Land of the Taser, Home of the Slave

RCMP to get new oversight agency

2010-06-14T12:36:00.003-06:00

CBC News

The federal government will introduce legislation Monday that would create a civilian oversight body for the RCMP, CBC News has learned.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is expected to table the legislation in Parliament in the afternoon.

This follows the Conservative government's promise earlier this year to bring in a more independent watchdog agency to investigate complaints against the Mounties.

Right now, the RCMP often investigates complaints against itself. There is an independent Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, but its recommendations are non-binding.
In 2007, the federally appointed Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP told the government that the current system lacks transparency. The task force recommended a model where one body could review any incident or aspect of the operations of the RCMP, and all of its findings would be binding.

Task force members also said the agency should have the power to summon witnesses and compel testimony.

It's unclear how many of the recommendations will be included in the proposed legislation, but Toews will hold a news conference at 3:45 p.m. to spell out some of the details.

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott has repeatedly said he welcomes more oversight.

Earlier this year, he announced that until such an agency was created, the RCMP would have independent agencies investigate cases where Mounties were accused of breaking the law or where they were involved in a serious injury or death.

RCMP open to independent oversight agency in B.C.

2010-03-21T11:42:00.002-06:00

Kim Bolan, Canwest News Service

VANCOUVER -- RCMP Commissioner William Elliott says he thinks the force will be able to work out a deal with the B.C. government that includes an independent agency overseeing all the police in the province.

And Commissioner Elliott said he expects there will be a draft agreement of a new contract for RCMP in British Columbia by the end of 2010.

The comments, made by Commissioner Elliott in a wide-ranging interview, opened the door to potentially resolving some of the issues between the province and the national police force, which has seen its image tarnished in recent years, especially in B.C.

Commissioner Elliott said the RCMP welcomes greater independent oversight of allegations against Mounties both in B.C. and elsewhere.

"We are very willing to work with the province and with Public Safety Canada and others to come up with a tailor-made solution that works for the people of British Columbia."

In January, B.C.'s solicitor general said the RCMP might have to submit to civilian oversight or face the consequences.

Kash Heed has said he wants the RCMP to be governed by the B.C. Police Act as part of any renewal of its contract with the national force, which expires in March 2012.

Commissioner Elliott said it would be hard to enforce provincial legislation on the federally regulated RCMP, but that a separate contract or voluntarily agreement could be reached.

"The way to provide for us to be, for example, subject to investigations by an independent agency that might be set up for police more broadly in British Columbia is for us to do that either by contract or voluntarily," Commissioner Elliott said.

"It is in our best interests to participate. Frankly it saves us real problems. It turns the heat down considerably when one of our officers is accused of doing something that they should not have done, for us to be able to say we have turned over this investigation to someone else."

He said negotiations for a new 20-year contract for the 9,500 RCMP employees in B.C. are going well.

"My expectation is that the contract in British Columbia will be renewed and that we will find ways to accommodate the interests of the government of British Columbia and British Columbians in the new contract," Commissioner Elliott said.

"I think the way we have gone about these negotiations is very much principle-based. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and I am optimistic that we will get to a resolution generally and specifically on this issue of our accountability that will work and be acceptable for everyone."

Commissioner Elliott said a civilian review agency may be the "gold standard" of investigation, "but that is not practical everywhere."

Already the RCMP has responded to public concern over high-profile cases like the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski, after he was Tasered by Mounties at the Vancouver International Airport, by implementing new tougher policies, Commissioner Elliott said.

"We have introduced a new policy that makes it clear -- that's our External Investigation or Review Policy -- it makes it very clear that we would like to not have to investigate any employee of the RCMP for any serious wrongdoing in future," he said.

"We are encouraged at a number of developments with respect to those areas which are critically important to us because really, at the heart of this, is the public's faith in their police force. And that's an absolutely essential requirement."

A report by retired judge Thomas Braidwood into Dziekanski's death is expected this June. Around the same time, the report on the failings of the 1985 Air India bombing investigation is expected to be released by inquiry commissioner John Major. The RCMP is expected to be criticized in both reports.

Commissioner Elliott admits public confidence in the RCMP has taken a hit with recent scandals, particularly in B.C.

Just this year, allegations surfaced that a leading investigator on the Surrey Six murder file had an affair with a witness. And during the Olympics, 12 Mounties were sent home because of inappropriate conduct.

"We are never, unfortunately, going to get to a situation where no Mountie ever missteps again. I think we have to work very hard to instil in our officers and our employees the importance of appropriate behaviour and the importance of the values of the RCMP," Commissioner Elliott said.

"We are only going to be able to gain and maintain the trust of Canadians if we can demonstrate that we are serious about continuous improvement."

Have your photo taken with an RCMP Officer

2010-02-24T08:04:00.005-07:00

RCMP needs broader overhaul, Senate group says

2010-02-23T11:35:00.002-07:00

thestar.com
Tonda MacCharles

OTTAWA – The federal government should boost RCMP ranks by 5,000-7,000, hire more women and visible minority officers, and impose stronger civilian oversight on the Mounties, says a report by a group of Liberal senators.

Although Parliament is prorogued, six Liberal senators broke with custom, and with their Conservative counterparts on the Senate’s national security committee, and released Monday a “position paper” based on last year’s hearings into change at the RCMP.

The report, entitled Toward a Red Serge Revival, calls for robust civilian oversight of national security investigations and other policing; mini-cameras on cruisers and uniformed officers; and greater efforts to recruit women and minorities that would be tied to executive bonuses for senior officers. It also echoed the suggestion of the current civilian chief, Comm. William Elliott, that his successor should come from within RCMP ranks.

The Mounties insisted Monday via a press spokesman who read scripted media lines that the RCMP “aims” to reflect diversity, and has brought in a new independent investigations policy that “goes as far as the RCMP can” to enhance oversight and review until governments come up with any new measures.

The Liberal report acknowledges “some progress” has been made in overhauling the national police force since lawyer David Brown described it as “horribly broken” more than two years ago. But the Liberal senators say it “falls short of what is needed.”

They say SIRC (Security Intelligence Review Committee), the civilian watchdog that oversees CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, should take over scrutiny of the RCMP’s national security activities and those of the CSE, the secretive standalone electronic eavesdropping agency.

Other kinds of policing should face a tougher civilian review agency with the power to subpoena documents and witnesses, and with full access to RCMP records except for cabinet confidences. The Liberals dismissed the RCMP’s recently-announced policy to try to farm out investigations to outside police or civilian agencies where possible as “smoke and mirrors.”

“If the Transportation Safety Board of Canada can get its investigators to crash sites all over Canada within hours, surely a review mechanism for the RCMP can be created that could get investigators to places in which deaths or serious injuries have occurred that involve the RCMP,” the Liberals say.

The Liberals slag the claim that the RCMP has trained enough new troops to meet Canada’s policing needs. They cite testimony by former minister Peter Van Loan that there is a 6.6 per cent vacancy rate in the authorized personnel strength. That number doesn’t include absenteeism due to training, sickness, maternity, or suspensions, say the senators.

And while the RCMP has recently increased recruitment, the current numbers don’t go anywhere near what they say is necessary to tackle organized crime or increase security on the coastlines, seaports, and borders.

The Liberal senators blamed shortfalls on financial pressures, saying more recruits have not been put through training because it “would have produced too many officers to fit within the RCMP’s budget.”

“That might fill the budgeter’s needs, but it certainly isn’t going to fill the needs of the RCMP or of Canadians,” it says.

The report does not put a price tag on what it would cost to hire the minimum number recommended of 5,000 constables over the next decade. The starting salary for an RCMP constable is $46,003. Within three years of service, that begins to increase incrementally to $74,539 annually, which suggests the price tag could start at about $230 million for salaries alone.

In response, Conservative Sen. Pamela Wallin, to whom the government referred inquiries, blasted the Liberal paper, and accused Sen. Colin Kenny, who has chaired the committee for several years, of “grandstanding” and pulling numbers “out of the air.”

Wallin said, “The Conservative government put $400 million into hiring 1,500 new officers. He’s way oversimplifying this stuff.”

Wallin said the force is trying to hire more women and visible minorities, “but we actually live in a democracy, you can’t be conscripted. (…) It seems counterproductive to say there’s some quota that has to be met and then that’s proof the RCMP is modernizing.”

“Everybody agrees there needs to be some civilian involvement” in oversight of the RCMP, but the committee also heard from witnesses who stressed “you also need people who understand policing,” said Wallin.

Wallin defended the Conservative appointment of Ian McPhail (a lawyer who admits he has no criminal law or policing background) as interim chair of the Commission of Public Complaints Against the RCMP, saying he does not make “all decisions independently.” She suggested it is “probably a good thing” to have “some individuals that have some policing experience” and some that don’t.

Overall, Wallin said the report contributes nothing constructive to public debate about the RCMP, nor does it bring effective pressure to bear by ensuring the right kind of change happens under the watchful eye of organizations like the Senate committee.

Conservatives and Liberal members of the committee had been working on drafts of a report since last fall but had reached no consensus on recommendations. The NDP’s public safety critic Don Davies welcomed the Liberal report as bolstering the NDP’s calls for change.

Kenny, who may lose his position as committee chairman given the increased numbers of Conservatives in the Senate, said Liberals made the decision to release the Liberal’s version of what it should contain – two weeks before Parliament reconvenes – because the matter is so important.

RCMP plans dramatic changes to Taser policy

2010-02-15T11:24:00.006-07:00

Jim Bronskill
The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The RCMP plans a sweeping overhaul of its Taser policy following recommendations from inquiries prompted by the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

An internal briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press says the Mounties’ policy centre on use of force recommends four dozen specific changes on stun gun use.

The note prepared for RCMP Commissioner William Elliott states that the force’s review involved examination of two reports sparked by the death of Dziekanski, recent changes to Taser policy in Alberta and discussions within the national police force.

“Once the final (Taser) policy is approved, there will be an immediate impact on operations and training which will have to reflect the policy changes,” says the November note, released under the Access to Information Act.

The briefing note states that although there has been preliminary consultation within the force and with partner agencies, “further consultations will be required in order to finalize the draft policy before being submitted to the commissioner for final approval.”

Dziekanski, who hoped to join his mother in British Columbia, died in October 2007 after being hit with a Mountie Taser at the Vancouver airport. A video of the confrontation taken by a fellow air passenger, in which a confused, sweaty Dziekanski is zapped repeatedly, was seen by millions of people — triggering public outrage and a fundamental re-examination of stun gun use.

Over the last eight years, Tasers have become an increasingly common tool in the arsenal of police services.

Law-enforcement agencies say the tools, which can be shot from a distance or used in up-close touch-stun mode, are often a preferable alternative to pepper spray or batons when dealing with violent suspects.

Critics say police are using the powerful devices to make merely unco-operative people comply with orders even when they don’t pose a threat to officers or bystanders.

Elliott maintains that the Taser is a useful tool for RCMP officers when used properly.

After looking into the Dziekanski case, Paul Kennedy, then-chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, said use of the Taser was “premature and inappropriate.” He called on the Mounties to further clarify for their members and the public when a stun gun should be fired.

Former judge Thomas Braidwood, who led a B.C. public inquiry on Taser use, said while the guns can kill or gravely injure people, they can also be a valuable option for officers.

In an initial report, Braidwood said police should use a Taser only when someone is causing harm to another or there’s a possibility they will imminently do so.

The B.C. government ordered all police in the province to severely restrict stun gun use, but the RCMP said it needed time to review Braidwood’s report.

The RCMP briefing note to Elliott says a policy “revision document is being finalized for review by the commissioner that contains 48 specific recommended (Taser) policy changes.”

Sgt. Greg Cox, an RCMP spokesman, said discussions on the new draft policy continue, adding he could not discuss details at this point.

Federal and provincial governments are working on national standards for Taser use, and it’s not immediately clear how the latest RCMP revisions would tie in to such a cross-country policy.

The last major changes to the RCMP’s national Taser policy took effect in February of last year.

However, there have been some revisions.

Following a bulletin from Arizona-based manufacturer Taser International, the RCMP last October issued an advisory that officers should try to avoid aiming a Taser at a person’s chest. The company denied the bulletin was an admission the weapons could trigger heart problems, only that limiting the target zone would help “avoid any potential controversy on this topic.”

The RCMP also began training officers last year on a revised system for dealing with incidents involving suspects.

The step-by-step system guides officers in their dealings with people from the point they arrive on the scene to possible use of force, including physical contact and weapons such as the Taser or a conventional firearm.

note: A positive step in the right direction but we will have to see if anything substantive does come out of all of this. An outright ban on this barbaric weapon by all police forces in Canada is what is really needed here.

Mounties Under Fire - Premieres on CBC - January 21 at 9pm

2010-01-16T11:35:00.008-07:00

If you're one of the tens of thousands whose trust in the RCMP has been rocked by repeated scandal, here is a film you must see. MOUNTIES UNDER FIRE is a gripping journey into the heart of the RCMP during a period of profound crisis, revealing a painfully flawed organization fighting for its life.

From top brass to beat cop, Bountiful Films captures a force in the throes of self-examination, struggling to get back to its core values. Filmmaker Helen Slinger was struck by the frankness, and discomfort, with which senior RCMP responded to the film. "When commenting on the intimate view of the force that resulted from the open access we were able to negotiate, one senior Mountie said it all: 'Riveting, but it hurts.'"

For more information on the film and the RCMP: Go to http://bountiful.ca/

And please forward this email to any in your circle who might like to like to see this film.

MOUNTIES UNDER FIRE
CBC's Doc Zone
Thursday, January 21 at 9pm (9:30 NT)

note: For sometime now I have spoken out on this blog and on my John Prince blog, on the inhumane use of Tasers by our police forces across Canada, resulting in torture and death on those of us they have been entrusted to 'serve and protect' (sic). The RCMP, especially, have been singled out mainly because of what they did to a Polish immigrant newly arrived to Canada, but also because of the complete lack of accountability and immunity to prosecution resulting in real jail time (comparable to what any of us so-called denizens would receive if the roles were reversed). This is a police force that is totally out of control... and the bodies keep piling up. From what I understand the above CBC documentary attests to this fact.

UPDATE: Watched this last night and was 'extremely' disappointed. Thought it landed up being more of a PR propaganda exercise on behalf of the RCMP, rather than an honest, hardhitting 'expose' on how completely out of control they are. Far too much attention and time spent on their recruitment and training facility in Regina (including 'Taser' training exercises (sic)), rather than on their complete lack of accountability, truth and transparency.

Judge has jurisdiction in Taser death inquiry, court says

2009-12-30T09:16:00.016-07:00

THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER – The judge conducting a provincial inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski can find misconduct against the RCMP officers involved, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday.

The Appeal Court upheld a lower court decision rejecting the RCMP's argument that Thomas Braidwood had no jurisdiction to make the findings because his provincial inquiry doesn't have authority over the federal force.

Braidwood warned early this year that he wanted to consider whether to allege misconduct against the four officers involved when he writes his final report.

The RCMP took the issue to court, but the B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed their claims. Three of the officers appealed that decision.

The appeal decision hinged mainly on two key questions considered by the three-judge panel: whether Braidwood's report would infringe on federal jurisdiction over criminal law and whether it would infringe on federal powers over the RCMP.

In her reasons, Justice Mary Saunders said findings by the inquiry that might include misconduct don't equate to a criminal investigation, as lawyers for the officers suggested it would.

"It seems to me (Braidwood) is entitled to comment, if comment be warranted, on the response of public officials to the events and to his process, thereby to advance the public interest of confidence in the administration of justice," she wrote in her decisions, which were agreed upon unanimously.

She also said the inquiry didn't tread into the management or administration of the RCMP, noting she trusted Braidwood to stay within his boundaries.

"The Commissioner has demonstrated an appreciation of the limit upon his constitutional authority arising from the character of the officers as members of the RCMP," she wrote.

"I would not anticipate he will stray over that line of demarcation and I see no basis upon which to interfere."

