Canada guidelines laid down on tasers

Crack down on Tasers, watchdog tells Mounties

TOM HANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Paul Kennedy, the RCMP watchdog, leaves a news conference in Ottawa after releasing his report on the Mounties' use of Tasers on June 18, 2008. The report was based on 4,000 incidents where the gun was used or threatened.

Read the Commissioner's report

Flash: RCMP Taser use

Graphic: Tasers and the RCMP (pdf)

Video: RCMP zaps taser details

Video: Inquiry into Taser policy

Tonda MacCharles
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA–The RCMP must immediately restrict the use of Tasers by the Mounties to experienced officers and order medical attention once a person is hit by the 50,000-volt stun gun, a new report says.

RCMP watchdog Paul Kennedy's report, based on a review of more than 4,000 cases where the weapon was used or threatened, was approved in principle yesterday by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and the RCMP.

But both Kennedy and Day signalled the RCMP has reservations about the impact on its operations.

While Kennedy rejected a ban on the use of Tasers, he criticized the RCMP for failing to act on his main interim recommendation in December to immediately restrict their use to situations where "combative" or "assaultive" suspects threaten death or "grievous bodily harm" to themselves, officers or the public.

Kennedy, commissioner for public complaints against the RCMP, said Tasers are still used in situations where suspects cannot even be described as "resistant."

Now, after a seven-month probe, Kennedy says Mounties must go even further and restrict the stun gun's use to experienced officers – above the rank of corporal in urban centres, and constables with five years' experience in rural detachments – and must summon medical attention every time it is discharged.

If adopted, the recommendation to limit who can carry a Taser could affect nearly half the Mounties now deployed on active duty, and take the stun guns out of the hands of many cops in rural and remote areas, where junior officers are frequently posted.

In all, the report contains 12 recommendations that slam RCMP data reporting on Taser use as faulty, unsupervised, and a poor justification for relaxing the rules around its use since the Taser's introduction in 2001.

Day had asked Kennedy to study RCMP protocols on Taser use in the wake of the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport last October.

"We see this somewhat as a victory," Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski, said yesterday. "This report was essentially calling for a conditional moratorium."

Kennedy said he accepts that there is likely an "as yet undefined" link between the stun gun's use and some deaths.

Yet he said police risk losing public confidence if they fail to become more publicly accountable for the increased use of the weapons.

"Nobody is calling for the police to be disarmed and not use weapons," said Kennedy. But, he added, "the police alone cannot and should not decide what is appropriate use of this weapon."

Day and RCMP Commissioner Bill Elliott issued written statements yesterday that welcomed Kennedy's rejection of a moratorium on the weapons.

Elliott said he would act "to provide clearer direction to our members, to further restrict situations in which the (conducted energy weapon) can be deployed, and to develop and implement measures to enhance accountability and to promote officer and public safety."

But he stressed that any "specific steps" would be need to considered along with the geographic realities and "operational imperatives" faced by the national police force.

Neither Elliott nor any other senior RCMP officer would comment further or do interviews on the report, a media spokesperson said.

Staff Sgt. Brian Roach, a staff relations representative of the RCMP's rank-and-file members, said he was "relieved" that Kennedy supports "the continued use" of the Taser.

"It is an important intervention tool that not only enhances officer safety, but public safety. Obviously, proper training and clear policy on the proper circumstances for its use are important."

Kennedy admits his data analysis did not prove younger, inexperienced officers were quicker on the Taser draw.

But he said he inferred it from many of the complaints he received, including 117 cases where 13 to 16 year-olds have been shot with a Taser.

Kennedy painted a disturbing picture of the typical police user of Tasers, and the average victim. The weapon is most often deployed when two or more officers are present, usually constables on general patrol duty. The jolts are frequently cycled multiple times.

Tasers are most often used on males, aged 20 to 39, who are usually drunk, on a Friday or Saturday night, when police are called to scenes of a disturbance or assault, or when the subject is disruptive in a cell.

"These activities have been going on since man found firewater ... we've been able to confront them without resort to the Taser," Kennedy said.

The weapon should only be available to officers who have "the maturity of judgment" and experience.

Kennedy also dismissed the "storyline" in the RCMP's training program that says it's appropriate to use a Taser to control a person in the throes of "excited delirium" so the individual might receive prompt medical attention.

Day said the government "accepts the report and its recommendations in principle, including the main recommendation to further restrict the circumstances within which conducted energy weapons may be used."

But Day quoted Elliott as telling him that he would act "in a manner that takes into consideration the operational requirements of the RCMP."

With files from Petti Fong

RCMP watchdog's analysis of Taser use

WHO USES TASERS, WHERE AND WHEN:

• Mostly RCMP officers in the West, between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., often on Friday or Saturday nights.

• Often two or more officers are present; usually constables on general patrol duty.

• Most likely involves a "disturbance" or assault-related offence.

WHO GETS HIT:

• Usually males (90 per cent), unarmed, between the ages of 20 and 39. However, many have been aged 13 to 16.

• Individuals suspected of, or confirmed to be, using a substance, usually alcohol.

HOW:

• In "probe" mode – where electrodes attach to a suspect and discharge a jolt over a wide area, which "translates into muscular incapacitation in addition to pain" – the weapon is most likely cycled once for five seconds.

