CBC News

Nova Scotia has issued new guidelines for the use of stun guns and they go into effect immediately.

The guidelines call on police officers, court security and jails guards to consider whether a person is mentally ill before they use a shock to try to subdue them.

When confronting someone who is known to suffer from a mental illness, the officer or guard should only use a conductive energy weapon — more commonly known as a stun gun or Taser — as a last resort.

If there's a danger that shock could seriously hurt that individual, paramedics should be called to the scene before deploying a stun gun.

"We're educating not only the officers that are involved, but the health care services when an incidence occurs what the response should be," said Justice Minister Ross Landry.

Landry said Nova Scotia is the first province in the country to spell out when a Taser should be used on someone who may be mentally ill.

Officials with the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia are pleased.

"These guidelines direct the officer to make the best possible decision as to whether or not this individual... actually is affected by a mental illness and in crisis," said Stephen Ayer, the executive director of the society.

Ayer said the key to the new rules is proper training and awareness.

Councillors back crisis intervention team concept

June 9, 2011
By MORGAN IAN ADAMS, Enterprise-Bulletin

COLLINGWOOD -- Councillors have gotten behind the push to create team to deal with individuals in crisis.

The idea was presented to the town's police services board in January by Marcus Firman, whose son, Aron, was killed in a confrontation with police last June.

Aron Firman died after he was hit with a conductive energy weapon, commonly referred to as a Taser, after OPP officers were sent to a St. Marie Street group home to deal with a domestic disturbance.

Firman, who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, attempted to flee when he was told he was going to be taken into custody. In doing so, Firman struck an officer ; when it appeared he was advancing on another officer, that officer discharged the Taser on the 27-year-old man.

Firman died at the scene of cardiac arrythmia brought on by the use of the weapon on an individual in an agitated state, according to the coroner.

The province's Special Investigations Unit has cleared the subject officer of any wrongdoing, though SIU director Ian Scott has pointed the blame for Firman's death on the use of the Taser.

Aron Firman's father, Marcus, says his son's death would not have happened had the OPP a mobile crisis intervention team in place.

The crisis team proposed by Marcus Firman is similar to what has been put in place in other jurisdictions such as Toronto and Hamilton; the Toronto Police Service created such a team in the wake of a coroner's inquest into the death of Edmund Yu, a mentally-ill man shot and killed by Toronto police officers in 1997. The team would most likely consist of a mental health nurse and a plainclothes police officer, who would also preferably be unarmed.

The team could be called out to de-escalate situations where police have been called to an incident involving a person in crisis.

On Monday night, Collingwood councillors threw their unanimous support to petition the province to establish a provincial team, or consider a funding model that would allow health organizations and police services to establish local or regional crisis intervention teams.

Marcus Firman applauded council's decision.

"I think it's great that the council is being proactive in supporting the police services board in this initiative," he said. "It's the right thing to do.

"In 18 days time (June 24), it will be the one-year anniversary of Aron's death, and for sure that death would not have happened if there had been a crisis intervention unit in place at the time.

Firman is expecting the coroner to announce an inquest into his son's death -- though when that announcement could occur is anyone's guess; coroner's inquests are typically called when an individual dies in police custody.

"No doubt, in my mind, that the inquest would recommend the institution of an intervention unit," said Firman. "I think council is doing what they can with the province and the OPP to try and move (the concept of an intervention team) forward.

Suspect dies shortly after being stunned by Broward County deputies

June 6, 2011 - James Doe, 31, Broward County, Florida

Study urges police to be cautious with stun guns

May 27, 2011
Dave Collins, Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Police officers using stun guns should avoid shooting suspects multiple times or for prolonged periods to reduce the risk of potential injury or death, according to a new U.S. Justice Department study prompted by hundreds of police-involved deaths across the country.

Coroners and other medical experts on the study panel concluded that while the effects of prolonged and repeated stun gun use on the body are not fully understood, most deaths officially attributed to Tasers and similar devices are from multiple or lengthy discharges of the weapons.

The panel reviewed nearly 300 cases in which people died from 1999 to 2005 after police shot them with stun guns, but found that most of the deaths were caused by underlying health problems and other issues. Of those cases, the experts examined 22 in which the use of stun guns was listed as an official cause of death.

The study released Tuesday by the department's research arm, the National Institute of Justice, concludes that it's appropriate for officers to use stun guns to subdue unruly or uncooperative suspects, as long as police adhere to "accepted national guidelines and appropriate use-of-force policy." It also makes several recommendations, including medical screenings for all people shot with stun guns.

The experts also noted that evidence shows the risk of death from a stun gun related incident is less than 0.25 percent, and there's no conclusive evidence that stun guns cause permanent health problems.

"What this study suggests is, indeed, less-than-lethal technologies ... can be effectively used by law enforcement," said John Laub, director of the National Institute of Justice.

Justice Department officials said the study began more than six years ago after Amnesty International and other groups blamed many death of suspects in police custody on stun gun. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations Committee Against Torture have called the use of stuns guns a form of torture in some cases.

More than 12,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide had issued about 260,000 stun guns to officers as of spring of last year, the study said. Of the more than 600 arrest-related deaths in the U.S. each year, there are very few cases in which stun guns are cited the cause or contributory factor, the report said.

Officials at Taser International, the maker of the leading stun guns, said Thursday that there are no peer-reviewed medical studies that have found that prolonged or repeated use of Tasers cause death. In 2009, however, the company advised Taser users to try to avoid shooting people in the chest, because of a very low risk of a health problem.

Alvaro Garzon, a 46-year-old drug and alcohol addiction counselor from New Haven, said the study's cautions about firing stun guns multiple times make sense. Garzon has filed a brutality complaint with New Haven police saying a city officer shot him with a stun gun four times last year during a domestic disturbance call.

"After two times it should be enough," Garzon said in Spanish on Thursday while his daughter, Lina, interpreted for him. "You don't feel good after the second shot. I felt like I was burning inside."