Lawyers for the officers could not immediately be reached for comment, but David Butcher, the lawyer for one of them, has said in the past that their argument raises "legitimate and difficult constitutional issues."

Butcher, who represents Const. Bill Bentley, added these kinds of issues often end up being heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Dziekanski died after he was zapped multiple times with an RCMP Taser at the Vancouver airport in 2007.

The Polish immigrant had been acting erratically, throwing furniture and brandishing a stapler, after being stranded at the airport for hours.

Braidwood's inquiry heard from more than 80 witnesses, including the four officers, starting last January.

Among the allegations levelled at the inquiry were that the officers used the Taser when they shouldn't have and that they lied about what happened to cover up their actions.

The officers argued in court that those allegations amount to criminal offences that are best left to the courts.

Last December, Crown prosecutors in British Columbia decided against charging the officers, saying they used reasonable force on Dziekanski, given his behaviour.

While the inquiry's final report carries no legal consequences, findings that the officers acted improperly could increase pressure on the Crown to reconsider charges and would likely intensify criticism of the RCMP.

note: This is good news, as it should be apparent to all by now that accountability is what is called for here. On that note, I find it interesting, perplexing and astonishing that the Crown prosecutors in British Columbia decided against charging the officers involved in this matter.

As they did again recently by not charging Monty Robinson, one of the officers involved in the fatal confrontation with Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport, who has been charged only with attempting to obstruct justice in connection to an unrelated car accident that killed a man. Delta police had recommended a charge of impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death, but the B.C. Crown did not follow there recommendation.

The B.C. Crown's ongoing track record of not charging the RCMP with criminal wrongdoing is quite disturbing, until you remember, we have a two-tiered justice system in this country that protects (at all costs) those who are suppose to serve and protect us... even when they cross the line, resulting in death and injury to those of us in the public who have been reduced to nothing more than... collateral damage.

When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear their government, there is tyranny.

U.S. ruling limits how police can use Tasers

2009-12-29T21:10:00.003-07:00

The Associated Press

A U.S. federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that police can't zap someone with an electronic stun gun unless the suspect poses an immediate threat.

Monday's ruling sets police standards for use of the Taser, saying stun guns must be used only when "substantial force" is needed.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said officers can't Taser a person simply for acting erratically or disobeying orders. They must take into account factors including whether the person was trying to flee and the severity of the charges that might stem from the offence, Judge Kim Wardlaw said, given the "painful and frightening blow" inflicted by the electronic devices.

The ruling allows a San Diego-area man to proceed to trial in a lawsuit against police in the San Diego County town of Coronado.

Carl Bryan said he was shocked, fell and lost four teeth in the incident. He acknowledges that he was acting erratically but says he was unarmed, stood far away and never menaced the officer.

Bryan, then 21, was wearing only boxer shorts and running shoes when police stopped him and prepared to ticket him for not wearing his seatbelt. Upset at having received a speeding ticket a short time earlier, he began swearing and got out of the car, taking what he claims was "one step" toward the officer ticketing him before that officer used his Taser.

note: Now this makes sense, although it took long enough. Will Canada follow suit?

RCMP needs overhaul

2009-12-11T08:58:00.006-07:00

Calgary Herald

Paul Kennedy, the outgoing head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, believes his scathing report into the videotaped death of a Polish immigrant will change the way Canadians view the Mounties. He's being generous. The RCMP can blame their damaged reputation on nothing more than the actions of some of their own members, aided by a long culture of coverup.

More denials won't restore credibility to Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are at a pivotal moment in their long and storied history. Truth and responsibility, however, might prove the right mix of stain remover. The symbolic red surge has been sullied by the force's dirty laundry, with one scandal after another and a series of inquiries and reports, some of which have never been acted upon.

The latest indictment came this week from Kennedy, who documented a litany of mistakes made by the four officers involved in the death of Robert Dziekanski, at the Vancouver airport. They deployed their Tasers too quickly, seconds after arriving, five times over a 31-second period, he reported. They also made no attempt to resolve the situation without violence.

The whole thing smells of a big coverup. (The Crown will not be laying criminal charges against the officers, one of whom, Monty Robinson, was recently charged with attempting to obstruct justice.)

The report confirms what most Canadians already knew, thanks to a citizen video tape of Dziekanski's final moments.

Witness Paul Pritchard, 27, is the real hero in this tragedy. Without his video, it's likely the truth would never have surfaced, or the official record corrected. The public received "erroneous information" that was fed to the media at the time of Dziekanski's death, and deliberately not corrected for another 14 months.

It's an understatement when Kennedy says the way the force responded to its mishandling of Dziekanski's death will "represent a defining moment in the history of the RCMP.

"The manner in which the RCMP responds to my report and that of Justice (Thomas) Braidwood to follow will have a profound impact on how the iconic institution is viewed by Canadians," wrote Kennedy.

So far, the response has been more of the same, with RCMP Commissioner William Elliott writing a letter saying he will respond later. His silence, quite frankly, is stunning. Dziekanski died on Oct. 14, 2007. You'd think he could have worked out a statement by now.

The federal government responded no better, telling Kennedy his term is up, and he will not be reappointed after four years in the job. During that time, Kennedy has persistently pushed the federal government to create an independent watchdog with real teeth, and for Mounties to stop investigating themselves, two steps this paper has long advocated.

Dziekanski's death is a tragedy, but if it leads to real reform of the RCMP, he will not have died in vain. Change is needed at the highest level before Canadians can forgive or forget the recent history of the RCMP. Accountability, truth and transparency are the only hope of restoring honour to this once-great institution.

Bikers protest Mountie's obstruction charge in 2008 crash

2009-12-08T16:12:00.006-07:00

By Ian Austin, The Province

About 150 motorcyclists protested outside the courthouse where an RCMP officer was to face charges in connection with a 2008 crash that killed 21-year-old Orion Hutchinson.

"I think it's outrageous," Adele Tompkins, executive director of the B.C. Coalition of Motorcyclists, told a leather-clad group, many of whom held up signs with the scales of justice and the phrase "Justice for All."

"Everybody is outraged by the charges . . . Justice for all, no preferential treatment, no exceptions."

On Oct. 25, 2008, Cpl. Benjamin Montgomery "Monty" Robinson’s Jeep crashed into Hutchinson’s motorcycle at a Tsawwassen intersection.

Robinson, who was off-duty at the time, identified himself to witnesses, then left the scene with his two kids.

In March, in a bid to have his driving ban overturned, Robinson told a B.C. Supreme Court that he had two shots of vodka at home before returning to the scene of the accident, where he then failed a breathalyzer test.

The court rejected his version of events.

The Delta police force had earlier recommended a charge of impaired driving causing death, but the attorney-general’s office charged the Mountie Dec. 1 with the lesser charge of obstruction of justice for his alleged actions after the collision, citing lack of evidence.

The obstruction charge, which carries no minimum sentence, has a maximum of 10 years.

Motorcyclist Glen Head of Surrey wore a cap with the message "Kill a motorcyclist — go to jail."

"There are a number of police officers who say he should be charged [with impaired driving]," Head said. "The Crown prosecutors said it it wouldn't get past a judge and jury but why don't we try?"

Robinson was scheduled to make a first appearance in Surrey court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. He did not show up in court 101, where dozens of angry motorcyclists waited in the gallery.

Even before Robinson was scheduled to show up, the crowd had quite a bit to yell about.

One of the bikers got onto his bike and drove slowly across the plaza in front of the courthouse, which was ringed with sheriffs and police.

One of the officers signaled the motorcyclist and said, "You're not supposed to be riding on the sidewalk" and asked for his driver's licence. The agitated crowd converged on the pair, chanting,
"Shame! Shame! Shame!" while members of the public heckled, saying, "Haven't you got something better to do?" and "Be careful, you'll get Tasered."

The crowd eventually dispersed and the motorcyclist went on his way. The police officer declined to say whether the biker had been ticketed.

Robinson's next scheduled appearance is Jan. 15.

Comment: "Justice for All."

Report slams RCMP in airport Taser death

2009-12-08T15:16:00.003-07:00

CBC News

A damning report on the conduct of RCMP involved in the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport was released on Tuesday by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.

In the strongly worded report, Paul Kennedy, chair of the commission, made 23 findings and 16 recommendations that were highly critical of both the actions of the four officers and the followup investigation by the RCMP.

Dziekanski died at Vancouver's airport in October 2007 minutes after he was stunned repeatedly with a Taser by the RCMP, who were responding to a disturbance call in the airport arrivals lounge.

The report faulted the officers for using the Taser on Dziekanski too quickly, too often and without warning.

Kennedy also said he doubted the officers version of events and faulted the RCMP's own investigation into the incident, saying it was confused and failed to provide accurate information to the public.

He also took aim at the RCMP's training and use of force guidelines, saying the force appears to have dropped historic guidelines directing officers to minimize intervention and use the least amount of force required to get the best results.

Key findings laid out
At a press conference in Vancouver, Kennedy summarized the key findings in the 200-page report:

While they were in the lawful execution of their duties as police officers, the four officers failed to adopt a measured, co-ordinated and appropriate response to Dziekanski's reported behaviour.
The senior on-scene RCMP member failed to take charge of the RCMP's response.
No meaningful attempt was made to de-escalate the situation.
No warning, visual or otherwise, was given to Dziekanski prior to him being hit by the conducted energy weapon (CEW).
Use of the CEW against Dziekanski was premature and inappropriate.
The CEW was used multiple times on Dziekanski without any significant effort made to determine the need for further use.
The RCMP members present should have more actively provided first-aid and monitored Dziekanki's condition.
The four RCMP members inappropriately met alone after the death of Dziekanski prior to giving their statements.
The versions of events given to investigators by the four RCMP officers involved in Dziekanski's death are not deemed credible.
The senior on-scene RCMP member should not have been present at the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHT) briefing held at the Richmond Detachment on Oct. 14, 2007.
No bias or partiality toward the involved RCMP members was present in the IHIT investigation of the death of Dziekanski, but the video shot by a member of the public should have been shown to the members before taking statements from them.
The RCMP should have released certain information to the media which would have served to clarify information pertaining to the death of Dziekanski and corrected erroneous information previously provided without compromising the IHIT investigation.

No charges were ever laid in Dziekanski's death. A coroner concluded he died as a result of the stress from both the Taser stuns and the struggle with police as they pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him.

RCMP withholds comments

Kennedy said he has presented his report to RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, but the commissioner refused to send back an official response until after a second report from retired judge Thomas Braidwood is issued later next year.

The Braidwood public inquiry was set up by the B.C. government and wrapped up in October. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields said the force would issue its response to both reports following the release of the Braidwood report.

Shield also said the RCMP was committed to doing whatever possible to adapt its training and operations to ensure such a tragic situation would not occur again, and said many of the concerns raised in Kennedy's report have already been addressed by the force.

The RCMP requested Kennedy not publicly release his report until the Braidwood report comes out next year, but Kennedy said on Tuesday that he was against any further delays.

Kennedy has been increasingly critical of the RCMP during his term as commissioner, which expires at the end of December, and he was not reappointed to the position by the federal government.

Earlier this year he called for an end to RCMP investigations of deaths and serious injuries involving RCMP officers.

Police hedge on Taser use after new rules

2009-12-07T15:24:00.003-07:00

CBC News

Police officers are rethinking their use of stun guns, after Taser International advised them to stop aiming at the chest because of a slight risk of cardiac arrest when the electrified darts hit there.

The company has advised the police to instead aim for the belly or the back of the legs.

Taser International has always assured police officers that the stun gun can never cause problems with the heart, no matter how many times it is used on someone.

Now the company says, just to be safe — from a liability point of view — police should avoid firing at the chest.

"The entire playing field has been altered," said Tony Simioni, president of the Edmonton Police Association.

He said that even before this recent policy, some police officers had begun leaving their Taser in their locker "based on the level of scrutiny, just the overall perception that this Taser may be more trouble than it is worth."

"Now there's an increasing tendency not to use the Taser at all because the deployment instructions are unrealistic, in their view," Simioni said.

Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said the directive now puts his members at risk if they fire the stun gun and it hits the chest.

"I think there's a possibility that we may see an increase — especially given the controversy surrounding the Taser — that our members dragged into court cases where liability will become an issue," Sutherland said.

Ain't no Mountie high enough to stand in the way of civilian oversight

2009-12-05T14:14:00.003-07:00

Gary Mason

The government seems to now understand that police should not be investigating police

Governments often like to wait until Friday afternoon to make unpopular or controversial announcements. They are hoping news organizations have already moved into weekend mode and won't give the story a high level of scrutiny.

Not surprisingly, then, the federal government waited until Friday afternoon a week ago to quietly release the news it was not renewing Paul Kennedy's term as chair of the committee for public complaints against the RCMP.

Mr. Kennedy had been in the role since 2005. The government gave him a one-year extension last year and couldn't say enough good things about the job he'd been doing. One year later, Canada's RCMP watchdog was being asked to leave – with no reasons given.

Now, it may be the government just feels it's time to give someone else a shot at the job. Or, it could be it tired of Mr. Kennedy's very public lobbying for true civilian oversight of the Mounties. In his annual reports, he often vented about chronic levels of public cynicism regarding the RCMP.

Given the Conservatives have never shown an appetite for anything that might upset the federal force, it wasn't unreasonable to speculate they'd acted to silence Mr. Kennedy. But near the end of his statement on the matter, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan included a tantalizing bit of information that hinted the government might actually be starting to see things Mr. Kennedy's way.

“The government will be moving to reform oversight of the RCMP in the months ahead to strengthen accountability,” the minister said. “It will seek to ensure independent investigation of incidents, so that the force does not lead investigations into itself.”

What was this? The government was announcing true civilian oversight of the RCMP, where professionally trained civilian officers would handle investigations involving the police? Intrigued, I phoned the minister's office for clarification. All Mr. Van Loan would add was the following: “It is important that the public have confidence in the work of the police, and that accountability is effective,” the minister said through an aide. “In principle, effective review should be external to the force.”

Now, this could be reason for joy, or it may be nothing more than what many in the RCMP, including civilian Commissioner William Elliott, have said they'd be willing to consider. That is, investigations carried out by officers from external forces not associated with the RCMP. Those investigations would be overseen by a civilian commander completely independent of any police organization.

Unfortunately, that scenario does not remedy the issue of police investigating police and, as such, would not likely address the public skepticism surrounding these probes.

Nonetheless, Mr. Van Loan's statement is significant and potentially promising.

The government knows the voices demanding change are growing louder by the day. There is also another reality it can't ignore: The provinces are moving on this front anyway.

Ontario, of course, has had true civilian oversight of the police for some time. The Special Investigations Unit is compromised of investigators completely independent of any police force in the province.

Now, Alberta and Manitoba have moved to institute variations on that model. Nova Scotia is working on doing the same.

And so is British Columbia, where 80 per cent of the policing is done by the RCMP.

The RCMP's contract with the province is up in 2012. The government is waiting for the final recommendations of Thomas Braidwood's inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski before announcing what it plans to do about civilian oversight.

If it decides to go with a model similar to Ontario's, the RCMP in B.C. will have two choices: comply or pack up and leave. And it won't be doing the latter, I assure you.

Where once there was much resistance inside the RCMP to the Ontario archetype, there is now a sense of inevitability. Gary Bass, deputy commissioner of the RCMP, Pacific region, told me yesterday that if the B.C. government decides to go with an SIU-like model, “we're completely happy with that.”

So what does all this mean? There is change coming. What form it ultimately takes remains to be seen. Will it go far enough? We don't know.

But it is likely to be an improvement over the less-than-transparent investigative protocol that currently governs the RCMP in Canada. Police should not be investigating police – the government seems to understand that now.

Brian Hutchinson: What constitutes ‘gross misconduct’ for RCMP officers questioned

2009-12-05T13:56:00.003-07:00

Brian Hutchinson

The Crown in B.C. has decided to go easy on Benjamin “Monty” Robinson, the RCMP corporal who downed some beers at a party last year and then ploughed his Jeep into a 21-year-old motorcyclist.

