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Tuesday, February 03, 2009
B.C. Civil Liberties Association questions RCMP Taser use: “Don’t Tase me, bro!”
According to the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), in its latest report on Taser use in Canada released last week, the RCMP appear to have acknowledged that between January and March of 2008 officers used Tasers on one cooperative individual and eight “passive resistant” individuals. RCMP policy changed in December of 2007 to restrict the use of Tasers only to situations of active resistance.
Following the release of the report, the BCCLA attempted to confirm that the report shows policy breaches in Taser use by RCMP members. In an e-mail exchange that lasted from January 30 to today, the BCCLA’s RCMP contact was unable, or unwilling, to confirm or deny that the report numbers show that non-combative subjects were Tasered contrary to RCMP policy.
“Passive resistance means that a person is refusing to get up if they’re sitting or lying down; it’s like civil disobedience,” said David Eby, the acting Executive Director of the BCCLA. “The potentially deadly force of a Taser should not be used to force people to respond more quickly to RCMP commands.”
The report, which contains data that is more than a year old, also indicates that in the first three months of 2008, Prince Edward Island RCMP officers, of whom there are 131, did not use their Tasers once. RCMP “E” Division, which is the division that covers British Columbia, used their Tasers most frequently with 103 deployments in the same period. “E” Division is the largest RCMP division in Canada.
“While we’re glad that the RCMP is moving to transparency on their Taser use, we’re underwhelmed that they won’t confirm whether they know their officers are using Tasers outside of policy restrictions, or what they’re doing about it,” noted Eby.
The Taser data was released on the same day that the RCMP announced that three officers accused of Tasering a man 30 times and destroying video evidence of the incident would not face an internal code of conduct investigation and would instead be given “guidance” from management.
David Eby is #23 on the Liberty 100, the Western Standard’s ranking of the top 100 Canadians who made a contribution to advancing economic or personal liberty in 2008.
To add a multi-media dimension to this post, here’s the 2007 video captured on the University of Florida campus during a visit by Presidential candidate John Kerry in which a disagreeable student hollers the now-famous words “Don’t Taze me, Bro” before being Tazed for causing a disturbance:
Posted by Matthew Johnston
Posted by westernstandard on February 3, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
...it is sad the red serge is being tarnished. It will take more than legaleese to restore confidence.
I feel sorry for generations who wore that uniform.
Posted by: tomax7 | 2009-02-03 1:34:32 PM
There were 4 - count 'em, FOUR - police officers come to control the Polish guy at the airport. Elsewhere, the RCMP tasered a 14-year-old girl who was already in custody.
If these guys can't maintain control of the situation under these circumstances without using anything more than physical force, they desperately need to go back to basic training. Tasers were supposed to be the next-to-last thing before using real bullets, but they have become a convenient way of putting recalcitrants in their place as a first option.
A nice cup of tea would have worked better.
Posted by: Grant Brown | 2009-02-04 3:20:04 AM
I have a friend who was pepper-sprayed while handcuffed on his knees. I'll admit the guy was mouthing off to the cop, but that wouldnt justify burning his eyes out. I have a feeling they got comfortable with the pepper spray and needed a bigger rush.
Posted by: SamT | 2009-02-04 8:02:02 AM
...on a more morbid note, are we reaching 'critical mass' with the police in general?
Meaning these poor souls are so frustrated with the judicial system revolving door they work with every day and this is just a 'safety' vent for them?
Read what I'm saying and not what I said.
Frustration levels of doing their jobs is reaching a peak. I can imagine it is like living in a glass house. Careful where you step, or turn, everyone is watching and lawyers/judges are just a step away. Buried in paperwork that gets thrown out the next day on a technicality or smart arsed lawyer, or liberal judge.
Your bosses telling you to go against your gut feeling all the time and be politically correct and handle some types with kid gloves? Society refuses to police itself.
Yeah, I can see this coming to a peak.
On one side, what they did is wrong, on the other, it could be frustration coming to fruition.
But what do I know, I ain't a psychologist.
Glad too.
Posted by: tomax7 | 2009-02-04 9:14:18 AM
I had a conversation, on the weekend, with a Mounty I've known for 20 years. He spent most of that time on Alberta reserves. I mentioned that I've believed for a long time that the tazers needed to have better testing. Everyone seems to have overlooked the obvious, some of these things are defective. His reaction was one of agreement. They assume these things are safe(at least non-lethal).
The people that sell these things have a powerful lobby with people in high places. Police contracts are worth millions, and they don't want to be stuck doing warranty work on every unit. If they can somehow divert attention away from the obvious malfunctioning of the unit, they can pocket a lot bigger profit.
Posted by: dp | 2009-02-04 10:04:36 AM
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