Garzon, who was accepted into a probation program on a charge of assault on a police officer, said he was treated at a hospital for lung problems, and he continues to suffer from the trauma. The status of Garzon's police complaint wasn't immediately clear Thursday night.

Police across the country have faced heated criticism for stun gun deaths.

Connecticut state police are investigating the May 1 death of 26-year-old Marcus Brown, who authorities say was shot with a stun gun by Waterbury police while he was in the back of a police cruiser and handcuffed. Brown's family is calling for federal authorities to investigate; the official cause of death is still pending.

Waterbury police say Brown, who was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 125 pounds, became combative. The officer who shot Brown, Adrian Sanchez, had been placed on administrative duty under normal procedures.

Earlier this month, Connecticut state police released an investigation report that showed how Middletown police last year shot 35-year-old Efrain Carrion 34 times with stun guns to subdue him while responding to a report that he was despondent and violent. Carrion died later that day.

The medical examiner concluded Carrion died of "excited delirium," a cause of death not recognized by many medical groups but one the Justice Department says is well documented. Several officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the incident.

Last year, a jury in Louisiana acquitted former Winnfield officer Scott Nugent, who was accused of shooting handcuffed suspect Baron Pikes eight times with a Taser gun and charged with manslaughter. Pikes later died.

In 2006, police in Green Cove Springs, Fla., shot a 56-year-old woman in a wheelchair 10 times with a stun gun and she died. Police say Emily Marie Delafield was swinging knives and a hammer at relative and police, and officers had tried to talk her into dropping the weapons before they were forced to subdue her. The officers' actions were found to be justified.

Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for Connecticut state police, said police officers never want to get into a situation where they're forced to fire Tasers or other weapons.

"Certainly you're looking for voluntary compliance from a suspect ... but unfortunately that's not always achievable," Vance said.

Montreal's overall crime rate down, homicides up

May 26, 2011
Katherine Wilton, Montreal Gazette

...

Police use of Taser stun guns dropped to seven incidents last year from 11 in 2009.

The public security committee, which held hearings last year into the force’s use of Tasers, has ruled that police should use the stun guns only when they’re the sole alternative to a firearm.

...

Investigation into B.C. Taser incident continues

May 26, 2011
CBC News

It could be another six weeks before the West Vancouver police complete their investigation into why a Mountie stunned an 11-year-old boy with a Taser near Prince George, B.C., last month.

The boy was shocked April 7 after he allegedly stabbed a caregiver at his government run group home, the RCMP has said.

West Vancouver Police Chief Pete Lepine says officers conducting the investigation have interviewed the Mounties involved and witnesses, and are now consulting with legal counsel and experts on police use of force.

Lepine said he understands the sense of urgency around the case, but he wants to ensure a fair, thorough and transparent investigation and the probe might not be finished until early July.

B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond has also said she will launch a special investigation into the incident, including reports that some group home staff members are using police to help discipline children.

Louisiana man dies after he is tasered by police

May 18, 2011 - Kirklin Woodridge, 29, Marrero, Louisiana

Coroners Inquest - Sean Reilly

A Coroner's Inquest into the death of Sean Reilly is taking place this week and into next week in Brampton, Ontario:

Monday (May 16), Tuesday (May 17), Wednesday (May 18), Friday (May 20), Tuesday (May 24)

Monte Carlo Inn Airport Suites
7035 Edwards Blvd Brampton
One block east of Hurontario off Derry Rd
Princess Grace Rm on 6th Floor
9:30am to 5pm

Sean Reilly, age 42, died on September 17, 2008. According to reports, he was tasered twice.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Jury Verdict Against TASER International, Inc., in Wrongful Death Suit

First-Ever Products Liability Verdict Upheld

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) May 11, 2011

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the first-ever plaintiff’s products liability verdict against Scottsdale based TASER International, Inc., the leading manufacturer of Electronic Control Devices (“ECDs”). TASER had sought to overturn the jury’s wrongful-death verdict claiming various errors during the trial (see the attached Memorandum Decision). However, a unanimous three-judge panel substantially rejected TASER’s appeal and affirmed the verdict. The plaintiffs are extremely gratified by the court's ruling which holds TASER responsible for the death of their son and brother, respectively, according to their attorneys, John Burton of Pasadena, California and Peter M. Williamson of Woodland Hills, California.

According to the plaintiffs' complaint, on February 19, 2005, Robert C. Heston began acting erratically inside his family's Salinas, California home. Suspecting a drug relapse, Heston's father called the police reporting his son's bizarre behavior and asked for help. Officers from the Salinas Police Department used their TASER ECDs repeatedly, ultimately subjecting Heston to 75 seconds of electrical discharges. As a result, Heston suffered a cardiac arrest. He was removed from life support and died the following day.

In their lawsuit, Heston v. City of Salinas, et al., N.D. Cal. Case No. C 05-03658 JW (United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose)), Heston's parents alleged that TASER ECDs are unreasonably dangerous and defective for use on human beings because they were sold without adequate testing and without sufficient warning that multiple shocks on people under the influence of drugs can cause cardiac arrest and death.

On June 7, 2008, the Heston jury found that TASER knew or should have known that its M26 model ECD was dangerous because prolonged exposures to the device pose a substantial risk of cardiac arrest to persons against whom the device is deployed. The jury also found that TASER International failed to adequately warn purchasers of its device of the risks associated with its use. It awarded the parents of Robert Heston $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000.00 in punitive damages. The jury also awarded Heston's estate $21,000.00 in compensatory damages and another $200,000.00 in punitive damages. However, it also found Robert Heston 85% comparatively negligent for the incident which ultimately resulted in his death. After post-trial motions, the trial court vacated the punitive damage awards leaving a net verdict of $150,000 to the parents of Robert Heston and $3,150 to his estate. TASER was also ordered to pay $1,423,000.00 in attorneys’ fees under the California Private Attorney’s General statute to attorneys John Burton of Pasadena, California and Peter M. Williamson of Williamson & Krauss of Woodland Hills, California who successfully represented the Heston family.