As Orion Hutchinson lay dying in a Delta, B.C. intersection, Cpl. Robinson left the scene on foot. To drink some vodka shots, he claims. Some 10 minutes later, reeking of booze and his eyes bloodshot, Cpl. Robinson returned to the fatality. Delta police were on scene. Cpl. Robinson’s blood-alcohol level was well over the legal limit, they determined. He was drunk. Mr. Hutchinson was dead.

Cpl. Robinson was the senior of four RCMP officers to confront Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport a year earlier, in 2007. After dithering for months, the Crown this week announced it had rejected charge recommendations from Delta police. It would not attempt to prosecute Cpl. Robinson for impaired driving causing death, as recommended. It would not charge him with dangerous driving causing death, also recommended. Too tough to prove before a judge or a jury, a spokesman from B.C.’s Ministry of Attorney-General tried to explain.

Cpl. Robinson is charged instead with one count of obstruction of justice. He is innocent unless proven otherwise. The tragic death of an innocent young man; the Crown’s belated, timid decision; above all, Cpl. Robinson’s recklessness. If all this seems a travesty, consider: Even if Cpl. Robinson pleads guilty to obstruction or goes to trial and is found guilty, he might still return to active RCMP duty.

It’s not easy to dump the bad apples, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott admits. He said in an interview with the Edmonton Journal last month “it should be easier for us to fire members of the RCMP where that’s appropriate. It doesn’t happen very often, but right now it takes a very long time to fire an officer for gross misconduct.”

But what constitutes for the RCMP “gross misconduct” and a firing offence? Sexual incidents involving members are not tolerated. Neither, for that matter, are most cases of drunk driving and assault. But criminal convictions do not always lead to dismissals, and internal RCMP sanctions, if they result at all, can be weak. Serious cases of RCMP misconduct are not unusual, particularly, it seems, in B.C., where court documents outline serious indiscretions and allegations. Reporters have also obtained lists of RCMP adjudication board decisions that describe shocking behaviour and admissions by officers on active duty (see sidebar).

Last month, the National Post reported that RCMP Corporal John Graham, alleged in a B.C. court to have a “propensity for violence,” pleaded guilty to assault in 2002 after kicking a Prince George man described as resisting arrest. The man suffered “broken bones in his face and was missing teeth,” reads a court judgment. Cpl. Graham acknowledged that he had “panicked and overreacted” when dealing with the man. Yet he remains on active duty in Prince George, where he is alleged to have once deployed a Taser at least 21 times on another person under arrest. That arrest is now the subject of an internal RCMP Code of Conduct review, an investigative process ordered by senior Mounties when it appears there is evidence to support an allegation that a member has violated the RCMP Act.

Code of Conduct reviews are conducted by “impartial” RCMP officers, usually drawn from a Professional Standards Unit, says Sergeant Tim Shields, the RCMP’s head of strategic communications in B.C. Once the review is concluded and a report is made, another officer must determine whether or not to proceed with an adjudication board hearing, where the offending officer is disciplined. These hearings can either be “formal” or “informal,” says Sgt. Shields. A formal adjudication board hearing involves three officers from an outside province. Rarely do they end with a dismissal order against an offending officer. When they do, the officer can appeal. And that can add years to an already lengthy, cumbersome process. Commissioner Elliott thinks this is unacceptable. “There’s truth to the adage that justice delayed is justice denied,” he told the Journal, adding that improvements to the RCMP Act are on the way to streamline the discipline process. He did not offer any specifics, nor did he consent to an interview on the matter this week.

News that Cpl. Graham remains on active duty leaves some people shaking their heads. After reading about Cpl. Graham in this newspaper, a former RCMP staff-sergeant described his feelings: “I just can’t understand how the organization would still employ such a member, especially after he was convicted of such a serious criminal offence. If he had been convicted of such an offence prior to applying to join the organization, would they have hired him?... All of this brings me to the conclusion that things are completely out of control.”

The former staff-sergeant will not be pleased to learn about Donovan Tait. Getting transferred to Vancouver Island was “like winning the lottery,” Const. Tait told a local reporter in 2006. A year earlier, he was convicted in B.C. provincial court of assault causing bodily harm. On duty in North Vancouver, Const. Tait punched a man three times in the head and fractured his jaw on both sides, as the man lay handcuffed in the back of an RCMP vehicle.

Const. Tait “has an issue with temperament,” concluded Judge Carol Baird Ellan, noting he was the subject of four previous complaints related to use of force and proper arrest. Judge Baird decided that some of Const. Tait’s testimony was self-serving and not credible. With respect to grounds for arrest, “Tait has added facts later in an effort to justify his actions,” she wrote in her judgment. He was handed a suspended sentence. Const. Tait was transferred to Sooke, near Victoria. He now works from an RCMP detachment in Campbell River.

A Vancouver constable named Kenrick Whitney became angry when a civilian took a parking spot he wanted. “I lost my cool for that short moment,” he admitted in B.C. provincial court. Const. Whitney’s assault victim told a more chilling story. “He told me, ‘You’re f---ing dead,’ ” he testified in 2003. Const. Whitney chased after the man on foot and knocked him to the ground. “The next thing I knew, I was hit in the face,” the victim testified.

Const. Whitney pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to 25 hours of community service. He remained on duty, doing undercover work with the RCMP’s drug-enforcement branch. Last year, he was the subject of a Code of Conduct review for another road-rage incident. Const. Whitney had confronted a driver in what the RCMP described as “an unprofessional manner.” He swore at the driver and spit on him. Const. Whitney was reprimanded by the RCMP and was docked five days’ pay. The stiffest penalty he could have faced under the RCMP Act — besides dismissal or demotion — was two weeks forfeiture of pay. He remains on active duty in B.C’s Lower Mainland.

As for Cpl. Robinson, he will be back in court on his obstruction of justice charge. Whatever the outcome, says Sgt. Shields, he will face an RCMP Code of Conduct review. He remains suspended from duty, with pay.

National Post

RCMP watchdog won't be reappointed

2009-12-04T12:32:00.003-07:00

CBC News

The federal government will not be reappointing Paul Kennedy as the chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, CBC News has learned.

Kennedy, whose last day on the job will be Dec. 31, reportedly would have accepted another term. He was interested in seeing through anticipated new legislation to bring in a civilian oversight agency for the RCMP.

Kennedy recently completed an investigation into the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport and has investigated in-custody deaths, Taser use and how Mounties investigate themselves.

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said the public interest would be better served if Kennedy remained in his post.

"I believe this government is not interested in anyone with any degree of independence. They want servile public servants," he said.

"Whenever someone is doing a tremendous job in the public interest they want to shut them down. They did this with the military police complaints commissioner, Peter Tinsley."

Tinsley, whose term also expires next month and will not be renewed, also wanted to stay on because of his ongoing inquiry into the treatment of Afghan detainees.

A statement from the office of Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan thanked Kennedy for his "distinguished and professional service," adding he has "provided guidance that will be considered as the RCMP continues to make progress on its transformation agenda."

"The government will be moving to reform oversight of the RCMP in the months ahead to strengthen accountability," the statement said. "It will seek to ensure independent investigation of incidents, so that the force does not lead investigations into itself."

note: More good government from the 'conservatives' who are doing their damnest to turn our country into a police state.

Officer involved in fatal confrontation with Dziekanski charged in car crash

2009-12-03T15:30:00.007-07:00

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — One of the officers involved in the fatal confrontation with Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport has been charged with attempting to obstruct justice in connection to an unrelated car accident that killed a man.

Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson was off duty when his vehicle collided with a motorcycle in October 2008 in Delta, B.C., killing 21-year-old Orion Hutchinson.

Delta police had recommended a charge of impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death, but the B.C. Crown says the charge assessment standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt was not met for those charges.

"Following a detailed analysis of the results of a comprehensive police investigation, the Criminal Justice Branch has concluded that no Criminal Code driving-related charged will be laid against Cpl. Robinson," said a statement from the branch.

The Crown said the charge of attempting to obstruct justice is based on alleged actions by Robinson after the collision.

As the matter is now before the courts, the Crown declined further comment.

Delta police forwarded their report to the Crown in June.

"Although we had submitted our report to Crown Counsel, we continued to provide clarification and additional information as requested by them," Delta Chief Const. Jim Cessford said in a statement released late Tuesday. "Essentially this collision has been under investigation since the 25 October 2008."

Cessford also said he respects the Crown's decision "and I trust that due process will run its course."

In an earlier, separate statement, Hutchinson's mother Judith and sister Daria said they were "relieved that a decision has finally been made to prosecute the individual who caused Orion's death."

They also said the last year has been "a horrible ordeal" for them.

"There is nothing that can take away our pain or repair our loss. However we can only hope now to see some justice done," the statement said. "Further to that, we will continue to try and be patient as this case unfolds."

Robinson was the most senior of the four RCMP officers involved in a confrontation with Dziekanski at Vancouver airport in October 2007, during which Dziekanski was shocked with a Taser and died. Robinson testified at a public inquiry earlier this year that he gave the order to use the Taser.

He was suspended with pay following the crash and RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields said Tuesday the suspension continues.

Shields said an internal code of conduct investigation was ordered after the accident, but that investigation will not proceed until the criminal case has concluded.

"We have to wait until the court proceedings are over and then we will hold the adjudication hearing where the final discipline will be decided upon," he said. "It only makes sense to wait until all the evidence has come in during the court process before that final disciplinary hearing is held."

The motor vehicles branch suspended Robinson's driver's licence for 90 days following the crash - a suspension he tried unsuccessfully to appeal.

The officer argued in B.C. Supreme Court in March that a motor vehicles adjudicator didn't properly consider his statement that he left the scene of the collision, had two shots of vodka, and then returned to the scene.

Robinson is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 8 on the obstruction charge.

His lawyer, Reg Harris, said Robinson will plead not guilty to the charge.

"Any criminal charge is a significant event for anybody, so it's hugely significant that he's now facing a criminal charge," Harris said.

Comment: This is nothing more than a travesty of justice. We have a two-tiered justice system in this country that with every day that goes by, is becoming more shocking and apparent.

Another B.C. Taser death raises claims of a ‘cowboy Mountie’

2009-11-21T11:37:00.009-07:00

Brian Hutchinson in Vancouver, National Post

A B.C.-based RCMP officer who figures in a controversial in-custody death involving Tasers had a prior assault conviction from an incident that left his victim with broken facial bones and missing teeth, the National Post has learned.

Subsequent to those two events, Corporal John Graham was accused in B.C. provincial court of striking a Prince George man at least 21 times with a Taser. A judge in that case noted concerns had been raised about Cpl. Graham's "propensity for violence." Reference was made to still another incident, when Cpl. Graham shot and killed a mentally ill man in Newfoundland.

Robert Buckingham, a lawyer for a man in Newfoundland who is suing Cpl. Graham over an unrelated, allegedly wrongful arrest, calls the stocky officer a "rogue cowboy Mountie who is moved from place to place and [who] thinks he can do whatever he wants."

In-custody deaths and the use of Tasers are a particularly sensitive topic in B.C., where Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died following a confrontation with the RCMP in 2007. He was jolted by a Taser five times.

New concerns -- including suggestions of a police cover-up -- arising from an earlier case were raised this week at a news conference convened by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and a former chief medical examiner for two provinces.

Cpl. Graham was one of the officers who wrestled with a deranged Clayton Alvin Willey prior to his arrest in Prince George in July 2003, the civil rights group explained. Cpl. Graham bound Mr. Willey's feet and hands behind his back in a "hogtie," a restraint position that contravened RCMP policy.

Mr. Willey was dragged on his stomach into an RCMP detachment where he was Tasered multiple times by two other officers. He went into cardiac arrest while being transported to hospital, where he died the next morning. His cause of death was determined to be cocaine overdose.

One question raised this week is whether police disclosed a complete set of videotapes showing Mr. Willey in custody at the Prince George detachment.

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, claims the tapes were "edited into a narrative" that was helpful to police at a 2004 coroner's inquest into Mr. Willey's death.

"The most important piece [of video] is missing," he said in an interview. Members of Mr. Willey's family claim to have seen video that shows his head smacking the ground as RCMP officers pulled him from a police vehicle inside the Prince George detachment garage.

Sergeant Tim Shields, the RCMP's head of strategic communications in B.C., said this week that as far as he knows, "not one second of the video recorded to tape was withheld" from the Willey inquest. "In order to confirm that total and complete disclosure has been made, the original videotape is presently being examined by a forensic video analyst," he added yesterday.

The video footage might be made public next month, said Sgt. Shields, once Mr. Willey's family has had an opportunity to review it.

RCMP Constable Glenn Caston, one of the arresting officers, testified at the 2004 coroner's inquest that he and another officer "pulled Mr. Willey from the vehicle through the side rear seat door by the rope that had been used to tie Mr. Willey's feet together."

Const. Caston "gave evidence that Mr. Willey may have bumped his head and shoulder on the frame of the vehicle and on the floor of the bay," according to the inquest report.

The RCMP video shows a hogtied Mr. Willey on his stomach being dragged feet first into the detachment's cells booking area, and it shows his head striking an elevator doorframe, acknowledged Sgt. Shields.

Mr. Willey's family, their lawyer, Mr. Eby and forensic pathologist John Butt question why two RCMP officers chose to deploy their Tasers on Mr. Willey inside the detachment's cells booking area where he remained hogtied.

According to the coroner's inquest report, the officers believed Mr. Willey was still combative and needed further restraint. They felt he could not be unbound and let into a cell because he might harm the officers and himself.

Nowhere is it noted that Mr. Willey seemed capable of breaking free from the hogtie restraint.

"Constable Caston testified that he applied the Taser stun to Mr. Willey on his right arm and that there was no noticeable effect on Mr. Willey," reads the inquest report. The other officer, Constable Kevin O'Donnell, "testified that he, too, was concerned about the strength that Mr. Willey demonstrated and that he, too, drew his Taser to attempt to control Mr. Willey by using the stun mode of the Taser to gain ‘pain compliance.' He gave evidence that he applied the Taser to Mr. Willey's back."

An ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Mr. Willey was loaded inside and transported to hospital. He stopped breathing en route and went into full cardiac arrest, according to the inquest report. Only then were his restraints removed.

He experienced cardiac arrest a number of times in hospital and died the next morning after suffering another full cardiac arrest. An autopsy showed he had abrasions and contusions on his skin, fractures to seven ribs, and head injuries. Tests showed he had consumed a lethal amount of cocaine, which, the examining pathologist reported, explained his extremely aggressive behaviour prior to his arrest, as well as his eventual death.

But Mr. Willey's treatment in police custody had not helped.

Dr. Butt is a former chief medical examiner for Alberta and Nova Scotia, now a Vancouver-based forensic pathologist in private practice. He is one of the few people outside the RCMP to have viewed the in-custody video of Mr. Willey. There was no need for police to deploy their Tasers, he feels. "The man was secure, on the ground," he said in an interview this week.

Two months prior to the Willey incident, the RCMP banned the hogtie restraint because it can lead to positional asphyxia, which has caused death. Cpl. Graham was reportedly unaware of the prohibition when he bound Mr. Willey.

The officer's troubled past was briefly noted at the B.C. civil rights group's press conference this week. None of the participants seemed aware that Cpl. Graham had a prior conviction for assault or that a B.C. provincial court judge had referred to his "propensity for violence."

And no one -- not even an RCMP officer responding this week to media inquiries over the Willey incident -- seemed aware that Cpl. Graham was the man who had shot and killed Norman Reid nine years ago, on the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland.

"The shooting of Norman Reid was arguably the most sensational public tragedy in the history of the small community of Little Catalina," wrote Newfoundland provincial court judge Donald Luther, in his 2003 report of inquiry into the sudden death of Mr. Reid. "Everyone knew one another; many had seen the events while all had heard about them."

A 43-year-old schizophrenic with a long history of erratic, disturbing behaviour, Mr. Reid was well known to local RCMP, including Cpl. Graham, then a constable. On August 26, 2000, residents of Little Catalina reported that Mr. Reid had threatened some local children "in a violent way."

