The chief’s annual report for 2009 CEW use — which he described as “the most comprehensive report of public accountability on the use of energy conducted weapons in any police service to our knowledge — shows Tasers were drawn 307 times in 273 incidents.
Taser use by Toronto police resulted in only two minor injuries, a scraped knee and a bump on the head, but no serious harm or death. There were 18 cases of unintentional discharge and the devices were used on animals in nine calls.
...This demonstrated force presence was effective in 45.4 per cent of the cases Toronto in which police used Tasers last year... About 40 per cent of those brought under control with Tasers were believed to be emotionally disturbed and/or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
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.
A federal appeals court on Monday issued one of the most comprehensive rulings yet limiting police use of Tasers against low-level offenders who seem to pose little threat and may be mentally ill.
In a case out of San Diego County, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals criticized an officer who, without warning, shot an emotionally troubled man with a Taser when he was unarmed, yards away, and neither fleeing nor advancing on the officer.
...A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit affirmed the trial judge's ruling on Monday, concluding that the level of force used by the officer was excessive.
McPherson could have waited for backup or tried to talk the man down, the judges said. If Bryan was mentally ill, as the officer contended, then there was even more reason to use "less intrusive means," the judges said.
"Officer McPherson's desire to quickly and decisively end an unusual and tense situation is understandable," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the court. "His chosen method for doing so violated Bryan's constitutional right to be free from excessive force."
Orin Kerr at Volokhreports on a Niagara County Court ruling against a motion for suppression of DNA evidence, forcibly obtained when police "tased" a suspect's to obtain his "compliance" with a warrant requiring that his DNA be collected for testing.
From the ruling:
The Defendant argues that the use of the Taser is per seunreasonable because of the excessive amount of pain it causes and the danger of serious physical harm it creates. However, while counsel has mentioned numerous times the device inflicts 50,000 volts, the Court must admit it does not have the scientific knowledge necessary to interpret that fact. It sounds like a high number but what is its relevance to the force imposed and the pain inflicted. There was absolutely no evidence presented to the Court that this is a dangerous amount of voltage and the defendant has presented no evidence of the actual effect or dangers of this device.
One must wonder how authorities ever obtained any compliance at all before these increasingly ubiquitous defensive devices were invented?
(And yes Orin, it's torture, even on the lowest setting - it is a high voltage fist to the face - or in this case, shoulder).
As they say in the movies, "we have ways to make you talk..."
Mike Nizza of The Ledereports that Jared Massey, a Utah man whose roadside tasering went viral on You Tube, has settled his damages suit with the Utah Highway Patrol for $40,000.00.
A taser was fired twice at Mr. Massey by a highway patrol officer after the Utah driver refused to sign a speeding ticket.
The deal was announced a week after a Utah prosecutor ruled the Mr. Massey did not commit any crimes in the traffic stop, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. His civil case focused on the fact proven in the video — that the officer did not seek to arrest him before drawing and firing the Taser.
The video has been seen 1.75 million times on You Tube:
The RCMP's watchdog is calling for the force to restrict its use of Tasers, saying the stun guns are increasingly employed to subdue those who are resistant rather than those who pose a threat.
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP released a report Wednesday outlining 10 recommendations for the government on the Mounties' use of stun guns.
Among them is that the RCMP set up a national use of force co-ordinator to oversee policies and practices concerning Tasers and to make the Mounties more accountable over how they use the weapon.
Tasers also need to be reclassified as an "impact weapon," as they were when initially introduced — meaning they should only be used by officers when an individual is combative or posing a risk of death or grievous bodily harm, the report says. The report says Tasers are currently being used to subdue those who resist officers, but don't pose a threat — the same situations in which Mounties might use pepper spray.
This is clearly a step in the right direction. While Taser use is by no means always lethal, it sometimes, and quite unpredictably, is.
The weapon's use must be confined to very limited circumustances of legitimate self-defence by officers.
Nearly 8 weeks after the taser related death of Polish immigrant, Robert Dziedansk at Vancouver International Airport's arrival lounge, the airport has issued a report outlining proposed improvements for its international passengers.
Officials at Vancouver International Airport have announced how they will spend $1.4 million a year to improve service for international visitors.
The changes include:
Hiring new public safety officers skilled in negotiations and non-physical intervention
4-hour staffing of the customer care kiosks in the international arrivals area and inside the customs hall
Terminal-wide access to translation services
Emergency medical responders stationed in the airport 24 hours a day
Improved multilingual signage with pictograms and translations in as many as 20 languages
Hourly walk-through of the customs hall by airport staff and 24-hour public safety patrols
Improved communication from inside the secure area of the customs hall to the public arrivals lounge for both staff and the public
A new arrivals video that will be shown on all incoming international flights
Improved customer care training for all airport staff
The airport’s report also features a “complete timeline of Dziekanski's hours at the airport” including reports that he was spotted sweating profusely upon his arrival at the airport.
Subdued with Taser, pepper spray and baton, B.C. man dies in hospital
A 36-year-old British Columbia man has died in hospital more than four days after being subdued by RCMP officers with a Taser and almost every other available weapon short of firearms.