In upholding the verdict, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals did not disturb the jury’s findings that substantial evidence existed to prove that TASER knew or should have known that its M26 model ECD was dangerous because prolonged exposures to the device pose a substantial risk of cardiac arrest to persons against whom the device is deployed. The Court, however, did vacate the jury’s award of $3,150 to the Heston estate concluding that insufficient evidence was presented at the trial to support this award. The Court also vacated the award of attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs’ counsel agreeing with TASER that the trial court abused its discretion by awarding such fees under the California Private Attorney’s General statute.

Independent, civilian office to investigate B.C. police officers accused of wrongdoing

May 17, 2011
The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — RCMP officers in British Columbia accused of serious wrongdoing will have their cases examined by an independent investigations office under legislation tabled Tuesday by the B.C. government.

The new office will be led by a civilian who has never worked as a police officer and will be responsible for investigating serious criminal allegations against officers in municipal forces as well as the RCMP.

"B.C.'s office will investigate a broader range of police-involved incidents than Ontario's model and be more independent than Alberta's, reporting to the attorney general rather than the minister responsible for policing," Solicitor General Shirley Bond told the legislature in introducing the bill.

Bond said the legislation is the fulfillment of the key recommendation from retired judge Thomas Braidwood's report into the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport.

Braidwood and RCMP officials were in the legislature's public gallery to witness the tabling of the bill.

Investigators with the Independent Investigation Office will have the same status and powers as police to conduct criminal investigations into death or serious harm or other incidents involving officers.

The office's director will have the ability to appoint a civilian monitor with access to all the information on an investigation and with the ability to raise concerns to the director about the integrity of an investigation, the government said in background information.

Those who work as investigators for the office will be appointed by the office's director. In the early going, ex-police officers can be hired, but they can't have actively worked as a B.C. police officer in the previous five years.

Long-term, the goal is to progress to a fully civilian investigative staff and the Independent Investigation Office will face a review before Jan. 1, 2015, to determine whether it is on the road to meeting that goal.

"It is critical that British Columbians have confidence in our police and that the police are accountable to them," said Premier Christy Clark.

"This legislation is an historic step for policing in B.C. and will strengthen public faith in the dedicated officers who work so hard to keep our families safe."

Introduction of the legislation, which has been anticipated for months, was welcomed by critics who have long complained about police investigating themselves in such incidents.

Robert Holmes, president of the B.C. Civil Liberties, said he was "very pleased" to hear the government was acting on Braidwood's "critically important recommendations."

Idaho man dies of an "unknown medical event"

May 16, 2011
Spokesman-Review

May 16, 2011: Unidentified male, age unknown, Boundary County, Idaho

A fatal confrontation involving a Boundary County deputy sheriff this morning in North Idaho is under investigation.

Details remained sketchy this afternoon, but the Sheriff’s Department confirms that one person is dead following an early morning encounter with a deputy who was responding to a report of a naked man blocking a road just off U.S. Highway 95.

Initial reports indicate the deputy used a Taser while attempting to subdue the man, but sheriff’s officials declined to discuss specifics about the investigation. The department, in a news release, would say only that “the subject appeared to have an unknown medical event.”

Identity of the dead man was being withheld while authorities tried to locate and advise his relatives. The identify of the deputy involved also was being withheld.

Medics were summoned to the scene but the man was pronounced dead at Boundary Community Hospital in nearby Bonners Ferry.

Circumstances surrounding the death are being investigated by Idaho State Police, which was asked by the sheriff to provide an independent investigation.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, a female motorist called shortly before 1 a.m. Monday to advise that she had encountered a vehicle blocking a local road and that when she attempted to assist, an unclothed man emerged. The woman returned to her vehicle and took an alternate route while contacting the sheriff’s department.

Victoria Police Proof of Concept Study - Body Worn Video and In Vehicle Video

February 2010
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Staff Sergeant Darren Laur (see also Darren Laur)
Constable Brendon LeBlanc
Constable Trevor Stephen
Constable Peter Lane
Debra Taylor

Mounties using their heads to video crime, deal with suspects

May 16, 2011
By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The RCMP like to say they always get their man, and soon they might have video of him, too.

The national police force is studying the use of head-mounted video cameras to record confrontations with suspects.

The move follows RCMP field trials in Kelowna, B.C., and Moncton, N.B., last year in which the force tested — and later rejected — other video devices.

Included in the trials were the Taser Cam, an accessory for newer-model stun guns made by Taser International, supplier to the RCMP, and the Vidmic, an audio-video recorder that attaches to an officer's belt radio.

During the pilot, 132 Vidmic video clips were recorded and the Taser Cam was used twice, say RCMP documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. In addition, several still photos were taken with the Vidmic.

The RCMP records show the devices didn't quite meet the force's needs.

Members "expressed concerns" with the Taser Cam because it began recording only when the stun gun's safety switch was set to the armed position, says an August 2010 report on the field trials.

It meant that, in one Kelowna episode, "a significant amount of communication and negotiation" with a man who tried to harm himself and threatened police was not captured on video, notes the report.

In that case, the Taser was not fired.

"Had the situation ended differently, with the subject not complying, the efforts made by the members to de-escalate the situation would not have been recorded," the report says.

Because the Vidmic was mounted on the member's vest or jacket, it was not always pointed in the direction the member was looking, says the report.

Officers also had technical concerns with the Vidmic, including the fact it beeped every few seconds when the battery was low.

"It was noted this could have officer safety implications if the members were conducting a silent approach on foot to an incident."

As a result, late in the trial, the force began looking at a head-worn camera that slips over the ear and connects to a portable mini-computer on the belt.

Ten Axon devices, made by Arizona-based Taser International, were tested only in off-duty settings, such as training, because the video recordings were downloaded directly to a site in the United States, posing potential privacy concerns.

"The members immediately reported that the Axon camera resolved the issues and limitations they had noted with the Vidmic," say the RCMP notes.

Though officers found the mini-computer "quite bulky," the Axon "warranted a more in-depth review."