Cpl. Graham was one of the RCMP responders. According to Judge Luther's report, a confrontation ensued with Mr. Reid; he came at Cpl. Graham with an axe, screaming "I'm going to kill you." Cpl. Graham shot him five times and the man died.

"The inquiry concludes that the five shots fired in this case were not excessive and were consistent with established police training and reality," the judge wrote.

Cpl. Graham was deeply affected by the event and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, according to court documents. That and notoriety attached to the Reid case were likely behind his transfer to B.C.

In January 2002, Cpl. Graham assaulted "a Mr. MacDonald" in the Prince George area, according to a B.C. provincial court judgment. Mr. MacDonald had resisted an arrest. Cpl Graham "acknowledged that he panicked and over reacted when dealing with Mr. MacDonald, particularly with regard to kicking him three times in the torso and head area ... Subsequently, it was discovered that Mr. MacDonald had broken bones in his face and was missing teeth," the judgment reads.

Cpl. Graham was charged with assault causing bodily harm. He pled guilty to the charge in August 2002. At sentencing he received a $2,000 fine and 18 months probation, and was ordered to complete 50 hours community work.

According to the judgment, Cpl. Graham received psychological counseling prior to his guilty plea, and afterwards. "No internal discipline was brought against him, except a reprimand was placed on his file. His duties with the RCMP were not changed," the judgment reads.

The Willey incident occurred in July 2003. Two years later, Cpl. Graham and Const. Caston were called to the scene of a violent altercation between a Prince George man - who can only be identified as JAL -- and his daughter. In their ensuing scuffle with JAL, Cpl. Graham used his Taser.

He did not file a Taser use report, as the RCMP requires, until more than a year had passed.

At JAL's assault trial, Cpl. Graham testified he had deployed his Taser twice, in five-second cycles. But JAL's doctor identified 21 marks on his body that seemed consistent with Taser burns. JAL also claimed he was beaten by Const. Caston while in handcuffs inside the Prince George detachment.

In his 2008 judgment, B.C. provincial court judge Michael Brecknell did not settle on the number of times JAL had been Tasered.

JAL was convicted of assaulting his daughter. Charges alleging that JAL assaulted the RCMP officers were stayed because videotape evidence of JAL's detainment at the Prince George detachment had mysteriously gone missing.

They were lost or accidentally destroyed, according to the RCMP and the Crown. Judge Michael Brecknell did not accept that. "This was not a ‘simple mistake,'" he wrote in his judgment.

Neither Cpl. Graham nor Const. Caston was reprimanded over the JAL incident.

Cpl. Graham remains on active RCMP duty. He is described as a supervisor in the North District traffic services integrated road safety unit, based in Prince George.

note: Not only is this guy still with the RCMP, but they promoted him to Corporal. UNBELIEVABLE!!! The RCMP and police forces in our country overall, need a complete overhaul. These people are out of control, and they are the ones with the guns, pepper spray, batons and Tasers, who are killing us every day.

Then again, what can you expect from a 'conservative' government presently accused of condoning torture? Canada's Gestapo and their Nazi thugs need to go!!! And the sooner the better.

Shocking arrest video shown at B.C. coroner's inquiry

2009-11-17T17:46:00.013-07:00

By Suzanne Fournier, The Province

A disturbing video of the arrest of a blood-covered, screaming man was screened in a coroner’s court on Monday.

The video of the RCMP arrest of Robert Thurston Knipstrom, who died in hospital on Nov. 24, 2007, five days after he was Tasered, pepper-sprayed and struck by police batons, was taken by the RCMP.

RCMP lawyer Helen Roberts opposed its release to the media, but coroner’s counsel Rodrick MacKenzie noted the parents were not opposed to making the video public and coroner Vincent Stancato released it.

Knipstrom, 36, is shown in the video handcuffed face-down on the floor of a Chilliwack rental shop, his face and head completely covered with blood, howling in pain, while several RCMP officers restrain him and paramedics try to help him.

The video was so disturbing that Knipstrom’s parents, Bob and Jo Knipstrom, left the courtroom while it was screened.

Russ Walsh, owner of the Chilliwack EZE Rent-it Centre where Knipstrom was Tasered, pepper-sprayed and struck with batons, testified Knipstrom was aggressive, although another witness said he was frightened. Walsh testified that Knipstrom, whom he knew slightly as a customer, appeared agitated, as though he had taken drugs, and tried to climb the stairs to the store’s office despite repeated warnings not to do so.

“I believe the most relevant thing to Robert’s reaction was that six months before, he’d been walking innocently in Rosedale with a can of gas, and police responding to a break-and-enter talked to him,” said Walsh.

“That didn’t go well and he was Tasered at that time.”

Walsh said he thought Knipstrom was terrified of Tasers.

Walsh said Knipstrom was “scaring the ladies here” with erratic and aggressive behaviour that day.

Knipstrom was seen by the inquest’s first witness, Sherry Kassian, driving erratically in his pickup truck. Kassian, who worked in a nearby shop, phoned Walsh to warn him about the odd driving behaviour.

Walsh testified he called police after Knipstrom refused to get off the stairs and leave, and that when two RCMP officers walked over from their detachment across the road, Knipstrom was combative and aggressive. The male RCMP officer, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, testified that Knipstrom pursued him and that he emptied his pepper-spray can and fired his Taser once into Knipstrom’s jacket, all with no effect.

The officer testified that he struck Knipstrom with his baton but only “accidentally” on the head.

“He got up and came at [RCMP] almost zombie-like,” said the officer, adding that by the time backup officers arrived, “I was totally done. I was tapped out.”

Another RCMP officer then hit Knipstrom again with a Taser.

B.C. Civil Liberties’ executive director David Eby called the Knipstrom video “shocking and really disturbing” after viewing it in The Province newsroom, noting the video underscores the need for independent investigation of police.

“They admit they need an external body to do investigations ... the public doesn’t trust them any more,” noted Eby.

“I don’t put any stock in their accounts — it’s hard to believe they did everything properly, given the blood and extent of injuries involved.”

Click here for video (warning this is pretty disturbing, as are some of the comments that follow.)

note: Another one of our own brutally killed (murdered) by those we hire to 'serve and protect' (sic) us.
When are people going to wake up to the fact 'these guys are out of control'? We are becoming a 'police state', where they can murder any of us with impunity for the slightest infraction, as they did with this guy.

Deadly chase brings new look at stun gun use

2009-10-20T19:33:00.011-06:00

(CNN) -- A fatal police chase involving a teenager on a bicycle has led the Pensacola, Florida, police department to revamp its policy on stun guns, officials said.

The chase through Pensacola's streets in the predawn hours of October 3 has also raised the issue of whether a national stun gun policy is needed, a civil rights group said.

Victor Steen, 17, died after being run over by a police cruiser during a pursuit. The young man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, suffered multiple blunt impact injuries, according to the Escambia County Medical Examiners Office.

The chase started when officer Jerald Ard spotted Steen at a construction site about 2 a.m. and the teenager fled, according to the Pensacola Police Department. Steen was on his bicycle, pursued by Ard in his police car.

Ard, 35, tried unsuccessfully to fire a stun gun at Steen, according to a police department news release.

The teen eventually crashed his bicycle and fell into the path of the police car, according to Pensacola Assistant Chief Chip Simmons.

Initial "exam findings do not mention any Taser probes on the body," said Jeff Martin, director of the medical examiners office.

Even though the teenager was not electrocuted by the stun gun, the incident has brought questions from some about safety procedures when it comes to using the weapons.

Policies regarding stun guns vary from department to department, but Fred Wilson, director of operations for the National Sheriffs' Association, said that the general policy on stun guns should focus on appropriate training and an appropriate reporting system for when they are used.

Officials with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights group that advocates for a uniform federal stun gun policy, met with the Pensacola police and city officials Thursday. The organization asked the department whether its officers were trained to shoot a stun gun from a moving vehicle.

After the meeting, the department changed its policy.

"Effective immediately, firing a Taser from a moving vehicle or into a moving vehicle is prohibited," a Pensacola police memo said.

Before Steen's death, the department's policy required that officers act "professionally" and that stun gun use be "reasonable."

"If it had not been for the reckless use of the Taser gun, this tragic accident could have been avoided," said Dexter Wimbish of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The organization said it will release a report in December showing that more than 400 people have died needlessly from a weapon touted as being non-lethal, Wimbish said.

The victim's mother, Cassandria Steen, told CNN affiliate WKRG that the ordeal "has been very difficult, but unfortunately, we can't deal our own hands in life."

"He was a wonderful kid, wonderful, always loving, always wanting to hug," she said. "I was his mommy, and he was my baby."

The leadership conference held a silent march from the scene where the teen died to the church where his funeral was held.

At the march, Cassandria Steen said her desire was "that we will get this thing under control; that maybe somebody else won't have to go through what I'm going through."

Ard, a four-year member of the police department, has been placed on administrative duty while the incident is under investigation, Simmons said. The officer previously had only a single warning on his record, from a minor accident.

The Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are handling the investigation, Simmons said.

The law enforcement agency is in the fact-finding portion of its investigation, spokesman Mike Morrison said. When the investigation is complete, the department will file a report with the state attorney in Escambia County, he said.

"Our job is to gather the information, and it's up to the state attorney to determine if any charges will be filed," Morrison said, adding that he could not give a timeline for the report's completion.

Simmons said a review of the incident would determine whether Ard's use of his stun gun was "reasonable" before passing any judgment on the officer.

19-year-old dies after police in Southern California subdue him with Taser at care facility

2009-10-18T10:40:00.001-06:00

October 18, 2009
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Police say a 19-year-old man has died in Southern California after officers used a Taser to subdue him at a board-and-care facility.

A San Bernardino police department statement says the man died at a hospital early Saturday. The department says officers had been summoned to the facility to investigate a fight involving three people late Friday night. Police say officers separated the trio but "one of the subjects became combative and a Taser was deployed to control him."

The man was having trouble breathing, and police called paramedics. He was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later.

The man's name and cause of death haven't been released.

Poland seeks misconduct finding against Mounties

2009-10-08T10:16:00.002-06:00

IAN BAILEY
VANCOUVER — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Oct. 06, 2009

Poland's government wants the Braidwood inquiry to make "significant findings of misconduct" against the four Mounties who tasered Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski in a 2007 confrontation that led to his death.

Poland's Vancouver-based lawyer made the request in closing submissions yesterday to inquiry head Thomas Braidwood, who is probing the death of Mr. Dziekanski on Oct. 14, 2007.

Don Rosenbloom accused the police of "blatant" wrongdoing, suggesting there was no need to taser Mr. Dziekanski, and that the four Mounties involved cooked their accounts of the incident, which has prompted an enduring debate about the police use of stun guns.

"Mr. Commissioner. It takes a strong nation to have the courage to microscopically examine such deep problems within its institutions, but as painful as the incident might be, society is strengthened by engaging in such proceedings," Mr. Rosenbloom said as lawyers for at least 14 other parties looked on in the hearing room.

"No nation should pretend it is immune from institutional failure, whether it be the police forces or otherwise. Poland wishes to praise Canada and British Columbia for pursuing such an exhaustive and courageous examination of the incident."

The praise was echoed in a letter from Piotr Ogrodzinski, Poland's ambassador to Canada, that Mr. Rosenbloom read to the inquiry. Mr. Ogrodzinski saluted the B.C. government for launching the Braidwood inquiry, and Mr. Braidwood for welcoming Mr. Rosenbloom.

But the ambassador acknowledged disappointment that the Crown decided in December, 2008, not to lay criminal charges against the four Mounties.

There is an instinctive reaction among viewers who have seen the widely viewed bystander's video of Mr. Dziekanski's fatal confrontation "that justice must be achieved, responsibility determined and wrong-doers be made accountable through criminal prosecution," he wrote.

Mr. Rosenbloom was far more blunt than Poland's top diplomat.

"We are inviting a finding from this commission that absolutely no force was called for in these circumstances. It's our position that Mr. Dziekanski had been unnecessarily subjected to tasering; the officers showed a callous disregard for his medical condition as he lay dying on the floor and their indifference was neither in conformity with police standards nor basic humanity," he said.

"We ask that there are significant findings of misconduct in respect to the action of the four officers."

He added: "There was blatant police wrongdoing at the scene, compounded by the officers untruthful reporting of the incident, both in their police statements and here at the inquiry. Additionally there were misjudgments of senior officers and an unwillingness by the RCMP at the highest level to acknowledge error."

Lawyers for the four officers will have an opportunity to make their own closing submissions later this week.

Mr. Dziekanski drew the attention of police when he began acting erratically after a long flight from Canada to Poland and an hours-long wait to hook up with his mother, a Kamloops resident waiting to meet him so he could begin a new life in Canada.

When the 40-year-old labourer, who did not speak any English, picked up a stapler in a manner police deemed threatening, he was stunned five times and cuffed.

He died of a cardiac arrest that was not officially linked to the taser.

Walter Kosteckyj, a lawyer for Mr. Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski, said the case needs to be reopened by the B.C. Attorney-General Mike de Jong.

RCMP actions 'gratuitous, 'violent,' lawyer tells inquiry

2009-10-07T10:28:00.001-06:00

CBC News

Lawyer calls for RCMP to be replaced in B.C. by a provincial force

Final arguments began Monday at the public inquiry in Vancouver into the death of a man who was stunned several times by an RCMP Taser at the Vancouver airport almost two years ago.

The inquiry, led by retired justice Thomas Braidwood, is examining how Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski succumbed after being shot with an electronic stun gun five times by RCMP officers and left handcuffed face down on the floor of the arrivals lounge of the airport.

In his final submission to the inquiry Monday, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother, Walter Kosteckyj, said the police failed to take the time to do their job properly. He said it took the RCMP officers less than 30 seconds after first meeting Dziekanski before they fired the Taser at him.

"The tasering of Mr. Dziekanski, at its best, would be characterized as premature, hurried and panicked response. And at the worst was a premeditated and planned attack," Kosteckyj said.

It was clear that Dziekanski went down, writhing in pain, after being hit by the stun gun just once. Using the weapon on the man repeatedly after that initial shot was stepping over the line, Kosteckyj said.

"The third, fourth and fifth deployments were gratuitous, unnecessary and were violent," the lawyer said.

Kostekyj also told the inquiry the RCMP in B.C. should be replaced with a provincial police force.

He said the RCMP already act as the provincial police force in B.C., but doesn't want to be held accountable to the provincial legislature.

The RCMP officers involved in Dziekanski's death, Const. Bill Bentley, Const. Gerry Rundel, Const. Kwesi Millington and Cpl. Benjamin Robinson, have already claimed the provincial inquiry has no jurisdiction over them, and Kosteckyj expects the federal government will make the same argument in its final submissions.

Final statements were expected to continue through Thursday.

The final report by commissioner Thomas Braidwood is expected early next year.

RCMP officers lied to B.C. Taser inquiry: Lawyer

2009-10-07T10:26:00.002-06:00

By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun October 5, 2009

VANCOUVER — The lawyer for the Polish government told the inquiry probing the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport that the RCMP officers involved lied to the inquiry as "an intentional act to subvert justice."

At the inquiry Tuesday, Don Rosenbloom urged commissioner Thomas Braidwood to find misconduct against the four officers in the October 2007 Tasering incident.

After Dziekanski died on the airport floor, the four officers collaborated to fabricate their testimony in police statements, he said.

Rosenbloom said it was troubling that each of the officers had almost identical accounts of what happened, which proved to be untrue.

The officers' initial statements said Dziekanski was yelling after police arrived, he was agitated, resisted police commands and grabbed a stapler and began swinging it wildly at the officers.

"All these statements are untrue," Rosenbloom told the inquiry.

He said the RCMP then released incorrect information immediately after the incident, telling the public that Dziekanski was Tasered only twice by three officers, instead of five times by four officers.

"The RCMP deliberately and negligently disseminated this misinformation and chose not to correct the record for more than a year," Rosenbloom said.

