November 22, 2007

Today's Tazer/taserRCMP roundup

Weapon's makers gird for dozens of lawsuits

Tragicomedy Without A Punchline: Polish Speaking Airport Worker Could Have Prevented Dziekanski Killing
November 20, 2007 · 1 Comment

by matttbastard

Noted without comment:

Minutes after Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski picked up a Vancouver airport computer and threw it at a glass wall, a Polish-speaking airport worker wandered into the facility’s operations centre to pick up some paperwork.

Slovakian immigrant Karol Vrba was in the room on Oct. 14 when the pair of calls came in reporting Mr. Dziekanski’s erratic behaviour, but was never asked to help, even though he is conversant in Polish and Russian, the language bystanders told authorities the 40-year-old Pole was speaking.

“I feel really upset because I saw that video of what they did to him and it could have been prevented. Definitely,” he said yesterday.”

h/t JJ Hippie and April Reign

Related:

* BC’s provincial government orders a full public enquiry into Mr Dziekanski’s death. Are you paying attention, Stockboy? (h/t Holly Stick)
* Dr Dawg expands upon his proposal for a new federal police force to replace the RCMP.
* Frank Frink gives TASER International some sincere, heartfelt advice with regards to bogus intimidation tactics and “electronic control devices™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1“.

Related: The Canadian Press: “Three out of four suspects stun-gunned by the RCMP were unarmed, indicates a review of 563 cases that shows [electronic control devices™SM®OMFGWTFBBQ!!!1] are often used for compliance rather than to defuse major threats.” CP also notes that many of these cases ” involved First Nations.” (h/t pale)

TERRI THEODORE

The Canadian Press

November 22, 2007 at 5:20 AM EST

VANCOUVER — Anyone who launches a lawsuit against Taser International Inc. or suggests a taser electronic device was involved in a death are liable to get another shock when the company brings down the full force of its legal team.

Taser International is currently named as a defendant in at least 39 wrongful-death or personal-injury lawsuits over use of a taser.

The company is aggressive in defending itself in such lawsuits and has entered into agreements to prevent its own insurance provider from settling out of court. It has even filed a lawsuit demanding that an Ohio coroner change her conclusion that a taser was a contributing factor in the deaths of two men.

The firm also sent out legal demand letters to 60 organizations after its latest public-relations black eye, in which a Polish man was jolted with a taser by RCMP at Vancouver International Airport and died minutes later.

"We are taken aback by the number of media outlets that have irresponsibly published conclusive headlines blaming the taser device ... as the cause of death before completion of the investigation," Taser International chairman Tom Smith said in a news release.

The firm's 2006 annual report said the company assembled a team of world-class medical experts and additional legal resources to provide an efficient means of defending the company against numerous product-liability claims.

"I think it's because the manufacture and distribution of this device is big business," Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward said.

"There's a lot of money at stake and they have the resources to hire the best PR, the best lawyers and the best experts that money can buy."

B.C.'s top Mountie extols value of tasers

Device is useful in split-second crises, Bass says as police chiefs meet in Victoria to decide new policy for its use

IAN BAILEY

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

November 22, 2007 at 5:21 AM EST

VANCOUVER — British Columbia's police chiefs are worried the furor over the case of Robert Dziekanski may discourage officers from using tasers in confrontations when "split-second" decisions are required, the RCMP's B.C. commander says.

"It has been discussed by us as a possible concern," Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass said yesterday from Victoria, where the British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police is holding a meeting on policing issues. "We worry the impact of some of that publicity might create that reaction in members."

At the request of B.C. Solicitor-General John Les, the chiefs have been reviewing taser policy and are expected to issue a statement today.

Deputy Commissioner Bass would not disclose the conclusions the police commanders have reached.

"Through the discussions we had today, we all have a similar perspective on the taser issue," he said. "I can say that."

But he said in an interview yesterday he criticized the news media for drawing some conclusions about the case of Mr. Dziekanski, ahead of investigations into the matter.

"That's what I think is unfair to the men or women because it further complicates that split-second process," he said, referring to the use of tasers in confrontations with suspects.

"Our concern is around the fact that the decisions they need to make about which weapon they're going to use, or which tool they're going to use, is a split second," he said. "That split second could mean the difference or the life of the suspect or the life of another member of the public if they make the wrong decision."

Any blame for the improper use of tasers has to rest with police managers, Deputy Commissioner Bass said. "If something goes wrong, the blame shouldn't be on them. The blame should be on me and senior management, and I think that's one of the big concerns I see here."

But he said he was not prejudging the case at Vancouver International Airport, where Mr. Dziekanski died last month after being blasted twice with a taser in a confrontation with four Mounties. They came to the scene in the international arrivals area of the airport after reports that Mr. Dziekanski, 40, was being disruptive after arriving from Poland.