Based on feedback from officers, the RCMP began new research last month focusing on the head-mounted cameras, said Sgt. Pat Flood, an RCMP spokeswoman.

No field trial is yet underway, she said. But the internal RCMP memos say funding has been set aside in anticipation of the next trial, which might include other police forces.

"If a further pilot is approved, the recordings will be housed in Canada," say the notes. "There is also opportunity to bring other law enforcement agencies in on the expanded pilot project as the server can house their data separately."

At least two other Canadian police forces have tested body-worn video devices. A report on the Victoria police department's 2009 trial found the technology provided "the best evidence possible" and that the video could be used in court. It also said officers' awareness of their surroundings increased, while public hostility and aggressiveness decreased.

Police tout video as a means of documenting their side of the story when conflicting accounts of an altercation arise. However, civil libertarians have warned that police use of video raises important questions about the citizens' rights.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has argued that it's no coincidence a number of videos police misconduct have come from the public, not police.

A vivid example is the case of Robert Dziekanski — who died in 2007 after being hit with an RCMP Taser at the Vancouver airport — an episode recorded by a fellow traveller carrying a video camera.

The RCMP report recommends that future study of video look at data storage and retention, cost, training and recertification, and privacy-related concerns.

Researchers Zap Industry-Funded Studies on Stun Gun Safety

May 16, 2011
Christine Young, Fair Warning

Plenty of studies suggest that the stun guns that police sometimes use to subdue suspects are safe. But a new analysis questions the credibility of at least some of that research.

That analysis, by cardiologists at the University of California, San Francisco, was based on a review of 50 published studies on Taser guns. According to a university news release, 23 of the studies either were financed by Taser International Inc., the leading maker of electrical stun guns, or were written by an author affiliated with the company.

The other 27 studies were conducted by independent researchers.

In findings delivered at a conference this month, the UC researchers said all but one of the manufacturer-backed studies said stun guns were either not harmful or not likely to be harmful. Yet among the independent assessments, only slightly more than half — 15 of the 27 studies — came to similar conclusions.

“When you look at the research, you find out a lot of the articles that are touted by police departments are funded by the company,” Dr. Byron Lee, an associate professor at the university and senior author of the study, told The New York Times.

The potential hazards of stun guns were demonstrated last week when a 43-year-old man died after being stun-gunned by deputies in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Deputies tried to stop the man after he allegedly ran a stop sign. Cindy Bachman, a sheriff’s department spokeswoman, said the suspect, who had no prior criminal record, had become “combative and uncooperative.” The victim’s father said he was told that his son was Tasered about eight times.

In 2009, five men in San Bernardino County and neighboring Riverside County died after being shot with stun guns, Inland News Today reports. In response, Taser issued an advisory that aiming the device at a suspect’s chest could cause an “adverse cardiac arrest.”

Truth, Not Tasers, a website that tracks stun guns deaths, says 19 people have died so far this year, and 65 were killed last year, in U.S. stun gun incidents.

N.S. government trying to hide cause of Hyde's death, sister says

May 13, 2011
By MICHAEL MacDONALD The Canadian Press

The sister of a mentally ill Nova Scotia man whose death in a jail cell prompted a public inquiry is accusing the Nova Scotia government of trying to hide the cause of Howard Hyde's death.

Joanna Blair has written a scathing letter to Premier Darrell Dexter, saying she is ``shocked and saddened'' by the government's official response to the inquiry, released Thursday.

Blair's letter says the government has ``failed'' her brother and all Nova Scotians because its response is at odds with the inquiry's conclusion that Hyde's death was caused by a struggle with guards whose restraint techniques may have interfered with his breathing.

Instead, Blair says, the government's response revives a medical examiner's conclusion that Hyde died of a condition known as excited delirium due to paranoid schizophrenia — a controversial finding rejected by the head of the inquiry, provincial court judge Anne Derrick.

``This 52-page brochure ... succeeds only in propounding the use of the term 'excited delirium,''' Blair writes in the letter, released Friday.

``We requested the inquiry because we did not believe my brother died of the now renamed 'autonomic hyperarousal state.'''

The government's response says the province has yet to clarify its guidelines for Taser use, saying a ``clear understanding of how the use of conducted energy weapons may affect individuals in an autonomic hyperarousal state is needed.''

A spokeswoman for Dexter confirmed his office received the letter, but the premier had yet to read it.

In her inquiry report released in December, Derrick said she agreed with one expert who testified that citing excited delirium as a cause of death resulted in Hyde being ``identified as the culprit.''

``The only useful approach is to understand that Mr. Hyde died because of physiological changes in his body brought on by an intense struggle involving restraint,'' Derrick wrote. ``He did not die because he was mentally ill.''

She also said there is considerable controversy within the medical community as to whether excited delirium is a legitimate medical condition.

The issue received considerable scrutiny during Derrick's 11-month inquiry, as it did during the public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died in October 2007 after he was Tasered by a Mountie at Vancouver International Airport.

A subsequent independent report commissioned by the RCMP also criticized the use of the term, saying the condition is sometimes used as an excuse to justify firing stun guns.

In February 2009, the RCMP restricted the use of stun guns to cases involving threats to officers or public safety, confirming that officers had previously been instructed to use the weapons to subdue suspects thought to be in a state of excited delirium.

That term no longer appears in RCMP operational manuals because the force has taken the position that its officers can't be expected to ``diagnose conditions.''

In her letter, Blair also suggests it was wrong to describe her brother as mentally ill.

``That the government of Nova Scotia could attempt to mask the actual cause of death, restraint, and couch my brother's fate within the fabrication of the ignorant and unthinking terminology of 'mental illness' — a term he never agreed with — is staggeringly disheartening.''

During Derrick's inquiry, which wrapped up last June, the judge was told Hyde had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was in his 20s.

Former Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams' son stun gunned in Florida

May 13, 2011
CBC News

There are reports that the son of former premier Danny Williams was shot with a stun gun after an incident at a Florida night club last month.

Daniel Mark Williams, 35, was arrested after he allegedly assaulted a bouncer at a bachelor party.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that he took ten swings at the security guard after he was asked to leave the bar for arguing with several people.