The four Mounties showed a "callous disregard" for Dziekanski's life, he said.

The 40-year-old Polish immigrant "was a victim of incompetence, misconduct and a reckless disregard of his life."

Rosenbloom also urged Braidwood to find misconduct against three other B.C. Mounties over their "misinformation campaign."

He accused RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout, Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre and Cpl. Dale Carr of compromising the investigation.

"The misconduct was then compounded when the RCMP deliberately decided to remain silent and to allow the fictional version, the one favourable to the four officers, to remain on the public record, knowing full well that the story was, in all relevant respects, simply untrue," Rosenbloom said.

Rosenbloom told the inquiry that the RCMP officers had no justification for Tasering Dziekanski five times.

It was also inexcusable that the lead Mountie, Cpl. Monty Robinson, put his knee on the back of Dziekanski's neck for 24 seconds, the lawyer said.

This caused him to lose consciousness, said Rosenbloom.

The four officers failed to provide proper medical care and adequate monitoring of his vital signs, he added.

"Every second counted," Rosenbloom told the inquiry.

The lawyers for two of the four Mounties denied Rosenbloom's conspiracy theory.

"These allegations are irresponsible, they pander to emotions, they are inflammatory," said Ted Beaubier, representing Const. Gerry Rundel.

He said Rundel was inexperienced, but there is "nothing to support" the allegations against him.

David Butcher, the lawyer for Const. Bill Bentley, said that his client did nothing to contribute to Dziekanski's death.

"He acted in accordance with his training," Butcher said.

Police were called to the airport after a report of a man throwing around luggage.

Dziekanski, who spoke no English, spent 10 hours at the airport looking for his mother, but the two never connected.

His mother returned home to Kamloops when officials told her that her son couldn't be found.

"Everything that could go wrong in the 11 hours at the airport, did go wrong," Rosenbloom said.

"If not for all the indifference, he would still be alive today," he added.

RCMP should limit self-investigations: watchdog

2009-08-13T11:26:00.003-06:00

CBC News

The RCMP should not investigate its own members in cases involving death to avoid a possible conflict of interest, the head of a watchdog agency said Tuesday in Ottawa.

"In the public interest we sought to answer the following question: Can the current process of the RCMP investigating itself legitimately engender confidence in the transparency and integrity of the criminal investigation and its outcome?" Paul Kennedy, told reporters at a press conference.

"Based on the results of our research and analysis, the informed commission answer is that it cannot."

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, of which Kennedy is chair, spent 19 months studying the controversial issue of the RCMP investigating itself.
Kennedy's report called for several policy and legislative changes to avoid actual or perceived conflicts. Currently, the national police force has discretion to decide how such investigations will unfold.

28 cases studied
The commission examined 28 cases from across the country between April 2002 and March 2007, including six deaths.

The high-profile case of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who was stunned with a Taser by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 13, 2007, falls outside that time frame. An inquiry into his death wrapped up in June and a report is expected later this year.

However, several other controversial cases sparked debate over RCMP self-investigations, including the death of Ian Bush, 22, of Houston, B.C.

Bush was arrested in October 2005 for having an open beer outside a hockey game and for giving a false name to the officer. He was taken to the RCMP detachment and, 20 minutes later, he was shot in the back of the head by a rookie officer.

In November 2007, Kennedy's commission found that the officer who shot Bush acted in self-defence, and the police investigation into the shooting was conducted fairly and without conflict of interest.

Scope of problem not understood
The RCMP currently has no national tracking system for investigations against its members and lacks an understanding of the scope of the problem, said Kennedy.

"There is currently no national, centralized co-ordination of member investigations," he said.
"That means that no member of the RCMP, including the RCMP commissioner, can tell you how many criminal investigations have been undertaken into its own members.

"More serious is that no one can tell you how many members have been investigated for serious injury, sexual assault or death nor can they identify how many charges have been laid against their members nor what the outcome was."

The commission also found that there are no national standards or policies governing how investigations are conducted, Kennedy said.

"Of real concern is the fact that the RCMP investigative guidelines specifically tell members when undertaking a criminal investigation into another member to 'take the same action as you would for any other person,'" he said.

"We disagree strongly with this principle and believe that criminal investigations into RCMP members should not be treated the same as any other investigation. Police are held to a higher standard."

Kennedy's research also found the RCMP investigators were "free of bias" and approached their assignments in a professional and conscientious manner.

'Inappropriate' patterns
However, he identified several "inappropriate" patterns in the case files:

25 per cent of primary investigators personally knew the member under scrutiny.
In 60 per cent of cases, a sole investigator was assigned, putting the investigation at risk for potential conflict of interest or perception of bias.
In almost one-third of cases, the primary investigator was of the same or lower rank as the subject member, creating potential for intimidation.

Kennedy's report called for national standards on RCMP criminal investigations involving its own members so they are conducted the same way across Canada.

He also urged legislative changes that would allow investigations to be referred to another criminal investigative body. This would be mandatory in cases involving death.

In cases involving serious injury and sexual assault, the complaints commission and a new national registrar would decide whether to refer the case to another body.

Gripes against RCMP jump 35%

2009-07-31T16:16:00.002-06:00

Eliminate 'trust deficit': watchdog

Calgary Herald - By Norma Greenaway, Canwest News Service
June 12, 2009

Public complaints against the RCMP climbed by almost 35 per cent in the year ending March 31, the force's watchdog said in an annual report that also cited continuing concerns about the Mounties' use of Tasers.

The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP said the most common public gripe against RCMP members during the last fiscal year--one in five -- involved allegations of rude, dismissive, biased or non-responsive behaviour by an officer.

Bad attitude was closely followed by complaints about the quality of RCMP criminal investigations, ranging from allegations of improper witness interviews and improper handling of evidence to concealment of facts or misleading reports. These accounted for 17.3 per cent of the complaints.

The report by the independent review body, which was released Thursday, said the number of public complaints increased to 1,692 in 2008-09, up from 1,258 the previous year and 956 in 2006-07.

The commission, which is headed by Paul Kennedy, took credit for issuing a report a year ago that has pushed the RCMP to rethink Taser use, training and reporting. The commission said, however, it still has concerns.

Among other things, it said it is conducting an investigation into all in-custody deaths up to February 2009 involving the use of a Taser by a member of RCMP.

It also said it plans to release its final report by Sept. 7 into the death of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish man who died after being Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver's international airport.

Based on the commission's analysis of the 2008 statistics, the report said, the Taser is increasingly being used as a deterrent.

It said the weapon was taken out of the holster but not fired in almost 50 per cent of the cases it was used.

Still, the commission said, it's concerned that calls involving "mental health" or "suicide" resulted in more Taser deployments than any other incident type, especially when there was no evidence in the usage reports that mental health calls were any more risky than other incident types.

Kennedy warns there is a growing perception of a trust deficit with the RCMP that must be addressed.

"The trust deficit can be eliminated by increasing transparency and accountability of RCMP activities by means of an enhanced regime for civilian review of RCMP activities," he wrote.

"Failure to address this issue increases the risk that distrust will become the dominant characteristic of the public-police discourse."

New Tasers get upgrade: three shocks at a time

2009-07-28T09:56:00.002-06:00

'If I was a cop, I'd want to carry one,' says CEO

Jul 28, 2009 04:30 AM
Amanda Lee Myers Associated Press

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz.–Taser International has unveiled its first new stun gun since 2003 – a device that can shock three people without reloading.

Older Taser stun guns, in use by 14,200 law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and dozens more in Canada, must be reloaded after one shot. This can be a problem for an officer who has missed a target or has more than one suspect to subdue.

Taser unveiled its new X3 "electronic control device" yesterday before hundreds of law enforcement officers and distributors at its annual conference near Phoenix.
Taser CEO Rick Smith and his brother, chairman Tom Smith, stood on stage, each holding two new Tasers, and fired six rounds each at metal targets to whoops and applause.

"If I was a cop, I'd want to carry one," Rick Smith said.

It costs $1,799 (U.S.), compared with $799 for the older model. Taser said law enforcement agencies can trade in their older ones for credits worth $300 to $800.

The weapons have incited controversy. In British Columbia, a government inquiry found Tasers have been linked to 25 deaths – including that of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish immigrant who died at Vancouver airport in 2007 after RCMP officers stunned him five times.

Last week, the inquiry recommended severe restrictions be put on the weapons.

----------------------------------------

With my last post before this one, we went one step forward to now going 2 steps back. This is so SICK!!!

Tasers need stricter control, B.C. inquiry finds

2009-07-23T19:46:00.001-06:00

Much stricter controls are needed over the use of Taser stun guns by police in B.C., former judge Thomas Braidwood says in the first phase of findings from his inquiry into stun guns...

Tasers need stricter control, B.C. inquiry finds

________________________________

Falls short of a moratorium on the use of this dangerous, lethal weapon that has been improperly used and misused by our law enforcement people (see Land of the Taser, Home of the Slave). The ready reliance on the Taser stun gun (that in too many cases does more than that) with no controls or safeguards has led to countless inhumane deaths. At least now those numbers will dwindle... but will still continue!

So what has this judge done but merely 'slowed down' the death count. But death counts there still will be! I and and so many others were hoping for so much more.

An outright ban of this barbaric weapon is what is needed here. We are not cattle!!!

I read today that the Federal Conservative Justice Minister is in B.C. promoting his Law and Order Bill, which is geared to strike at the little guy while leaving the big guys alone. Yes, the Conservative Government is again pushing a Bill to suppress ordinary people's rights and freedoms, while giving police even more powers to oppress and subdue the masses to their will and liking (using Tasers), while at the same time turning a blind eye to the carnage being perpetrated by white collar criminals. In addition, they let loose the Whores of Babylon (Corporations) to run amok freely raping and pillaging with impunity.

This is not my idea of living free in a 'Just Society', that they constantly bombard us with using their various media propaganda machines. Who are they kidding? They are knowingly and willingly turning our country into a Fascist State with Passports and/or Visas coming soon as a requirement to cross provincial boundaries. Think I'm kidding? Try crossing into the States without one of those these days.

But what do Conservatives (Alliance/Reform) know about justice? They only know Law and Order. Or, as I have put it before... 'The Law for the Poor and Justice for the Rich'.

A two-tiered Justice System is what we have here in Canada. Oppressive laws breed contempt and hatred in people towards their oppressors, their slave masters, which ultimately leads to the 'revolt of the masses'... and violence. More violence... when will we ever learn?

Violence is random it comes from nowhere and leads to nothing. Who can fight nothing from nowhere.

RCMP officers planned to taser Robert Dziekanski, e-mail suggests

2009-06-21T11:42:00.000-06:00

An e-mail suggests that the four RCMP officers involved in the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski discussed using the stun gun before they confronted the newly arrived Polish immigrant at the Vancouver airport...

RCMP officers planned to taser Robert Dziekanski, e-mail suggests

Court rules Taser inquiry can find Mounties at fault

2009-06-17T11:18:00.001-06:00

The B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a constitutional challenge questioning whether a provincial inquiry can find fault against the four RCMP officers involved in Robert Dziekanski's death....

Court rules Taser inquiry can find Mounties at fault

RCMP Taser use draws Amnesty's ire

2009-05-29T11:26:00.002-06:00

OTTAWA — An international human rights report fingers the RCMP use of Tasers, noting that the controversial stun guns are the subject of a public inquiry in Canada and that six people died last year after being stunned by police...

RCMP Taser use draws Amnesty's ire

Brooks man tasered by police, dies in hospital

2009-05-07T10:20:00.002-06:00

CHQR Newsroom
5/7/2009

An investigation is underway following the death of a man who was tasered by RCMP in Brooks Wednedsay night.

Police were called to a complaint of a man who appeared injured and was causing a disturbance in a residential area.

Mounties used a taser to take the man into custody.

He then went into medical distress and was treated on scene immediately by paramedics who had also responded to the call.

The man died later in hospital.

ASIRT -- the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team--which investigates incidents involving police has taken over the case.

15-year-old dies after being Tasered by police in Detroit

2009-04-10T18:00:00.000-06:00

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT - A 15-year-old has died after he was Tasered by police following a traffic stop and short foot chase that began just north of Detroit.

Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Jere Green says the teen was Tasered Friday while struggling with officers inside an abandoned Detroit house.

He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The house was about a kilometre from where Warren police stopped a vehicle for having an expired licence plate.

The teen was one of three people in the vehicle. The other two were taken into custody.

The death is under investigation. An autopsy is scheduled Saturday

taser use abuse

2009-04-04T10:24:00.001-06:00

Posted By Michael Gregoroff

Letter to the Editor,

I am writing this letter in response to the inquest into the death of Robert Dziekanski for those of you who don't know it is the death {manslaughter} of a Polish immigrate who died at the Vancouver International Airport October 14 2007 as a result of being tasered 5 times by 1 of 4 RCMP officers responding.

This is a travesty of justice the inquest still ongoing decided before the inquest even started that they found no one is at fault for his death that stated why is this inquest even continuating is beyond me, here is a brief summery of what happened October 14 2007 at the Vancouver International Airport, Mr. Robert Dziekanski after arriving from a 12 hour flight from Poland was waiting in a secured area alone for 8 hours trying to communicate with people that he was trying to reach his mother for a visit after all this time no one from airport authorities couldn't or wouldn't help him because of a lack of communication, he couldn't speak English as a result he became agitated and the port authorities called the RCMP, 4 members showed up and within 30 seconds without trying to establish what the problem was he was TASERED 5 times and the end result he died, while one officer with his knee on the victims back and Mr. Dziekanski turning blue and the other 3 RCMP members standing there they would not let the paramedics intervene to help the victim.

After all this and with 24 deaths later from tasers in Canada the Public Chiefs of Canada says TASERS do not kill and every officer should be equip with a taser gun, any intelligent person would not come to this conclusion that tasers don't kill, the police forces across Canada take the word of TASER International USA who manufactures and sells tasers in Canada to the police state that in their studies TASERS do not kill, Taser International has been convicted and fined millions of dollars in the United States for this statement.

Why on God's green earth should anyone take the word of Taser International as gospel but the RCMP and our government does.

It's time for Canadians to stand up and express their outrage instead of the RCMP telling us what's good for us, the RCMP are an a entity on their own the Public Complaints Commissioner when holding an inquest for wrong doing by police can only make suggestions and the RCMP are under no obligation to make changes and RCMP investigating themselves this is absurd and has to change otherwise we have a police state, this could have been changed a long time ago when Stockwell Day was Minister for Public Safety, instead in his wisdom turned a blind eye to 24 deaths in Canada by TASERS or you can use the new name they have given

[CONDUCTED ENERGY WEAPONS] now doesn't that sound better and furthermore almost all the authorities defending TASERS say TASERS saves lives, show me one case were this is true.

The RCMP used to be the pride of Canada but no longer with the international coverage of this death and tasers use in general, people around the world are looking at Canada with a critical eye , you can help by emailing the Minister of Public Safety Peter Van Loan www.publicsafety.gc.ca and also here is a site to sign a petition against taser use in Canada dictated to the late Mr. Robert Dziekanski there are 3,652 signatures so far,

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/212297027

or are you going to do what most Canadians do and say I can't make a difference so why bother, I will and the RCMP should bow their heads in shame, all members of the RCMP are guilty simply because the good ones know who the bad ones are and do nothing about it, God help us all!

February 25, 2009
Michael Gregoroff 607-431 Winnipeg St. Penticton BC Canada V2A-6P4
250.276.7324 gregoroff2002@yahoo.ca

Quebec orders police to turn in Tasers

2009-03-27T11:10:00.003-06:00

Province recalls 167 weapons after some stun guns malfunctioned in testing
CBC News

The Quebec government is pulling all its Taser stun guns off the street for testing after new lab results revealed problems with some of the weapons.The Quebec government found problems with five Taser X26 stun guns, sparking a provincewide recall of the weapons. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Quebec was the first province to order testing of the stun guns after a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation showed some used by Canadian police did not meet the manufacturer's specifications.

