Ontario To Announce New Taser Guidelies March 30

Canadian Press reports that the Ontario's government is about to announce new guidelines on the use of Taser stun guns by the Province's police forces:

TORONTO — Ontario is poised to revamp its guidelines on the use of stun guns by police, The Canadian Press has learned.

The changes are expected to be made public March 30, sources say, about two years after the governing Liberals launched a review of Taser use in the province.

According to the report, radical change is unlikely. Recommendations that all front line, uniformed police officers be permitted to carry the weapon are not expected to be implemented:

Currently, only tactical officers and supervisors are allowed to carry Tasers in Ontario, but the government is being urged to make them available to all front-line police officers.

It's among the recommendations made by the police standards advisory committee, a group of representatives from police groups and municipalities within the ministry tasked with providing advice to the government about the use of stun guns.

...Government officials wouldn't comment on whether they plan to follow that advice, but hinted that drastic changes are not in the works.

"We have and will continue -- notwithstanding the report -- to have a very measured use of Tasers in the province of Ontario," said Laura Blondeau, a spokeswoman for Community Safety and Corrections Minister Rick Bartolucci.

Progressive Conservative critic Garfield Dunlop said he's planning to re-introduce a resolution in the legislature demanding that all front-line officers carry Tasers.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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