The report says when Williams resisted arrest, officers had to use a taser.

Williams was charged with simple battery, disorderly conduct and obstructing or resisting an officer without violence following an incident, the sheriff's office in Pinellas County says.

Williams was arrested by police at Treasure Island, a resort community near St. Petersburg, after an altercation at a sports bar.

The St. John's Telegram reported Thursday that Williams ran into trouble at the Gators Sports Bar, and refused to leave the bar when requested.

Lt. Armand Boudreau told the Telegram that Williams is accused of punching a security guard at the bar 10 times.

Williams paid $800 in a bond and was released within hours.

Police in Treasure Island told CBC News that the incident is not unusual. The allegations against Williams are not considered particularly serious, as they are misdemeanour charges.

Speaking with CBC News on Thursday, Williams said he could not comment on specific details of the case.

He said, though, that he was with close friends during a wedding trip to Florida, and that "the charges result from a misunderstanding with the bar staff."

He said he could not comment further until the issue is resolved.

Cop sues CBC over Tasered teen story

May 13, 2011
Tony Blais, QMI Agency - Edmonton Sun

EDMONTON - Edmonton police officer Mike Wasylyshen has filed a $100,000 defamation lawsuit against the CBC regarding a TV broadcast about him repeatedly Tasering a city teen.

According to a statement of claim filed in Court of Queen¹s Bench on April 28, Wasylyshen alleges the 2009 broadcast falsely stated he admitted to committing a number of violent and potentially criminal acts.

In particular, Wasylyshen claims the story stated he is a cop with a record for assault who is "admitting to once again crossing the line," which he says implies he has admitted to having committed an assault or other crime.

The 12-year veteran also alleges the April 29, 2009 item on the 6 p.m. TV news stated he had admitted to both having "repeatedly Tasered a passed out teenager then beat him" and having hit the teen so hard on the back of the head with the butt of the Taser that he "snapped off a tooth when he landed face first on the ground."

According to the statement of claim, the broadcast, when taken as a whole, is defamatory because it falsely states Wasylyshen has admitted to having used unreasonable and excessive force towards a defenseless teenager when carrying out his duties as a police officer.

A statement of defence has not yet been filed. Statements of claim and statements of defence contain allegations which have not been proven in court.

Wasylyshen is currently before a police disciplinary hearing regarding the 2002 Tasering incident on internal charges of unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority and insubordination, and is awaiting a decision.

According to agreed facts, Wasylyshen and four other officers were dispatched to a complaint of a group trying to steal a parked car on Oct. 5, 2002, near Abbottsfield Road.

The cops ordered the people out of the car and three of four people inside exited, but Randy Fryingpan, then 16, was passed out in the back seat from drinking and did not respond to the order to get out of the car.

Wasylyshen then deployed his Taser on Fryingpan eight times in 68 seconds "in what appeared to be an effort to remove the passed-out youth from the vehicle," according to the Law Enforcement Review Board decision.

At the disciplinary hearing, Wasylyshen testified he Tasered Fryingpan six times, not eight, and maintained it was an appropriate use of force.

Wasylyshen, 35, was fined $500 and given a criminal record on April 16, 2009 for a Dec, 18, 2005 off-duty incident on Whyte Avenue where he drunkenly punched a man on crutches he called a "cripple," and threatened to burn down the home of a security guard who helped him.

Perjury charges laid against RCMP involved in Dziekanski's death

May 12, 2011
Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER -- Perjury Charges now have been laid against four Mounties involved in the in-custody death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport in 2007, the criminal justice branched announced today.

The charges were laid against RCMP Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, and Const. Kwesi Millington, Const. Bill Bently and Const. Gerry Rundel.

They will make a first court appearance June 29 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

The charges were laid after Vancouver senior lawyer Richard Peck was appointed to review the evidence.

Peck recommended perjury charges be laid against the officers, who allegedly lied during their testimony at the Braidwood Inquiry, which probed Dziekanski death on Oct. 14, 2007.

Inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood concluded the officers were not justified in using a Taser on Dziekanski and found the four officers displayed "shameful conduct."

The officers will go to trial by direct indictments, which eliminates the need for a preliminary hearing in Provincial Court.

Dziekanski, 40, had come to Canada to live with his mother, who lived in Kamloops.

Unable to speak English, he spent more than 10 hours in the airport and could not find his mother, who eventually went home, thinking her son never arrived from Poland.

Dziekanski, exhausted and possibly delirious, began throwing things around and someone called police.

Seconds after the four Mounties arrived, Dziekanski was jolted five times with a Taser by a junior officer, who had never used a stun gun before.

The officers testified they feared for their safety after Dziekanski grabbed a stapler and came at them with it raised as a weapon. They said Dziekanski had to be jolted more than once because the first shot didn't cause him to fall

A bystander captured the incident on video, which contradicted the officers' testimony.

The video, which was posted on the Internet and caused an international outcry, showed Dziekanski fell after the first Taser jolt and then screamed and writhed in pain from multiple electric shocks from the conducted energy weapon.

He died after he was handcuffed face down on the airport floor.

Hyde death prompts N.S. changes

May 12, 2011
CBC News

The Nova Scotia government says it is still trying to mend gaps in the justice system more than three years after the jail cell death of a mentally ill man.

Howard Hyde died on Nov. 22, 2007, after a struggle with guards at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth, N.S., in which the 45-year-old schizophrenic man was shocked with a Taser up to five times in the 30 hours before he died.

"People with mental illness are from time to time going to come into the justice system. We really need to have a much better, seamless, relationship between these two departments," Health Minister Maureen MacDonald said of her department and the Justice Department.

Hyde fell through the cracks between the justice system and the health system, with doctors releasing him to police, expecting he would be sent for a mental-health assessment. He was never sent for an assessment and died in police custody.

Three weeks ago, Nova Scotia opened an intensive care ward at the East Coat Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Burnside. Hyde would likely have been sent there, had it existed at the time.