The province sent 52 stun guns made before 2005 to an independent lab for testing. Five of them performed outside normal range.

With the results in hand, on Thursday evening Quebec Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis ordered all of the province's police departments to send their Taser stun guns to the lab immediately.

As a result, 167 of the weapons will remain off the streets until they are checked.

"All of the measures possible will be taken," Dupuis said in his statement. "Quebec is on the leading edge in this work and nothing will be neglected in guaranteeing the responsible use and security of this type of weapon."

The Quebec government has not yet provided details on how the guns malfunctioned or how much current they delivered.

The problem weapons came from Longueuil, Eastmain and Akwesasne. Police say none of the weapons had been used against a person. The five stun guns will be destroyed.

Quebec tests echo CBC/Radio-Canada findings
Quebec first became concerned about stun guns after a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation last fall.

CBC tested 41 Taser stun guns and found that 10 per cent delivered higher jolts of electric current than specified by the manufacturer, Taser International. All the Tasers that malfunctioned were older models.

Pierre Savard, the biomedical engineer who conducted the CBC/Radio-Canada analysis, also worked with the province on developing the protocol for its study.

"It is difficult for me to say something definite about those results but it clearly shows that all Tasers are not perfect," said Pierre Savard.

There are thousands of Tasers in use by police across the country and most major police forces are in the process of having their the stun guns tested.

Critics, supporters applaud recall decision
Critics of stun gun use in Quebec were pleased by the minister's decision.

Marvin Rotrand, a Montreal city councillor, hopes the recall will lead to a full ban in Quebec.

"Is this a valid part of the police arsenal? The proof has not been made conclusively," said Rotrand.

"The minister now has an opportunity not only to test whether Tasers in the police arsenal across Quebec actually are safe, but whether we might be better off if Tasers were retired from the arsenal altogether."

Claude Dauphin, the executive committee member responsible for public security, said the Montreal police department will send its 17 Taser stun guns to the lab as requested.

He supports the government's decision to test the stun guns, and hopes the findings will reassure the public that they are important tools for police.

"When we use the Taser gun it is the last resort before the real gun," said Dauphin. "That is why on the island … we made sure with our police authorities that [the stun gun] has to be used in a very restricted operation."

Dupuis is expected to hold a news conference Friday to give more details.

Taser International has not responded to the Quebec action. However, the company has criticized CBC/Radio-Canada's investigation, saying the testing methods were flawed.

Government cuts to complaints commission seriously erode RCMP accountability

2009-03-21T11:44:00.003-06:00

OTTAWA - The Conservative government’s decision to slash the budget of the Commission for Public Complaints (CPC) against the RCMP by nearly half will seriously damage the accountability of our national police force and erode public confidence, Liberal Public Safety and National Security Critic Mark Holland said today.

“This is a direct attack on the public’s role in overseeing our national police force,” said Mr. Holland. “The Commission is the only body charged with providing independent civilian oversight of the RCMP, and that is crucial to preserving the RCMP’s integrity in the minds of Canadians.”

In recent years, public trust in the RCMP has been adversely impacted by a number of high-profile controversies, including the deportation and torture of Maher Arar and several other Canadian citizens, the RCMP pension scandal, and most recently, the case of Robert Dziekanski, who died after RCMP officers struck him repeatedly with a Taser.

The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP, which produces regular reports into the conduct of RCMP officers and provides critical research and analysis on policing issues, has had its hands tied in many of these cases because its powers are limited in scope. Justice Dennis O’Connor, who investigated the role of Canadian officials in the Maher Arar affair, recommended that the CPC be given greater powers to strengthen their ability to provide effective oversight.

Furthermore, this government has not fulfilled its commitment to establish a permanent civilian oversight council as mandated by two recent independent reports that examined the governance and structure of the RCMP.

“Everyone from Justices O’Connor and Iacobucci to the Special Senate Committee on the Anti-terrorism Act has agreed that there needs to be more and not less oversight of the RCMP,” said Mr. Holland. “So why then is this government bent on damaging the one organization that is charged with upholding and protecting the RCMP’s reputation?”

Police fatally shoot knife-wielding man in downtown Vancouver

2009-03-21T08:10:00.002-06:00

Again today, another fellow citizen is killed by police.

Police fatally shoot knife-wielding man in downtown Vancouver

And again, the print media writes up the story in such a way as to blame the innocent and justify the actions of poorly trained, misguided officers who obviously have watched too much TV and are in over their heads in the positions they are in. The following quote sums up the problem:

'Our officers are trained to use deadly force only when it is necessary to protect themselves or others from grievous bodily harm or death.' — Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu

According to the TV reports, many of the 50 or so witnesses to this senseless 'murder' say the female cop over-reacted and that other forms of non-lethal intervention could and should have been used. Such as a baton, pepper spray, even a bullet to the leg. But no they have been trained to use deadly force under the slightest pretext. Do they get several years of paid leave every time they kill one of us, or is it just for the ‘thrill’? (sic)

I guess because it was a homeless man, his spirit and soul don't count. We'll have to wait for when the police non-knowingly shoot an establishment type before the reigning in of our 'gun-ho, kill them all' police force will take place.

At least 17 people arrested in Montreal in protest against police brutality

2009-03-15T14:24:00.002-06:00

MONTREAL — At least 17 people have been arrested at an anti-police brutality demonstration in Montreal Sunday.

Police spokesman Ian Lafreniere says many of them were arrested because they were carrying sticks or stones.

One police officer has been slightly injured.

Several hundred people, many wearing masks, are taking part in the protest against what organizers call police brutality.

The annual event has turned violent in recent years, with widespread vandalism leading to numerous arrests.

There have been fears this year's demonstration could be worse because it is the first since police fatally shot 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva last August.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

note: The way things have been going the whole country should be protesting, and not just Montreal. Kudo's to Quebec! They were the first to ban police use of Tasers and now the first to stand up against police brutality. The rest of the province's should get some backbone and follow their lead.

Justice for the Rich, and the Law for the Poor

2009-03-14T11:10:00.005-06:00

Are there two kinds of law in this country now under the conservative government? Justice for the rich and well-connected, and the law for the poor. In Canada it seems the RCMP and police can run amok leaving dead bodies wherever they go, with impunity. Take a man out of the drunk tank and leave him outside to freeze to death. Take him for a drive out in the country and drop him off to freeze to death. Have overwhelming odds on your side, and still resort to Taser/Gun use, and kill them where they stand. Doesn't matter if you are a juvenile in a holding cell, a senior laying in a hospital bed or a pregnant woman. Stun them, Gun them, Kill them All! With no accountability.

Not only are these murders of our people getting away with their crimes, but lift a finger against them in self defence and receive the maximum the law allows. There seems to be two types of justice in our country. We are turning into a fascist state and every time we hear of another killing, sexual assault, theft, physical assault, etc. etc. being perpetrated by the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies, I wonder who the real criminals are, and who I really have to fear, don't you?

Jury awards US$3 million in Texas stun gun death

2009-03-02T16:06:00.003-07:00

March 2, 2009 - 17:17
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON - A jury in Texas has awarded US$3 million to the mother of a mentally ill man who died after he was shocked 18 times with a stun gun and hogtied during an arrest.

Shirley Nagel sued four deputies from the Precinct One Constable's Office after they detained her son, Joel Don Casey, in 2005.

Casey's death was later ruled a homicide.

Jurors on Monday found three of the four deputies used unreasonable and excessive force.

Assistant Harris County Attorney Frank Sanders says the deputies were not trying to hurt Casey or violate his constitutional rights.

The county plans to appeal.

No more Tasers on resistant suspects: RCMP

2009-02-13T09:36:00.008-07:00

Taser must be only used in "reasonable" circumstances, new policy says
Canwest News Service
February 12, 2009 1:02 PM

OTTAWA — The RCMP will no longer use Tasers against suspects who are resistant, according to RCMP Commissioner William Elliott.

Elliott told a meeting of Commons public safety committee on Thursday that it's still believed the Taser is a useful weapon that saves lives, but that the RCMP now recognize the stun gun can cause death in "acutely agitated" suspects.

The policy also says Tasers must only be used in "reasonable" circumstances.

It is now mandatory for officers to report each use on the day it is used, even if the Taser is not fired. That data must be sent to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP to produce quarterly and annual reports.

According to documents obtained under the Access to Information Act by Canwest News Service, the overall use of Tasers by the RCMP soared to 1,119 incidents in 2006 and 1,414 in 2007, compared with only 597 incidents in 2005.

British Columbia is in the midst of an inquiry into one of the highest profile incidents involving Taser use. The Braidwood inquiry is investigating the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who died at Vancouver's International Airport after being Tasered five times by RCMP officers.

Ontario only allows tactical officers or front-line supervisors to carry Tasers, while they are a standard tool of front-line police in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

The Saskatchewan Police Commission said last July it wouldn't authorize the use of the devices by the province's 14 police services. However, SWAT team members will continue to use them.

In Nova Scotia, where an inquiry is set to begin this spring into the death of a man days after he was shocked with a police Taser, interim restrictions have been implemented limiting Taser use to "situations of violent or aggressive resistance or active threat that may cause serious injury."

note: This is good news, but still falls short of a total ban which is what most Canadians have been demanding. In this regard, the Commons public safety committee should be telling the RCMP how things are going to be, rather than the other way around, as is what appears to be the case.

Ban stun gun use on young people, Ont.'s child advocate urges police

2009-02-03T10:16:00.004-07:00

Teenager, father sue OPP for $500,000
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 11:11 AM ET
CBC News

Ontario's child advocate has recommended the provincial police force ban the use of stun guns on minors unless someone's life is in danger.

The call comes after a teenager was shocked in the Sioux Lookout OPP detachment cell last summer. The 15-year-old female, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was picked up by Ontario Provincial Police for underage drinking following an altercation at a July 2008 party.

The teen, who was 14 at the time and has fetal alcohol syndrome, was waiting in the jail cell for a court hearing.

Her father, who also cannot be identified, said his daughter was picking paint off the cell walls out of boredom. Police warned her to stop and when she didn't, her father said officers entered her cell, held her down by both arms and shot her with a stun gun.

"They put her down, they took out something black and the next thing you know, there was a scream. Why would they do that? She wasn't doing anything wrong, just scratching on the wall," he said.

According to police documents, officers said they were forced to subdue her with the stun gun after she attacked them.

She was later convicted of assaulting a police officer during the incident.

Inappropriate response: child advocate
Her father says he didn't see any evidence of violence on her part when he watched the police videotape of the incident and launched a complaint against the OPP. He and his daughter are also suing the police force for $500,000.

The OPP will not comment on the case because of the lawsuit; however, an internal investigation by the OPP's professional standards bureau found the complaint was unsubstantiated due to insufficient evidence.

Lawyers for the force are expected to file a statement of defence during the next few days, which could offer more information on the case.

Ontario Child Advocate Irwin Elman said the police response was not appropriate.

"When I saw the tape, we had a young person who was peeling paint off the wall of a police holding cell with her fingernail and she was quiet and on a cot," he said. "And our estimation, the use of a Taser was not proportional to the need to protect, I guess, the paint on the wall."

Elman said the police force should suspend its use of stun guns on youth until more information is known about their effects.

"We're asking for a moratorium on the use of Tasers on children and youth, certainly in our province, until there's established, full research about their use on children and youth," he said.

According to a recent RCMP audit, as many as 90 people under the age of 16 across the country were shocked by stun guns between 2001-2008, said Elman.

"It's hard to tell … how much that happens in Ontario's police holding cells or elsewhere because there's no real transparent oversight on the use of Tasers."

OPP Insp. Dave Ross say the force hasn't seen Elman's recommendations but will review and consider them.

"We're always reviewing our policies and procedures with any practices we do in the OPP to ensure we're delivering the best services we can to the communities, but still fulfilling our mandate of public safety," he said.

Debate over stun guns
Jeff Roberts, a lawyer for the father and daughter, said stun guns are no longer weapons of last resort, but are being used by police as a method of pain compliance.

Roberts calls that cruel and unusual treatment that is forbidden under international law.

"It's unnecessary and extremely cruel. Would you like me to stick your kid's finger in a light socket?" he said.

The use of stun guns on young people has been under debate across the country following a number of incidents:

New Brunswick banned the use of the weapons on youth prisoners last year after an 18-year-old female was stunned twice while jailed in Saint John.

Michael Langan, 17, died last July after Winnipeg police shot him with a stun gun after an altercation with officers.

RCMP in the Northwest Territories are investigating their use of a stun gun on a teenage girl at a youth detention centre in Inuvik in 2007.

A Halifax Youth Court judge criticized three police officers for their arrest of a teenage girl, who was tackled in her own bed and shocked twice with a stun gun in February 2007.

Testimony is also ongoing at an inquiry into the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski, a 40-year-old Polish immigrant who died after being stunned several times at Vancouver International Airport.

Man dies in hospital after Calgary police use Taser during arrest on weekend

2009-01-31T12:06:00.003-07:00

Canadian Press
November 3, 2008

Calgary police say a man has died in hospital after officers used a Taser while arresting him on the weekend.

It’s the second time in less than a week a person has died after Alberta police used a stun gun during an arrest. Calgary police say the dead man in this latest case is Gordon Walker Bowe, 30, from Castlegar, B.C. Bowe was rushed to hospital Saturday night in critical condition after police responded to calls about a break-and-enter.

Officers found a man in a basement of a home. They say the man was agitated and wouldn’t follow commands. An attempt to subdue him with a Taser was unsuccessful.

Neighbours reported hearing “a ruckus” from the house, which was vacant, and that it sounded like the man was trying to get away from police.

Police say he was eventually arrested, but went into medical distress while being assessed by paramedics. They could not say over the weekend whether the weapon had actually jolted the man or not.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team was on the scene Saturday night, and had taken over the investigation Monday.

The independent organization reviews incidents involving police forces in Alberta.

It is also reviewing the death of a man in Edmonton last week after being confronted by police in a pawn shop.

Trevor Grimolfson died Wednesday after police responded to reports of an assault and a man trashing the pawn shop, and deployed their stun guns in an attempt to subdue him.

Read article

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Watchdog rebukes RCMP

2009-01-31T11:50:00.003-07:00

The RCMP should change the way it handles complaints from the public to improve people’s trust in the whole grievance system, a watchdog agency said Thursday.

Paul Kennedy, chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, said the Mounties should speed up the handling of these files.

He also said they should have to give his agency copies of all complaints filed against the force and ensure that standard grievance procedures are used across the country.

“We want to ensure public trust in the integrity of the complaint system,” Kennedy said.

Family of Alberta man who died after stun gun shocks files lawsuit

2009-01-31T11:36:00.002-07:00

Source: CBC News
Posted: 09/11/08 5:59PM

The family of a Red Deer man who died after police shocked him several times with a stun gun has filed a wrongful death lawsuit worth $1.7 million.

The suit alleges negligence by the U.S.-based stun gun company Taser, the RCMP, three RCMP officers, the local health region, a civilian who allegedly helped police, a hospital, two doctors and two paramedics.

Allegations in the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 26 with the Court of Queen's Bench in Red Deer, have not been proven in court and no statement of defence has been filed.

The family of Jason Doan, a 28-year-old pipeline worker, believes RCMP officers used excessive force to subdue him on Aug. 10, 2006, in a park in the central Alberta city.

Will Willier, the Doan family lawyer, said Thursday that the lawsuit lists several defendants because there were so many areas where mistakes were made.

"What you have at the end of it is you have someone who was Tasered, who lost consciousness, who never regained consciousness and somebody who has a four-year-old daughter."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Doan's daughter, his sister Surya and his parents Wayne and Marlene.

Willier said a provincial public inquiry, scheduled for December, will precede the lawsuit, but isn't meant to assign blame or liability.

Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser International, told the Globe and Mail that the company not only stands behind its product's safety, but that 74 past product-liability cases have been dismissed or decided in the company's favour.

Internal RCMP reports obtained by CBC News offer some details of what allegedly happened the day Doan was shot with a stun gun.