The four Mounties who dealt with Mr. Dziekanski were reassigned to other duties within two days of the Oct. 14 confrontation, partly due to concerns about their safety, Deputy Commissioner Bass has said previously.

He said he has spoken to the four men about their situation as they await the outcome of a police investigation by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, operating in the Lower Mainland.

Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said this week that the officers could face criminal charges if culpability is assessed.

"I think they're doing okay. They're very mature individuals, very dedicated, very concerned over what's happened, and I think they're doing okay," the deputy commissioner said.

The officers are "absolutely" looking forward to telling their story at a coroner's inquest into the case, he said.

That inquest was yesterday scheduled to begin on May 5, 2008. It is to run until May 16.

A statement from the B.C. coroner's service said a five-member jury will hear evidence from subpoenaed witnesses to determine the facts around the case.

Ottawa orders review of RCMP rules for taser use

BILL CURRY AND CAMPBELL CLARK AND IAN BAILEY

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

November 21, 2007 at 4:26 AM EST

OTTAWA and VANCOUVER — The federal government has asked the RCMP complaints commissioner to review the way the force uses tasers and to deliver a first report in three weeks, as public outrage over the death of a man at Vancouver's airport continues to reverberate.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said in a statement last night that he has asked Paul Kennedy, the Commissioner for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, to review the police force's policies for using the devices - and assess whether its members live up to those standards.

The independent review is yet another added to a growing list of inquiries and reviews sparked by the death of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish man who spent 10 hours at the Vancouver airport before being tasered by police. There is already an internal RCMP review under way.

With the public outcry growing, rather than abating, the provincial government in British Columbia announced its own inquiry this week and accused federal agencies including the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency of failing to provide answers. In the Commons, Mr. Day has faced repeated demands for the federal government to provide answers.

Mr. Day's decision to ask Mr. Kennedy to review the RCMP's taser use will effectively expand a probe that the arm's-length ombudsman launched Nov. 8 into the RCMP's actions in the Dziekanski case.

Mr. Kennedy had already said that he would assess the force's policies for using tasers, or conducted energy devices, and whether the four officers involved in the incident with Mr. Dziekanski complied with those protocols. But Mr. Day's request means he has now been asked to add an RCMP-wide assessment of whether the force is complying with its protocols.

"The government of Canada takes this matter seriously and recognizes that Canadians must continue to have full confidence in their national police force," Mr. Day said in the statement, in which he extended condolences to Mr. Dziekanski's family. Earlier yesterday, Mr. Day suggested the probe would look at the possibility of criminal charges. He said he expects a report this week from the border services agency on what happened - providing Canadians, and people around the world now seized by the videotaped death, with a first glimpse at what occurred during the 10 hours Mr. Dziekanski spent at the Vancouver airport before he was tasered.

That B.C. inquiry appears to have provided wider impetus for the federal government to ensure it provides its own answers.

Poland's ambassador to Canada, Piotr Ogrodzinkski, said yesterday he was "very happy" to hear the B.C. government has called a public inquiry into Mr. Dziekanski's death. Leaving an inquiry solely in the hands of the RCMP would not have been "entirely convincing," he said.

A friend of Mr. Dziekanski's mother said Zofia Cisowski also welcomed the prospect of a provincial inquiry. Jurek Baltakis said yesterday from Kamloops that he asked Ms. Cisowski about the issue earlier in the day. "She asked me, 'What does this mean?' She is not very familiar with public inquiries or inquests. It is all new. Someone comes from where she lives in Poland, with the communist system. There was no such thing," he said.

"So, I explained it to her. She said, 'Oh, that's great,' because right now she thinks the whole truth will have a better chance to come out. And that is her goal right now. She wants to know who is responsible for the death of her son."

Meanwhile, at least one of the Mounties seen on video confronting Mr. Dziekanski says he is resigned to the scrutiny of an inquiry, according to a Mountie who has been in touch with him. RCMP Sergeant Mike Ingles, a staff relations representative in the Fraser region, said the officer said "they have no control over the process and will co-operate with anything that's asked of them."

He said the four Mounties, who have not been identified, are holding up as well as can be expected. "They're confident at the end of the day when all of the evidence comes out, that it will show their actions were appropriate."

Ontario has no plans to call a moratorium on the use of tasers or to review its own policies, said Anthony Brown, a spokesman in the provincial Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

The RCMP's commanding officer in B.C. said the force is keeping an open mind on the devices. "We don't see anything yet that causes us to question the validity of the use of the weapon, but we're open to that possibility for sure," said Gary Bass, Deputy Commissioner, Pacific Region.

With reports from Karen Howlett in Toronto and The Canadian Press

B.C. Mounties face growing public outrage

Residents acting 'very aggressively' toward national police force in wake of airport taser death

PATRICK BRETHOUR

From Monday's Globe and Mail

November 19, 2007 at 2:00 AM EST

VANCOUVER — A wave of public anger about the death of Robert Dziekanski is washing over the RCMP in the Lower Mainland, with upset Canadians berating officers at the airport and at the nearby Richmond detachment – and even throwing eggs at one police cruiser.

Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass, commanding officer for the RCMP in British Columbia, told The Globe and Mail that members of the public have been acting “very aggressively” toward officers since Mr. Dziekanski's death a month ago.

The 40-year-old Polish man died within minutes of being tasered repeatedly at Vancouver International Airport, where he had spent hours wandering in a vain search from his mother. Four officers, responding to a report of a man with erratic behaviour destroying property, entered the international arrivals area in the early morning of Oct. 14, and tasered Mr. Dziekanski less than 30 seconds later.

A bystander captured the episode on digital video, with the disturbing 10 minutes of footage showing Mr. Dziekanski screaming and writhing before being pinned down and handcuffed, and then lapsing into unconsciousness. The public release of that video last week has sparked controversy around the world, particularly in Poland, whose ambassador called the RCMP's actions “unsuitable under the circumstances, even excessive.”

Deputy Commissioner Bass disclosed Sunday that the four officers involved in the incident – one a relatively senior corporal, the other three with one to three years' experience – were reassigned to office duties two days after the Oct. 14 incident, in part to guarantee their personal safety. “They're doing work that doesn't require them to be in front-line duties,” he said.

Such a move is not standard practice, he said, but was judged to be a prudent step.

“In this case, obviously, the amount of public reaction to the incident is of concern to us, including the fact that there have been a lot of very negative reaction to the members – all the members – at Richmond, very confrontational. So, it's essentially for two reasons. It's for the officers' own safety, as well as, you know, to address the concerns that are being voiced.”

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, in a statement issued Saturday, offered the force's condolences on the day a memorial service was held for Mr. Dziekanski in Kamloops, where his mother lives. Commissioner Elliott went on to write that he had been avoiding comment during an active investigation. “I recognize, however, that the RCMP cannot provide effective policing services without the support of the communities we serve and I am concerned that growing misperceptions are eroding the public's confidence in the RCMP.”

There have not been any physical confrontations between members of the public and RCMP officers, said Deputy Commissioner Bass, but many Canadians have been repeating critical comments from media reports including a Globe editorial last Friday that said Mr. Dziekanski's death amounted to a “summary execution.”

Staff Sergeant Ken Legge, of the RCMP's staff relations representative program, said he had not heard of any such incidents elsewhere in the country, adding that the reassignment of officers involved in a death-in-custody is “not abnormal.”

Deputy Commissioner Bass issued a separate statement on Saturday offering his condolences to the Dziekanski family, on behalf of the B.C. division. He also said in the statement that the Ontario Provincial Police have been asked to provide an “external and independent view” of the investigation by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).

There have also been internal discussions about whether to continue using tasers, Deputy Commissioner Bass said. “We've talked long and hard about that,” he said, adding that the short-term choice came down to a complete ban or a continuation of current policy because any intermediate step would require extensive training.

The IHIT investigation is one of several inquiries launched in the wake of Mr. Dziekanski's death, with the B.C. coroner and the chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP each conducting examinations of the matter. The federal Public Security department also has a review under way, the Canadian Police Centre will launch a new study of taser technology and procedures, and British Columbia has asked the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police to examine the appropriate use of tasers.

But Murray Mollard, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said none of these reviews are by an independent body with the power to assign blame.

Manitoba man sues RCMP over Taser use

November 22nd, 2007 | Mounties Sued

(CBC News) - RCMP in Manitoba are being sued by a former soldier with various mental disorders who says officers used a Taser on him while he was handcuffed.

Matthew Gray, 45, a retired soldier who lives in Portage la Prairie, Man., has post-traumatic stress, bipolar and anxiety-panic disorders, he told CBC News.

In June 2003, he wanted to be admitted to a mental-health facility, so he called a hospital psychiatric ward for help. Fearing he might be a danger to himself, the hospital called RCMP, who were dispatched to assist.

There was some confusion over whether Gray’s committal to hospital would be voluntary or involuntary, and RCMP say he became violent and aggressive and a scuffle ensued.

RCMP documents indicate Gray was handcuffed at his own request and a Taser was used on him twice in the hospital. After he was given sedatives, the Taser was used again — more than once — during an ambulance ride to another hospital in Winnipeg.

An RCMP weapon-use report filed in court says Gray became “extremely aggressive” in the ambulance and freed himself from some restraints.

“Gray looked at the cuffs, flexed his legs and threw [the constable] off his legs, and then [another constable] applied the Taser in touch stun mode to Gray’s back for approximately two seconds,” the report says.

Officers used the Taser in the ambulance out of fear for the safety of ambulance attendants, police officers, other drivers on the road and Gray himself, RCMP said.
‘No excessive use of force’