...Robert Knipstrom of Chilliwack, who died early Saturday in Surrey Memorial Hospital, was arrested Monday at a Chilliwack equipment rental store after an epic struggle with Mounties.
OTTAWA (AFP) - A third death in five weeks linked to the use of Taser stun guns by police in Canada on Thursday prompted a ministerial inquiry in easternmost Nova Scotia province.
Justice Minister Cecil Clarke ordered the review into the use of Tasers in Nova Scotia, he said, following the death of a 45-year-old man who died in police custody Wednesday, hours after being zapped.
CityNews is reporting that the Commons Public Safety Committee will probe Robert Dziekanski's Taser death:
The death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski following two jolts from RCMP Taser guns at Vancouver airport last month has opened up a fierce debate concerning the use of the debilitating high-voltage weapons. Several inquiries are already underway, and on Thursday the Commons public safety committee announced they would also be launching a probe into the events that unfolded on that ill-fated day.
Committee members from all four parties voted unanimously to review the circumstances of the case and they plan to interview numerous witnesses, RCMP officers, customs and immigration officials, airport workers and even the company that makes the weapons.
Police in the country are now allowed to torture speeders by the side of the highway in order to get them to comply. The only difference between this officer slugging the speeder in the stomach and putting 50,0000 volts of electricity in him is that the latter doesn't leave any marks. The intent, the pain and the goose-stepping authoritarian message are exactly the same. Word to the wise. Do not ever question the police, no matter whether they are violating your rights, ignoring the constitution or breaking the law.
It is perfectly legal for them to torture you on the spot if you do.
CBC reports that B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has apologized to the mother of Robert Dziekansk, a Polish immigrant who died on October 14 after being repeatedly stunned by an RCMP Taser:
"I'm sure the RCMP would be glad to apologize. So I'm glad to apologize on behalf of people in British Columbia for what took place," Campbell said on Monday about the recent death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport.
"That was something that was devastating to her [Dziekanski's mother ZosiaCisowski] in more ways than I can even begin to imagine."
Videotape, released last week, cast an international spotlight on the incident and on the use of the weapon by law enforcement in Canada.
A review of the appropriate use and policies employed by police in British Columbia with respect to the Taser, and recommend necessary changes.
A full review of the incident involving Dziekanski, including (but not limited to) the actions of the RCMP, Canadian Border Services and immigration processes and Vancouver airport.
Recommendations on how procedures can be improved with respect to the handling of foreign passengers coming into British Columbia through the Vancouver airport.
The commissioner of the inquiry will be identified in the near future, and formal terms of reference will be drafted at that time... Once appointed, the commissioner will start the review immediately.
There is much related news on police use of Taser guns in Canada:
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.
Robert Dziekanski falls to the floor as an RCMP officer looks on.(Paul Pritchard) A minute and half after the first Taser shot was fired Dziekanski stops moaning and convulsing and becomes still and silent.
After viewing this video, one can not help but wonder why in the world this lethal weapon was used by police in a situation that clearly posed no risk to anyone?
Is taser use the new refuge of the laziest of police authorities - those too inept, dispassionate and ill-inclined to use good, old-fashioned human skills to diffuse a minor nuisance and maintain order?
What would police have done in this circumstance before the invention of this lethal device?
I see no legitimate use whatsoever for tasers in Canada in day-to-day police dealings. We must take a hard look at immediate regulation to eliminate or, at least, severely constrain their use.
According to Supreme Court of Canada reference librarian, Michel-Adrien Sheppard, such a review of taser-use will now occur:
Public Security Minister Stockwell Day told the federal Parliament today that he is ordering a review relating to the use of Tasers, weapons that paralyze subjects by administering shocks of 50,000 volts.
...Taser-related deaths in Canada: "In Canada, at least 18 people have died shortly after police officers shocked them with a Taser."
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered National Money Mart Company to pay $30,000 in compensation to a former, one-year employee of the company who had been subjected to ongoing, serious sexual harassment by her workplace supervisor.
Workplace bullying is a serious problem for thousands of Canadians at work. It can degrade one’s self worth and create serious health problems for workers and their families.
There has often been very little that could be done to stop the workplace bully in his or her tracks. But, in Ontario, there is now hope around the corner.
With the Ontario Court of Appeal's June 25, 2009 ruling in Slepenkova v. Ivanov, it is now clear that the nearly-universal pronouncements by management lawyers as to the death of Wallace damages after Honda and Keays may have been a bit premature.
In Slepenkova, the Ontario appellate court upheld a two-month notice extension for an employer's bad faith termination, even though no evidence was led at trial as to the specific damages the employee directly incurred as a result of the bad faith. This appeared to place the trial Judge's decision at odds with the new Wallace test set out in Honda.
Should access visitation with children via Skpe be considered an acceptable substitute where a custodial parent wants to move far away with the family's children?
Canada's family courts have reached conflicting decisions on this challenging new issue of the digital age.
Canada's press has had a field day with four sensational cases that have been winding their way through the nation's courts.
Dealing with fundamental questions at the very root of our values around marriage, children and family, these cases have captured the public's collective imagination - and ire -for very good reason.
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