By Dale Bass - Kamloops This Week - October 21, 2007
Stockwell Day says Mounties are reviewing their use
If a drug is healing many people, but some are dying from it, doctors would ask why, said Hedy Fry, a physician and Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre.
It’s an analogy she thinks should be applied to the use of tasers by police, especially in the wake of two taser-related deaths in Canada this past week.
Fry asked Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day during question period for reassurance the RCMP “follow clear, proper procedures for restraint and that the taser use does not continue to result in such fatalities.”
Her question came just days after two taser-related deaths, one in Montreal and one in Vancouver of a man whose mother lives in Kamloops.
Fry told KTW Day assured her the Mounties are in the midst of a review of taser use, as is the Canadian Police Association, and that he is looking forward to receiving the reports.
“We are not playing blame,” Fry said, “but we need to take a look at it.
“This is a reasonable way for reasonable people to do something when we find a situation like this.”
Speaking as a physician, Fry said “doctors are always looking for side effects [from drugs] and we look at it to find out what exact guidelines should be applied. We have to ask if it is a high risk for certain people.
“If tasers have killed people, we need to look at it to see if there is something we need to do.”
Fry suggested factors that could be revealed through a review could be as simple as the distance from which a taser is deployed to whether certain emotional states make one more prone to die from a taser.
On that point, Fry said she’d like to see clearer definitions of what a “violent behaviour” would constitute.
For Joel Johnston, it’s not that easy to quantify when violence becomes dangerous.
Johnston, the province’s use of force co-ordinator, said passive resistance is easy to identify, but there’s a fine line between RCMP protocol descriptions of active and assaultive resistance.
“When does a pull become a punch?
“When does a twist-away become a violent assault? It is a very fine line.”
Johnston likened the overriding guideline to a risk-management assessment. Officers must decide, often within seconds, if the situation can be controlled through talk, or if other measures are needed not only for their safety, but for the safety of the person involved and any bystanders.
Johnston noted the taser is used by police officers up to 4,000 times a year in Canada.
Few end with death and, usually, there are many elements that have contributed to the death, not just the taser.
People have always died in police custody, Johnston said, and there has been no increase during the past 20 years, even with the introduction of tasers.
He noted that, of more than 200 lawsuits launched against Arizona-based Taser International, none have been successful. Statistics show the company has sold taser devices to more than 11,000 law enforcement, correctional and military agencies in 44 countries, with more than 260,000 tasers sold to law enforcement alone in the past nine years.
Myriad studies have been done, both by the company and other independent bodies, that state the taser is safe and effective.
“The bottom line is we believe and all of the research indicates that conducted-energy weapons are safe and not only are they safe, they’re recommended for use in gaining control of people more quickly because it’s well known that the longer a struggle to control somebody goes on, the greater the risk to all involved becomes,” Johnson said.
“So not only are tasers safe, but they’re recommended for use in many cases so control can be established more quickly than otherwise. “
As the man responsible for establishing and maintaining standards and records of use of force for police in the province, Johnston said he wasn’t surprised to see the recent deaths lead to media interest.
He referred to two Vancouver deaths, each of which led to an inquest. The first involved a man who was smashing the toilet and sink in his rooming house, setting off the fire alarm and attacking people. He was tasered and, despite the presence of an advanced-care paramedic, died.
A case the year before involved a similar violent situation with five officers responding. One had a taser. The officers chose to physically restrain the man, wrestling with him for some time for control.
“He died at the scene in the care of paramedics, and the question asked at inquest was, guess what — why didn’t they use the taser to get him under control?”