Call for stun gun restraint

In December, provincial court Judge Anne Derrick released a report into Hyde's death that concluded the repeated jolts from the Taser did not cause him to die. She also said excited delirium — a condition characterized by increased strength, paranoia and suddenly violent behaviour marked by profuse sweating and an elevated heart rate — was not the cause of death.

"The only useful approach is to understand that Mr. Hyde died because of physiological changes in his body brought on by an intense struggle involving restraint," Derrick wrote at the time.

"He did not die because he was mentally ill."

As one of Derrick's 80 recommendations, she said stun guns should not be used against emotionally agitated people, except as a last resort.

In its formal response to Derrick's report, the government said Thursday that the use of stun guns has dropped since Hyde's death but provincial guidelines on the use of conducted energy weapons are still being finalized.

Better than lethal options

Justice Minister Ross Landry and MacDonald had little to say about the other recommendations in Derrick's report and simply said the training program for those dealing with mentally ill people had been revised.

"You can see upon some occasions where not having that instrument you might have to resort to another piece of equipment that could give lethal force," Landry said.

The ministers said all of the judge's recommendations were considered, including increasing funding for mental health services.

MacDonald said a mental health strategy, to be released in the fall, will provide more details on the 90 actions the government is taking. Of those actions, 20 have to do with training in dealing with people with mental health issues as well as conducted energy weapons.

The government did not say how much it would cost to implement these actions or when it would be in place.

"Unfortunately Howard died and that's very troubling," said Stephen Ayer of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia. 'However things have changed immensely because of his death."

Calif. Man Dies After Cops Use Stun Gun During A Traffic Stop

May 12, 2011
by Eyder Peralta, NPR

A routine traffic stop ended in the death of a 43-year-old California man. The Los Angeles Times reports that San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies attempted to stop Allen Kephart, after they say he ran a stop sign. Cindy Bachman, a sheriff department spokeswoman, told the Times that Kephart drove to a gas station about a quarter of mile away, got out of the car and "became combative and uncooperative:"

"The deputy attempted to place him under arrest, at which time he was Tased," Bachman said. "He became unconscious, and medical aid was immediately provided, CPR."

Kephart was taken to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.

The San Bernardino Sun reports this was Kephart's first real run-in with police. His father, reports the Sun, is a 20-year member of the San Bernardino County sheriff's Rangers volunteer unit.

"They're not dealing with a criminal, a druggie, a gang banger. They were dealing with someone that was in the community for 43 years, that never ever had been arrested or had any problem with law enforcement," his father, Alfred Kephart, told the Sun.

Back in 2009, five men in the area died after being hit with stun guns. Inland News Today reports that led Taser International, a maker of stun guns, to issue an advisory that said aiming the device at a suspect's chest could cause an "adverse cardiac arrest."

Truth, Not Tasers, a website that keeps track of stun guns deaths in the United States, says 19 people have died in stun gun incidents in 2011. 65 people died in the U.S. last year, according to the site.

A 2008 study by Amnesty International found that in 90 percent of stun gun incidents, suspects were unarmed. In June of 2010, Amnesty International reported more than 400 people had died after being stun gunned by police.

The Los Angeles Times reports Kephart was Tased about eight times by two deputies.

California man dies after he is tasered by police

May 10, 2011
Lori Consalvo, The Sun

A man died Tuesday after sheriff's deputies fired a taser at him following a short pursuit and struggle in Twin Peaks.

About 3:15 p.m., San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies saw a vehicle run a stop sign in the area of Highway 18 and Daley Canyon.

The deputy attempted a traffic stop, but the driver of the vehicle continued another quarter mile and pulled into a gas station, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

"The subject exited the vehicle but was extremely uncooperative with deputies," Miller said.

Sheriff's deputies used a taser on the man while trying to take him into custody.

The man became unconscious and officials conducted CPR on him at the scene, on the way to the hospital and again at the hospital where he was pronounced dead, Miller said.

Sheriff's homicide detectives were called to investigate the death. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

The name of the man was not released Tuesday night.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Jury Verdict Against TASER International, Inc., in Wrongful Death Suit

May 11, 2011
PRWeb

First-Ever Products Liability Verdict Upheld
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB)

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the first-ever plaintiff’s products liability verdict against Scottsdale based TASER International, Inc., the leading manufacturer of Electronic Control Devices (“ECDs”). TASER had sought to overturn the jury’s wrongful-death verdict claiming various errors during the trial (see the attached Memorandum Decision). However, a unanimous three-judge panel substantially rejected TASER’s appeal and affirmed the verdict. The plaintiffs are extremely gratified by the court's ruling which holds TASER responsible for the death of their son and brother, respectively, according to their attorneys, John Burton of Pasadena, California and Peter M. Williamson of Woodland Hills, California.

According to the plaintiffs' complaint, on February 19, 2005, Robert C. Heston began acting erratically inside his family's Salinas, California home. Suspecting a drug relapse, Heston's father called the police reporting his son's bizarre behavior and asked for help. Officers from the Salinas Police Department used their TASER ECDs repeatedly, ultimately subjecting Heston to 75 seconds of electrical discharges. As a result, Heston suffered a cardiac arrest. He was removed from life support and died the following day.

In their lawsuit, Heston v. City of Salinas, et al., N.D. Cal. Case No. C 05-03658 JW (United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose)), Heston's parents alleged that TASER ECDs are unreasonably dangerous and defective for use on human beings because they were sold without adequate testing and without sufficient warning that multiple shocks on people under the influence of drugs can cause cardiac arrest and death.

On June 7, 2008, the Heston jury found that TASER knew or should have known that its M26 model ECD was dangerous because prolonged exposures to the device pose a substantial risk of cardiac arrest to persons against whom the device is deployed. The jury also found that TASER International failed to adequately warn purchasers of its device of the risks associated with its use. It awarded the parents of Robert Heston $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000.00 in punitive damages. The jury also awarded Heston's estate $21,000.00 in compensatory damages and another $200,000.00 in punitive damages. However, it also found Robert Heston 85% comparatively negligent for the incident which ultimately resulted in his death. After post-trial motions, the trial court vacated the punitive damage awards leaving a net verdict of $150,000 to the parents of Robert Heston and $3,150 to his estate. TASER was also ordered to pay $1,423,000.00 in attorneys’ fees under the California Private Attorney’s General statute to attorneys John Burton of Pasadena, California and Peter M. Williamson of Williamson & Krauss of Woodland Hills, California who successfully represented the Heston family.