Police claim Doan was smashing car windows and wielding the broken end of a shovel, so officers chased and brought him to the ground, then shocked him with one of the controversial stun guns.

"His left arm was already in a handcuff and three officers were over him at this point," his sister Surya, who spoke to police and eyewitnesses herself, told CBC in April. "They administered a five-second stun mode to him. They said at that point, he was continuing to struggle so they administered another five-second, 50,000 volts."

Police stunned him a third time because they said he was still fighting back.

"They turned him over to put his handcuff on him in the front and he was blue. His face was blue," said his sister.

Doan was unconscious and his heart had stopped. Police resuscitated him, but he died three weeks later of heart failure.

Internal reports indicate that police suspected Doan, who had no criminal record, was using cocaine and alcohol when officers confronted him, but a toxicology report found otherwise. The medical examiner listed three factors on the death certificate: excited delirium, heart failure and undetermined causes. No drugs or alcohol were found in Doan's system.

In April, the RCMP said it couldn't comment on what happened to Doan, but did say it welcomed the inquiry.

Man dies in custody after Taser incident involving Ontario police

2009-01-31T10:18:00.002-07:00

CBC News
June 23, 2008

An Ontario man died Monday after a Taser incident involving Ontario Provincial Police, the force said in a media release.

The Special Investigations Unit, a civilian agency that investigates incidents involving police in which people are hurt or killed, is now investigating.

The incident happened mid-morning in Norfolk County, about 130 km southwest of Toronto.

Police said they were responding “to a report of an unwanted male person causing a disturbance,” and said the man was “combative.”

In describing the incident, police said they “deployed a conducted energy weapon.” The man was taken into custody at the OPP station in Simcoe, Ont.

“Upon arrival at the detachment, the male collapsed,” police said. “Officers administered first aid until the ambulance arrived.”

The 36-year-old man — whose name has not yet been released — was taken to Norfolk General Hospital where he died.

Tasers are hand-held weapons that deliver a jolt of electricity through a pair of wires propelled by compressed air from up to 10.6 metres away.

The jolt stuns the target by causing an uncontrollable contraction of the muscle tissue. The target is immobilized and falls to the ground.

Prior to Monday’s incident, at least 20 people in Canada were known to have died after being struck with a Taser.

The number of incidents involving RCMP stun guns has more than doubled since 2005, according to records obtained by CBC News in March.

Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died last October after he was repeatedly zapped with an RCMP Taser and subdued by officers at Vancouver International Airport.

RCMP Taser 82-Year-Old Hospitalized Man

2009-01-30T19:10:00.001-07:00

Source: CBC News
Posted: 05/09/08 8:16AM

An elderly man in Kamloops, B.C., was zapped three times on the torso by a police Taser while lying on his hospital bed, CBC News has learned.

Thursday when he showed the stun gun marks on his body and talked about the ordeal he went through Saturday.

"They [police] should have known I had bypass surgery," Lasser told CBC News.

Lasser has had heart surgery and needs to carry an apparatus to supply oxygen at all times. He was in the Royal Inland Hospital Saturday due to pneumonia but has since been released.

RCMP said nurses called police after Lasser became delirious and pulled a knife out of his pocket.
Lasser told CBC News that he sometimes become delusional when he can't breathe properly. He said he couldn't explain why he refused to let go of the knife even after the Mounties arrived.

"I was laying on the bed by then and the corporal came in, or the sergeant, I forget which it was, and said to the guys, 'OK, get him because we got more important work to do on the street tonight,'" Lasser said.

"And then, bang, bang, bang, three times with the laser, and I tell you, I never want that again."
Kamloops RCMP said Thursday that officers had no other option but to deploy the conducted energy weapon when Lasser refused to drop his knife.

"Whether the person is 80 or 20, we are dealing with a person who had a deadly weapon in their hand," Cpl. Scott Wilson told CBC News.

"We could not deploy our … pepper spray, because we could potentially contaminate the entire hospital."

Lasser said there were three RCMP officers in his hospital room and believes they could have easily handled him without the use of a Taser.

"They could have gone in there and taken an old man without any trouble at all," said Lasser, who is an ex-prison guard.

Canadians need to reject outcome of RCMP taser inquiry

2009-01-30T19:02:00.001-07:00

Posted 1 month ago

DEAR EDITOR:

All Canadians should be outraged and embarrassed. This week, a review of the RCMP’s conduct in the case of Robert Dziekanski found that the officers involved should not be held criminally responsible for the taser death of the new Canadian at an airport in British Columbia. This is a clear example of the fact that there are two different judicial systems: one for the RCMP and one for regular Canadian citizens. Let’s get the facts straight on the story.

Mr. Dziekanski arrived in Vancouver as a new immigrant from a village in Poland. Having never traveled, his mother Zofia Cisowski (who had lived in Canada for quite some time) asked him to meet her at the luggage carousel. The last time she had been in the airport was prior to 9-11, when all had access to the luggage area. Changes had been made and the luggage carousel is now in the passenger-only area. Dziekanski’s mother therefore could not meet her son there. Realizing her mistake, she asked airport personnel to check on him knowing he would be waiting. No avail. Mr. Dziekanski waited for ten hours, had nothing to eat or drink, had not had a cigarette since leaving Poland, was tired, confused, and could not communicate in English. He became agitated, barricading himself and arming himself with a small wooden t.v. table and a small flat-screen computer monitor. When airport security was called, bystanders repeatedly requested that an interpreter be provided to Mr. Dziekanski in order to calm him down and find out the cause of his distress. In the video of the incident, one woman can be heard saying “he’s so scared… just leave him”. Clearly, those who had spent the previous five minutes with Dziekanski did not feel threatened by him, but rather felt compassion. When four RCMP officers finally arrived on the scene, Mr. Dziekanski had nothing in his hands. When they approached him, he put his hands in the air to surrender, turned, and stepped slowly away from the officers. While posing no immediate threat, RCMP officers tasered him. Not once, but five times, twice after he was already on the ground convulsing. All four officers then held him down, one placing his knee into the back of Mr. Dziekanski’s neck. He went from convulsing and struggling, to limp and silent. The RCMP officers appeared to make no attempt to revive him, give him medical attention, or even check for vital signs. Instead they stood beside him and waited for a gurney.

In the media, this story has been portrayed as a taser issue; an issue of whether or not tasers function according to manufacturer’s indications and whether or not officers should be armed with tasers. This has served to obscure the real issue and hide it from Canadians. Whether Dziekanski died from the taser is rather irrelevant. The real issue is that RCMP officers made no attempt to talk with the man, seek out an interpreter, or restrain him with little force. Instead, they used undue force to restrain an unarmed, surrendering man in distress. They tasered him, applied pressure to the back of his neck after he was sufficiently restrained, and showed no concern and made no effort to help after the man died in their hands. Can four RCMP officers not restrain one unarmed man with their bodies and handcuffs?

After Thursday’s announcement, the new issue is that this is all caught on video and the RCMP were still found innocent. They were found innocent even after being caught lying about the incident before the video surfaced and attempting to essentially ‘buy’ the video from its maker. What is required for RCMP officers to be held accountable for their actions? What kind of proof is required for them to be found guilty of using undue force and subsequently killing a man?

The ‘inquiry’ essentially found that Mr. Dziekanski’s death resulted from his anxieties about flying, fatigue, and inability to speak English. Furthermore, they argued that he was an alcoholic. All of these arguments are baseless, considering Mr. Dziekanski was alive and well despite his fatigue and anxiety, prior to the violent interference with RCMP officers. Mr. Dziekanski had an unopened bottle of vodka in his luggage packed as a gift for his mother’s friend. It is obvious that if he were an alcoholic, the bottle would not have remained unopened for so many hours, especially given the amount of stress he was under. I question whether or not there would have been a different outcome if the victim had appeared to speak Mandarin, Italian, Hindi, or Tagalog (assuming an interpreter would not have been provided either) as opposed to Russian, as they originally assumed. How much did stereotypes of Eastern European men play out in the events at the airport and the outcome of the ‘inquiry’?

It should be noted that since Mr. Dziekanski’s death, one of the RCMP officers was in an auto accident as a result of driving while impaired, killing the occupant of the other car. The officer has not been charged for this incident, and is currently being paid by the RCMP while suspended.

The only way to truly understand the issue is to view the video, which can be found on Youtube. As Canadians, we not only owe it to Mr. Dziekanski and Ms. Cisowski to reject the outcome of the ‘inquiry’, but we owe it to ourselves. I guarantee that as you watch the footage you will have tears in your eyes, for Mr Dziekanski and for his mother. Watch again, and you will realize that your tears are not only for mother and son, but also for Canada.

Amy Romagnoli

Opposition parties call for RCMP Taser ban

2009-01-30T18:50:00.002-07:00

Posted By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Posted 1 month ago

OTTAWA — Opposition parties want the RCMP to stop using Taser stun guns after the force refused to reclassify the weapons to restrict use.

The Liberals and NDP say the Mounties missed a parliamentary committee’s Dec. 15 deadline to categorize the 50,000-volt electronic devices as impact weapons.

Reclassifying Tasers would limit their use to situations where a person assaults police or the public, or poses a serious threat of harm or death.

An all-party committee of MPs called for the restriction last June until Taser safety claims are supported by impartial studies.

The public safety committee also recommended the RCMP revise its policy on stun gun use to include clear and strict guidelines — as is the case for actual guns — that would limit multiple firings.

Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland says the Mounties have done little in response.

‘‘In a couple of those things, they said they’ve done something, but we don’t know exactly what and we’re not given any real details,’’ he said Tuesday.

‘‘That’s just not acceptable. It’s not like they’ve had two weeks, they’ve had six months.’’

The Taser can be fired from a distance of several metres and cycled repeatedly once steel probes puncture the skin or clothing.

The guns can also be used multiple times in up-close stun mode — a zap likened to leaning on a hot stove — sometimes causing blisters or burns.

The RCMP says reclassifying the Taser as recommended by the committee could threaten police and public safety.

Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay, an RCMP spokeswoman, said because Parliament is currently not sitting, ‘‘there has been no progress report provided to the committee.’’

An August briefing prepared for RCMP Commissioner William Elliott maintains the Taser ‘‘is an effective tool with very limited injury rates.’’

The force says it has restricted Taser use, improved reporting on stun gun firings and now requires officers to be re-certified in Taser training each year.

Holland says that doesn’t go far enough. ‘‘For an issue that has demanded the national attention as much as this issue has, because of the fact that there have been serious injuries and deaths, we expected a lot more.’’

Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died in October 2007 after RCMP officers repeatedly zapped him and pinned down at Vancouver International Airport. Amateur video of his wrenching final moments was beamed around the world as Tasers became water-cooler talk for outraged viewers.

Others defended the stun guns that remain an overwhelmingly popular tool with police.
In all, more than 20 people in Canada have died after being hit with a Taser.

Mounties across Canada have used their stun guns more than 5,000 times in the last seven years.

NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair said the rules for Taser use remain unclear.

‘‘The mistake that’s been made over the past few years is to perceive the Taser as being electric pepper spray or an electric night stick — something that could control someone who was in difficulty,’’ he said.

‘Unfortunately now, with over 20 deaths, it’s incredibly obvious to anyone who looks at the situation, that we’ve got to mark a pause for the use of the Taser right now, simply because it’s been proven abundantly clear that they’re too dangerous to be used without proper rules. And we don’t have proper rules.’’

The RCMP sent several of its stun guns to the testing lab in response to a new analysis that found some Tasers pack more of a shock than the manufacturer promises, raising questions about their safety.

A scientific review commissioned by the CBC and French-language Radio-Canada concluded that four out of 41 guns tested actually discharged more electrical current than Taser International says is possible.

In some of the test firings the police weapons delivered 50 per cent more current. The devices in question were manufactured prior to 2005.

British Columbia and Quebec also announced plans to test older Tasers following the report.

Suspect dead after being shocked by RCMP Taser

2009-01-30T18:46:00.002-07:00

Updated Tue. Sep. 30 2008 9:54 PM ET
The Canadian Press

LANGLEY, B.C. -- A B.C. robbery suspect is dead after crashing through a window and being shocked by an RCMP Taser.

RCMP say a tip led them to a home in suburban Langley, B.C., where they believed a suspect in a Tuesday morning bank robbery had fled.

Police were outside the home when they say a man crashed through a second-storey window, naked and bleeding from a chest wound. Despite the wound, police say the man resisted arrest and they shocked him with a stun gun.

The man was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The RCMP Major Crimes Unit and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team are investigating the incident with the oversight of Vancouver police.

The use of the shock weapons has been under scrutiny since Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after RCMP officers shocked him with a Taser at the Vancouver airport in October 2007. A public inquiry into Dziekanski's death is scheduled to get underway in November.

RCMP Taser incidents involving two disabled men angers support group

2009-01-30T18:44:00.001-07:00

May 29th, 2008

Vancouver, B.C. (Canadian Press) - Aeron Hall admits he’d had a few drinks before setting off on the walk home one spring night four years ago.

But Hall, who is disabled, said it was his limp and not excessive intoxication that attracted the attention of RCMP and set off a chain of events that ended with him being jolted seven times by RCMP Tasers, including once to his testicles.

Hall’s experience in Merritt, B.C., and a disturbingly similar experience by a Kamloops man have angered the head of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities, which wants police officers better trained to recognize disabilities.

Both Hall, 35, and Gary Williams, 49, admit they had been drinking before their confrontations with RCMP officers. But both adamantly deny they were drunk.

Williams has a limp from a horrible accident as a child. He also has a chronic sleep disorder and speaks slowly and carefully.

Hall had a brain aneurysm as a child. His weak leg swings as he walks, a visible reminder of his disability.

Both men are on government disability pensions.

Hall said he was on his way home after having a couple of beers with a few friendsin June 2004 when he was confronted by a female police officer in front of the Merritt RCMP detachment. He questioned the need to get in her vehicle but said he did comply and was driven a short distance to the detachment door.

Once inside, Hall was told to remove all his clothing and jewelry but the First Nations man wouldn’t take off one necklace. He said his spiritual adviser told him never to take it off.

That’s when he said two large, male officers approached him.

“One was holding a Taser behind his back and they reached for my necklace to rip it off. I stepped back and he pulled out the Taser … and I started defending myself,” Hall said.

“They wrestled me to the ground and started Tasing me in my privates and on my back and my legs.”

Hall was released the next day from jail without charge. His doctor counted seven Taser burn marks, including three on his back, three on his legs and one on his genitals.

Hall’s mother, Norma, later received a copy of a police report that concluded the officers had done nothing wrong.

“Evidence supports the amount of force applied was consistent with training methods and standards,” wrote Staff Sgt. A.H. Clark, the officer in charge of the Merritt RCMP detachment at the time.

The letter sent to Norma Hall said that her son was “unco-operative and combative.” It supported her son’s story that he became aggressive when officers tried to remove his necklaces.

The letter further said officers were trying to touch him in the thigh area when he refused to comply with officers’ requests.

“Your son continued to fight and kick and turn on the ground, causing the Taser to contact him in multiple locations,” Clark wrote.

The letter also noted Aeron continued to fight even after being Tasered.

Williams’s encounter occurred in the summer of 2005, when police showed up at his apartment. Officers were responding to a call after he yelled at a woman in his building who didn’t hold the door open for him.

“They said ‘You’re under arrest for public intoxication,’ ” he said with a laugh. “I said ‘I’m in my apartment. How can you arrest me?’

“I was zapped on my right (side) first … and I guess because I didn’t fall down the other officer jabbed me from the other side with his (Taser).”

Williams, who has bad burn scars on his torso from a previous accident, said the third hit came at the detachment.

“I was pulling my shirt off over my head - and this is my theory, because there was absolutely no scuffle going on, no words exchanged, nothing - and I pulled the shirt off my head and exposed that large white area and I guess it looked too tempting … and bam right in the scabs,” he said.

Williams wasn’t charged with anything and didn’t complain at the time because he said he thought the abuse would only get worse.