In upholding the verdict, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals did not disturb the jury’s findings that substantial evidence existed to prove that TASER knew or should have known that its M26 model ECD was dangerous because prolonged exposures to the device pose a substantial risk of cardiac arrest to persons against whom the device is deployed. The Court, however, did vacate the jury’s award of $3,150 to the Heston estate concluding that insufficient evidence was presented at the trial to support this award. The Court also vacated the award of attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs’ counsel agreeing with TASER that the trial court abused its discretion by awarding such fees under the California Private Attorney’s General statute.

Officer who fired Taser at Dziekanski to plead not guilty

May 7, 2011
Petti Fong, Toronto Star

VANCOUVER—The RCMP officer who fired the Taser at Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport will plead not guilty to perjury charges, his lawyer said Saturday.

Nearly four years after the fatal encounter between Dziekanski and four Mounties, perjury charges are recommended against the officers.

An earlier RCMP investigation into the officers’ actions led crown counsel to determine potential criminal charges for manslaughter or assault with a deadly weapon would unlikely lead to a conviction.

But an independent investigation by a special prosecutor appointed by the provincial government late Friday recommended charges of perjury against the four officers.

Ravi Hira, the lawyer for Const. Kwesi Millington, the Mountie who fired the Taser, said the recommended charges were unexpected.

“Naturally my client is disappointed that the special prosecutor is proceeding with the charge,” Hira said Saturday. “He will be pleading not guilty and he will be answering the evidence as it unfolds.”

Special prosecutor Richard Peck concluded following his investigation that pursuing charges related to the physical interaction between Dziekanski and the four officers on Oct. 14, 2007 which led to the Taser being fired would not be successful.

But Peck did recommend charges of perjury against Consts. Millington, Gerry Rundel, Bill Bentley and Cpl. Monty Robinson. The maximum penalty, which is extremely rare, is 14 years for a conviction.

Each of the four officers at the public inquiry testified under oath that they felt physically threatened by Dziekanski, 40, who was unarmed.

In his report of the inquiry’s findings released last year, Commissioner Thomas Braidwood found that the officer who fired the Taser was not justified in using the weapon and all of the officers offered “unbelievable after-the-fact rationalizations.” The officers made “deliberate misrepresentations for the purpose of justifying their action.”

The retired judge also said he disbelieved the officers’ claims that there was no discussion among them about the incident before being questioned by internal homicide investigators within the RCMP.

Braidwood said Dziekanski, who did not speak English, was compliant and did not move toward any of the officers. He concluded the officers did not honestly believe they were being attacked when the decision was made to fire the Taser.

Millington, who now works for an Ontario detachment, testified that the officers had to wrestle Dziekanski to the ground when video showed that he fell after the first shot was fired from the Taser.

The incident was captured on video taken by bystander Paul Pritchard. It showed the RCMP officers had fired the Taser within 30 seconds of first arriving at the scene of a 911 call about a disturbance in the international arrivals area at the airport.

Dziekanski was on his first-ever flight arriving in Vancouver from Poland. His mother Zofia Cisowski was to meet him at the airport. But because of miscommunications, Dziekanski and his mother never found each other and he was left stranded for nearly 10 hours without any assistance.

The RCMP has apologized to Cisowski and given her an undisclosed financial settlement.

In a statement, Cisowski said the RCMP should not have investigated itself.

“It has been a long and painful ordeal over the last three-and-a-half years of delay and misinformation by the RCMP,” Cisowski said. “I hope that justice will finally be achieved in the death of my son.”

UCSF doctor questions Taser studies

Deputy who refused Taser shock has lawsuit dismissed

Attorney Daniel Lapointe Kent: "A great injustice has been done," Kent said. "It doesn't make sense to require someone to go through what can only be characterized as some kind of dangerous rite of passage."

We agree.

May 7, 2011
Robert Annis, IndyStar

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former deputy who said he was wrongly fired by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department after refusing to receive a shock from a Taser.

Ray Robert sought reinstatement, back wages and punitive damages, saying a back condition led him to refuse mandatory training that included a one- to five-second jolt from the stun gun.

U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson disagreed, saying in her ruling earlier this week that Taser exposure "does not result in long-term damage and teaches deputies first-hand the effects of the Taser . . . that might otherwise be abused."

She added, "Its unique nature justifies specialized education and training that can be done with little risk of injury during training."

Robert's attorney, Daniel Lapointe Kent, said he would appeal.

"A great injustice has been done," Kent said. "It doesn't make sense to require someone to go through what can only be characterized as some kind of dangerous rite of passage."

Tasers temporarily incapacitate suspects by delivering five seconds of 50,000 volts of low-amperage electricity through two barbs shot into the body from up to 21 feet away.

Hamilton County requires all deputies to carry Tasers, including civil deputies such as Robert who serve court papers and generally are not directly involved with law enforcement.

Police agencies often maintain that it's important for officers to experience the Taser's shock so they will show restraint in using the device. Most training programs give officers the choice of being shot with the barbs or receiving a shorter jolt through a pair of alligator clips attached to a pant leg.

Robert, who filed the lawsuit in 2009, said two doctors, including one chosen by the Sheriff's Department, advised him against receiving the shock. He feared the electrical jolt and ensuing muscle spasms could further injure a damaged vertebra and a metal plate in his back.

When Robert refused, then-Sheriff Doug Carter offered him a job in the control room at the Hamilton County Jail.

Robert, who had retired as a merit deputy in 2007 and was earning a pension in addition to his salary as a civil deputy, refused the new job. Carter fired him in December 2008.