That’s a misconception RCMP Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre wants to fix.
Lemaitre, an RCMP spokesman, said Williams needs to come forward to allow police to investigate the incident.

“If there was any impropriety we need to know, we need to deal with it now,” Lemaitre said when asked about the incident.
Lemaitre said police are trained from the start to observe if a person is intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, which includes the smell of liquor, slurred speech, lack of balance, glassy eyes.

“But the first thing that officer does is try to communicate with that person,” he said. “And you try to go through some check list.”

Unlike Williams, in Hall’s case a complaint was filed to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, an independent body created by Parliament to investigate public complaints against RCMP.

“The result of the investigation (was the RCMP) acted within their policy guidelines and were upholding the law,” Norma Hall said.

She said her son had the right to be protected, but instead he was attacked by the very people who should have been protecting him.

“We warned him about coming downtown alone … he could get picked up again,” she said.

The stories anger Margaret Birrell, executive director of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities.

“What is this intolerance about? Have they got nothing else to do?” she asked. “If we heard about this in another country, we’d be appalled. It’s abuse of power.”

Birrell said any number of disabilities including brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis can give the impression someone has had too much to drink.

“Somebody has to take leadership on awareness with the police forces,” she stated. “We’ve got to have more understanding and tolerance. I mean not everybody’s an ace athlete.”

Birrell said the fact these men had a few drinks shouldn’t matter.

“They weren’t driving. They were walking.”

A public inquiry is underway in British Columbia into the general use of Tasers by law enforcement in the wake of the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver’s airport last October.

Video shot by a member of the public, showing Dziekanski dying on the airport floor, stunned the public and focused attention on the controversial shock weapons.

The first part of the inquiry by former B.C. Court of Appeal justice Thomas Braidwood is looking into medical issues and police policies surrounding the use of the Taser. A report is expected later this year. The second phase will look specifically into Dziekanski’s death, but only after a decision on possible criminal charges has been made.

Birrell said her group hadn’t planned on making a submission to the Taser inquiry but has changed its mind after hearing of the treatment of the two men by Mounties in B.C.’s Interior.

“I’m so offended,” she said.

RCMP Taser incidents

2009-01-30T18:22:00.007-07:00

SOURCE: RCMP; TASER International S. VOKEY / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The link below will take you to a graphic which shows RCMP Taser incidents, RCMP officers trained in Taser use and the Anatomy of a Taser gun.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tasers/pdf/CP_RCMP_TASERS.pdf

3 RCMP officers won't face internal probe in 'tortured' man case

2009-01-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

3 RCMP officers won't face internal probe in 'tortured' man case
Last Updated: Thursday, January 29, 2009 1:52 PM PT CBC News

Three RCMP officers slammed by a judge for deliberately losing or destroying video surveillance tape alleged to show the "torture" of a handcuffed man with a Taser will not face an internal code of conduct investigation.

Senior Mounties have reviewed the judge's ruling, and the officer's loss or destruction of evidence was not considered serious enough for such an investigation, RCMP spokesperson Annie Linteau says.

Instead, at least one of the officers would be given "guidance" as a form of discipline, said Linteau.

"In that case, the member needed some guidance ... so that this would not happen again," said Linteau. "Certainly, it is a form of discipline.

"The matter was treated as a performance issue with appropriate guidance, which will apparently address those particular members' shortcomings in that particular case," she said.

Victim alleged torture by RCMP
The original court case involved a Prince George man who was eventually tried for and convicted of beating his teenage daughter.

During the trial in December, the 49-year-old man told the court he had been "tortured" by police while he was handcuffed at the station.

The man, who could not be identified to protect the identity of his daughter, testified that RCMP officers jolted him with a Taser as many as 30 times.

He also testified that after he was handcuffed, police punched him, twisted his legs and slammed him into a wall. He had 24 burn marks, consistent with the use of a Taser, bruises and a knee injury that required surgery, according to a doctor's testimony during the trial.

The man's lawyer tried to obtain a copy of the video surveillance tapes from the police station, but were told they were lost.

Charges thrown out
Judge Micheal Brecknell threw out six other charges against the accused man after ruling that one or more RCMP officers actually took "deliberate steps" to ensure the loss of video surveillance tape from the Prince George detachment.

The dismissed charges included two counts of assaulting a police officer, two counts of attempting to disarm a peace officer of a Taser and two counts of resisting a peace officer.

In Brecknell's reasons for judgment obtained by CBC News, the judge said the loss of those tapes "was not just a simple mistake," and his "distressing conclusion" was one or more RCMP officers acted "to ensure the loss of evidence."

Officers cleared in previous Taser incident
According to Brecknell's judgment, two of the officers were involved in arresting another Prince George man who died in police custody in July 2003.

Clayton Wiley's family alleged he died of police brutality, but a coroner's inquest concluded that Wiley's death was caused by cocaine-related "excited delirium," in which a person acts agitated, violent, and is usually strong and insensitive to pain. The rare condition causes a person's heart to race and eventually stop beating.

Wiley, 33, was stunned by a Taser before being loaded into an ambulance.

A pathologist at the inquest testified Wiley suffered blunt force trauma to most of his body. The RCMP officers in the Wiley case were cleared of any wrongdoing.

TASER as a weapon against political dissent

2009-01-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Taser video shows RCMP shocked immigrant within 25 seconds of their arrival

2009-01-30T16:54:00.001-07:00

Last Updated: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:52 AM PT
CBC News

An eyewitness's video recording of a man dying after being stunned with a Taser by police on Oct. 14 at Vancouver International Airport has been released to the public.
The 10-minute video recording clearly shows four RCMP officers talking to Robert Dziekanski while he is standing with his back to a counter and with his arms lowered by his sides, but his hands are not visible.

About 25 seconds after police enter the secure area where he is, there is a loud crack that sounds like a Taser shot, followed by Dziekanski screaming and convulsing as he stumbles and falls to the floor.

Another loud crack can be heard as an officer appears to fire one more Taser shot into Dziekanski.

As the officers kneel on top of Dziekanski and handcuff him, he continues to scream and convulse on the floor.

One officer is heard to say, "Hit him again. Hit him again," and there is another loud cracking sound.

Police have said only two Taser shots were fired, but a witness said she heard up to four Taser shots.

A minute and half after the first Taser shot was fired Dziekanski stops moaning and convulsing and becomes still and silent.

Shortly after, the officers appear to be checking his condition and one officer is heard to say, "code red."
The video ends shortly after.

Minutes later, ambulance attendants arrived but their efforts to revive Dziekanski were unsuccessful and he was declared dead.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dale Carr said no one can judge what happened to Dziekanski by just watching the video.

"It's just one piece of evidence, one person's view. There are many people that we have spoken to," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dale Carr said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

"What I urge is that those watching the video, take note of that. Put what they've seen aside for the time being. And wait to hear the totality of the evidence at the time of the inquest," Carr said.

But retired superintendent Ron Foyle, a 33-year veteran of the Vancouver police who saw the video tape, said he didn't know "why it ever became a police incident."

"It didn't seem that he made any threatening gestures towards them," Foyle said.

Much of the video was shot through the glass walls that separate the international arrivals lounge from a secure area outside the Canada Customs exit.

The video was recorded in three segments. The first segment shows Dziekanski before police arrive.

He is clearly agitated, yelling in Polish, and appears to be sweating. He can be seen taking office chairs and putting them in front of the security doors. He then picks up a small table, which he holds, while a woman in the arrivals lounge calmly speaks to him in apparent effort to calm him down.

In the second segment, Dziekanski picks up a computer and throws it to the ground. Three airport personnel arrive and block the exit from the secure area, but Dziekanski retreats inside and does not threaten them.

Officers arrive in lounge

Then four RCMP officers arrive in the lounge. Someone can be heard mentioning the word Tasers.

Someone replies, "Yes," as the officers approach the security doors.

Police have said repeatedly that there were only three RCMP officers involved in the incident, but the video shows four men in RCMP uniforms.

People in the lounge can be heard clearly telling the police Dziekanski speaks no English, only Russian. His mother later said he only spoke Polish.

Police enter the secure area with no problems and can be seen with Dziekanski standing calmly talking with officers. They appear to direct him to stand against a wall, which he does.
As he is standing there, one of the officers shoots him with a Taser.

RCMP officers have also said police did not use pepper spray because of the large number of people at the airport at the time. But the video shows Dziekanski standing alone with the four officers in an otherwise empty area, which is separated from the public area by a thick glass wall.

Pritchard hired lawyer

Paul Pritchard shot the video with his digital camera, but afterward he surrendered it to police for their investigation on a promise that they would return it within 48 hours.

The next day, police told Pritchard they would not be returning the recording as promised.

Carr previously stated investigators kept the video longer than they anticipated in order to protect the integrity of the police investigation while they interviewed witnesses.

Saying he feared a coverup by police, Pritchard then engaged a lawyer to start legal proceedings to reclaim the recording. Police returned the recording to him on Wednesday.

Dziekanski, 40, died on Oct. 14, hours after he arrived at Vancouver International Airport. He was on his way to Kamloops to live with his mother in the B.C. Interior.

The Polish immigrant arrived from Europe the previous day around 4 p.m., but for some unknown reason he did not clear customs until after midnight.

Dziekanski's mother had already returned home to Kamloops after waiting for several hours at the airport. She claims airport officials offered her no help locating her son.

The RCMP's integrated homicide investigation team, the B.C. coroner's service, the Vancouver International Airport Authority and the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP are each conducting their own investigations into the incident.

Taser Death by RCMP at Vancouver Airport

2009-01-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

U.S. study raises more questions about stun gun safety

2009-01-26T13:42:00.010-07:00

For full-story go to CBC News

The Taser stun gun has been advertised and sold as a police tool that can decrease the number of suspect shooting deaths and officer injuries, but a new study suggests its use does not reduce the number of people who die in custody.

The research group found a sharp increase in the rate of in-custody sudden death in the first full year of Taser deployment compared with the average rate in the five years before the stun guns were used. "A little bit to our surprise we found a statistically significant six-fold increase in the in-custody sudden death rate in the first full year of Taser deployment...

Over the entire reporting period, researchers found the average rate of 1.57 sudden deaths per 100,000 arrests in the 50 cities. In the first full year after stun guns were deployed, the rate was 5.96 per 100,000 arrests, a 6.4-fold increase over the predeployment period.

Canadian physicians concerned
The Canadian Medical Association has raised concerns in the past about police departments relying on the manufacturer's claims of safety, and has called on police departments to open their databases to researchers... "Greater societal pressure needs to be put on agencies on this to release that information for the public good because people are asking serious questions about this."

......................................................

Well, I guess the above answers the question from my earlier post:

http://landofthetaserhomeoftheslave.blogspot.com/2008/12/are-canadian-gun-laws-killing-us.html

Lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

RCMP watchdog launches new Taser probe around deaths

2009-01-16T10:20:00.003-07:00

The RCMP's civilian watchdog will investigate every case in which a person died after being struck by a Mountie Taser (see story).

An earlier investigation concluded the RCMP was increasingly relying on the device in cases where a less drastic response was appropriate, including in situations involving the stunning of children, the elderly and people in handcuffs.

From my previous posts here and here, I obviously look at this as being good news, as the public has a right to know that you can walk out of your house and not expect to be Tasered by somebody because you’re walking erratically, or perhaps you had too much to drink, or some other situation that may have provoked that response. Police are suppose to serve and protect, not act as judge, jury and executioner, which is what they have been doing.

The present police state of Stockwell Day and his 'Nazi' loving Israeli supporting conservative buddies that we are living under, has to go, and their Tasers with them!

Land of the Taser, Home of the Slave.

He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.

Year-end Tidbits

2008-12-31T13:04:00.003-07:00

From reading our local papers this week, I see at least two stories worthy of comment:

Tasers recalled by province
My position with respect to this issue on Tasers should be clear by now Land of the Taser, Home of the Slave. Alberta's recalling of a certain model of Tasers should be followed by a total ban, as Quebec recently did. These weapons have proven time and again to be 'lethal weapons' that are being used by misguided individuals who have been brainwashed into thinking they are not, until it is too late, and soon find themselves being 'murderers' of those they were suppose to serve and protect. How many more of our fellow citizens have to die in this gruesome manner before something is done? Maybe only when a prominent citizen, or their child, falls victim to one of these Taserings, will something finally be done about banning their use by our law enforcement people. After all, we are not 'cattle' to be 'shocked to death', despite the views and positions of certain Conservatives (Reformers/Alliance), including Minister of Public Safety (sic) Stockwell Day.

"Bad things are easy to do, good things are done only with work and effort."

Are Canadian Gun Laws Killing us?

2008-12-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

Interesting to note: If anyone has done a study on whether or not the RCMP and local police killing of civilians, has gone up or down since the implementation of the Canadian Gun Law, of a while back? I bet it has! Now what does that tell you? Fewer guns in the hands of the public, yet more killing of civilians by government agents? Trigger happy? Poorly trained? Who knows and who cares, except the loved ones left behind to grieve over a senseless, and in all probability, an avoidable killing. :-(

It is also interesting (as I stated in my previous post), that at present, we have more police presence, at a time when we are going to be going into what I have previously termed 'the mean years'. With an economic downturn, the likes of which (in all probability) has not been seen since the dirty thirties (or maybe worse), is the State presently paving the way for a new totalitarian future for us all?

I have often visualized Harper and his conservative minions dressed in Gestapo uniforms, eager and zealous to impose their new world order, while subjugating those without power or influence to the heels of their boots.

A new world order is coming and we need people that can take us in the right direction with conviction and determination, and with particular concern of the human costs to the most vulnerable in society. I know Harper can't do it, as he has demonstrated he can't see the writing on the wall, and cares nothing for people. Ignatieff is still an unknown? Therefore, a coalition government still sounds good to me. I believe people working together to help solve our country's problems is better, than the top down management style of a right-wing Bush clone want-to-be.

Harper is diametrically opposite of Obama and what is coming down the pike. He has to go, and the present police state of Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety (sic), with him.

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
- Henry Kissinger

Land of the Taser, Home of the Slave

2008-12-22T10:18:00.001-07:00

Today, my mind instead of humming Christmas music and being filled with the joys of the season, instead is dwelling on the fact that more and more we are living in a police state, and are being murdered by the state's executioners (RCMP & local police), almost on a daily basis, with impunity.

"Mother angered Mounties may not be charged in son's airport Taser death"
"The mother of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish immigrant who died at the Vancouver airport last year after being stunned with an RCMP Taser, said she was "angry" Thursday amid indications that the Mounties involved in her son's death won't be charged."

As I write this, in Greece the young have stood up against the state and their thugs, while in France last year they did the same. How many more of our citizens have to be killed with Tasers and bullets before we as a people say, "Enough is Enough!"

Statistics Canada says the number of cops on the job in Canada rose to 65,000 this year. An eight per cent increase from a decade ago. This is astonishing, considering we have an aging population which would suggest there would be less need for police, instead of more? Police State???

It seems in this country only Quebec has taken action against Tasers, having recently banned there use. A step that should be followed by the rest of the Canada... in time, you would think? However, nothing seems to be happening in that area, nor in the area of police use of deadly force, even when having overwhelming odds on their side, lethal force seems to be their preferred Modus Operandi, whether it is Tasers or bullets. These individuals cannot be acting on their own, they must have orders from above telling them it is OK to murder their own. And assurances that they will not be held accountable and/or prosecuted for their crimes against humanity and the citizens they are suppose to serve and protect. (sic)

On a personal note, years back when I lived in Vancouver, a business owner friend of mine who had the store next to mine, had an 18 year old nephew of his return home drunk and depressed, threatening suicide with a knife. His parents called the police to help them deal with the situation. When the police arrived and the son came outside still carrying the knife, they shot him dead in his own front yard in front of his parents.

Since then I have heard of 'dozens' of similar cases. It just keeps going on and on and on.

Land of the Taser, Home of the Slave.

When we accept false and violent laws and submit to them, we can neither establish truth nor combat lies in this world.