"It wasn't a 'reasonable accommodation' as required by law," Kent said. "The control room (in the jail) is where they send people in trouble, where employees sit in front of a computer screen all day.

"It's much different than being outside in a patrol car serving papers."

But Magnus-Stinson said the Taser exposure was "essential to the role of civil deputy process server . . . (and) Robert's inability to participate in the training and, consequentially his inability to use a Taser, render him unable to perform his essential job functions."

She added that Robert's back and other physical ailments would actually make him better suited for the control room job offered by Carter.

Sheriff's Maj. Tom Gelhausen said Friday that of 200 deputies and employees who had the training, only one reported an injury when the probe hit the person's skin.

"There is a discomfort level," he said. "You're being neuromuscularly incapacitated, so you stop whatever you're doing. . . . It's important to teach officers the firsthand effects of the Taser. They need to know what can happen if it's taken away and used on them and how quickly the combatant can recover from a shock.

"It deters the officer from abusing the weapon. It's also important so the officer can bolster his credibility at trial."

Mounties in Dziekanski death face perjury charges

CTV BRITISH COLUMBIA
With files from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger

The four Mounties involved in the Taser death of Robert Dziekanski in October 2007 will face criminal charges.

B.C. special prosecutor Richard Peck is recommending laying perjury charges against all of the officers related to misinformation given during the independent inquiry into Dziekanski's death, the provincial Criminal Justice Branch confirmed Friday.

Peck's recommendations will now be forwarded to the provincial attorney general's office for review.

The veteran lawyer ruled out proceeding with any criminal charges linked to the officer's conduct at the airport the night Dziekanski died.

"Mr. Peck has concluded that there is no substantial likelihood of conviction in relation to any potential charges arising from the circumstances of the physical altercation with Mr. Dziekanski or the subsequent investigation into his death," the CJB wrote in a statement issued late Friday in response to inquiries by CTV News.

Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, said the special prosecutor's report will be released within two weeks.

She said charges are something she's been waiting for since the death of her son.

"It is very important to me, Robert's case. It is my life now," she said.

The province appointed Peck last year in response to the blunt assessment of inquiry commissioner Thomas Braidwood that the four Mounties deliberately misled investigators about what happened during their confrontation with Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport.

The public inquiry also stated that the officers were not justified in their use of force against the Polish immigrant, who did not speak any English.

Braidwood said Dziekanski's death, which was captured on a now-infamous amateur video, "shocked and repulsed people around the world" and the four officers acted improperly at nearly every step of the brief and tragic encounter.

Cisowski filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2009 against the RCMP and others, but settled the case after receiving a public apology from the force and an undisclosed financial settlement.

Her lawyer said the officers could face charges in Dziekanski's home country of Poland if they are not charged in Canada.

"Justice Braidwood said that this was shameful conduct on the part of the police and that people were shocked and repulsed around the world. We're hoping that our institutions work," Bill Sundhu said.

The Braidwood Inquiry cost B.C. taxpayers almost $4.5 million.

One of the officers involved, Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, is currently suspended from the RCMP and will soon stand trial for obstruction of justice following an unrelated fatal car crash in October 2008.

Robinson failed two separate police breathalyzer tests after hitting motorcyclist Orion Hutchinson with his Jeep.

Const. Gerry Rundel, the first officer to take the stand at the official inquiry into Dziekanski's death, is currently on desk duty in Nanaimo.

Const. Bill Bentley, who had been working at the Vancouver airport for just one month when Dziekanski died, is working for an RCMP security detail in Toronto.

The constable who fired the Taser, Zwesi Millington, is working for a commercial crime section in Milton, Ontario.

Millington's lawyer, Ravi Hira, said that his client will fight the charges.

"Naturally my client is disappointed that the special prosecutor is proceeding with charges," Hira told CTV News on Friday. "He will be pleading not guilty and plans a vigorous defence."

RCMP refused to comment on the case Friday.

Long Island Man Dies in Police Custody

May 6, 2011
Wall Street Journal

Daniel McDonnell, 40 years old, West Babylon, New York

MEDIA ADVISORY May 6, 2011 – Re: CRIMINAL CHARGES LAID AGAINST RCMP OFFICERS - YVR (ROBERT DZIEKANSKI)

CANADIAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (CCRM)
www.civilrightsmovement.ca

MEDIA ADVISORY May 6, 2011 – Re: CRIMINAL CHARGES LAID AGAINST RCMP OFFICERS - YVR (ROBERT DZIEKANSKI)

Issued by Zofia Cisowski, Mother of Robert Dziekanski:

I am pleased that the Special Prosecutor has announced criminal charges against RCMP officers involved in the death of my son, Robert Dziekanski, at Vancouver Airport in October 2007.

It has been a long and painful ordeal over the last 3 ½ years of delay and misinformation by the RCMP. The RCMP should not be investigating itself. I and thousands of others, especially through CCRM Petition had urged the appointment of a Special Independent Prosecutor to review the evidence and recommend charges. The Special Prosecutor has acted against the testimony of the RCMP Officers. Police officers are not above the law and I will await the verdict of the Courts. I hope that justice will finally be achieved in the death of my son Robert Dziekanski.

I am very grateful to Sima Ashrafinia and especially Paul Pritchard and his determination in seeking release of the video that showed what really happened to my son. I would also like to express my appreciation to Justice Braidwood and his Inquiry. His Report resulted in the government finally appointing a Special Prosecutor. I met with the Honourable Barry Penner, Attorney General of British Columbia, on April 21, 2011 and urged him to implement ALL of Justice Braidwood’s recommendations. This is vitally necessary so that no other mother should have to needlessly lose and mourn a child in the manner I have and so that the public can trust and have confidence in the police and operation of justice in British Columbia. I will continue to watch whether our lawmakers fully implement meaningful and proper changes as recommended by Justice Braidwood.

For further contact with me, please call Zygmunt Riddle (604) 868-7070 and for further information please call B. William Sundhu (lawyer) at 250-574-2124.

Zygmunt Riddle
zriddle@shaw.ca