• In "push-stun" mode – where the weapon is pushed against a person's body or clothing, and a five-second shock is discharged that generally does not cause muscular incapacitation – police often (40 per cent of the time) cycle the weapon two or more times.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT:

• Individuals are likely to receive medical attention if they are 50 or older; if they are female; if they are suicidal or having a mental health crisis; if weapons are involved.

• If substance use is suspected, they are less likely to receive medical attention.

• Medical attention is also likely if weapon is deployed in "probe" mode alone, or if combined with "push stun" mode, or if multiple officers are present.

Taser Loses First Product Liability Case

Posted by Digby, Hullabaloo at 5:00 AM on June 12, 2008.

Police still tase first, ask questions later.

This one's a little closer to home than some, which doesn't make it more important than the Guantanamo and terrorism cases. But does at least indicate that there might someday be some decent legal doctrine prohibiting police officers from torturing American citizens whenever they want to coerce them into instant compliance:

Taser International Inc., the largest stun-gun maker, lost a $6.2 million jury verdict over the death of a California man who died after police shot him multiple times with the weapon. The defeat is the first for Taser in a product- liability claim.

A San Jose, California, jury yesterday said Taser had failed to warn police in Salinas, California, that prolonged exposure to electric shock from the device could cause a risk of cardiac arrest. The jury awarded $1 million in compensatory damages and $5.2 million in punitive damages to the estate of Robert Heston, 40, and his parents. The jury cleared the police officers of any liability.

His parents sued Taser, alleging failure to warn of the dangers of the weapon, and Salinas police officers, claiming excessive force. The jury “exonerated the police because they said the police didn’t know repeated exposures could kill someone,” Burton said.

I've written a ton on tasers and for those who don't read this blog often, let me just issue the standard disclaimer that I understand that the police have hard jobs and that there are times when a taser can be a useful alternative to deadly force. These product liability cases like that mentioned above deal with the physical dangers that tasering presents to people who may have health conditions that make a taser deadly or suffer from repeated tasering.

But the principle is actually bigger than this. Police around the country are using these things indiscriminately and the result is that cops are commonly zapping citizens with 50,000 volts pretty much any time they feel like it. Because it doesn't leave permanent damage, people think there's no harm in it. (This tracks with the John Yoo definitions of torture in which psychological torture is benign and the pain must be equal to the pain of organ failure or death.)

In a free country, the authorities should not have the right to inflict pain on citizens unless they are under threat of violence themselves. Self defense, period. Nowadays it's tase first and ask questions later, no requirement that they even perceive themselves to be in any danger. It's a "control" device.


There are numerous other accounts recorded on video and elsewhere in which police are tasering people to get them to instantly comply with their orders. There are also cases where the subject says something the cop doesn't like or fails to respond quickly enough. We've seen many cases in which the police seem to be using the taser for convenience --- they don't want to take the time to assess the situation, talk to the person or otherwise use time tested policing techniques to defuse the situation. Instead, they pull out the taser and after a dull warning (if that), they drop the person to the ground screaming and writhing in pain, often more than once, telling them that if they "say another word" they'll get it again.

That is un-American. There is nothing in our constitution that says authorities have the right to intentionally inflict pain simply because a citizen is uncooperative. Indeed, we are explicitly given the right to demand that the authorities have good reason to detain us, search our property and arrest us. Torturing citizens for no other reason than looking at a policeman sideways wasn't specifically contemplated in the constitution, but it is pretty obvious that it would be considered a big no-no. They outlawed cruel punishment for convicted criminals, after all. Doing it to citizens with no due process stands our entire system on its head.

It's sad that it takes "product liability" cases to do anything about this. It should be a clear cut civil liberties case. But right now this appears to to be the best we can do.

Here's Amnesty's position on tasers.

Details exposed in the taser enquiry

RAIDWOOD PROBE

Taser inquiry sifting dozens of complaints

One story of heart attack victim, another of man shocked eight times among submissions alleging abuse

TERRI THEODORE

The Canadian Press

June 5, 2008

VANCOUVER -- Germain Quesnel sat in an RCMP cell for an hour, believing he was having a heart attack.

He had just received two blasts from a police taser to his chest because Staff Sergeant Lorne Malkoske said he wouldn't move away from the cell door.

Mr. Quesnel, who had had two previous heart attacks, asked for his nitroglycerin medication but officers believed he was just trying to get out of jail.

An hour later he was taken to hospital where doctors confirmed he'd had a heart attack.

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The report of Mr. Quesnel's tasering appears in RCMP and Complaints Commission documents submitted to a B.C. public inquiry into the use of tasers.

"I sincerely apologize to you for his actions. Your concerns were raised with [Sgt. Malkoske] and he was told that his conduct was not acceptable. He has assured me this will not reoccur," said a letter sent to Mr. Quesnel from a senior RCMP officer about the March, 2003, incident.

That letter is now among dozens of submissions to the inquiry. It was submitted by another man who says the same sergeant assaulted him with a taser two months later.

In his submission, Phil Spicer, 58, admits he was drunk when police squeezed his 6-foot-5, 275-pound frame into the back of a police car.

But it was the way the Richmond RCMP staff sergeant attempted to get him out of the vehicle that set off Mr. Spicer's four-year crusade over alleged police misuse of tasers.

With his hands cuffed behind his back, Mr. Spicer was shocked eight times by Sgt. Malkoske.

As Mr. Spicer's lawyer, Wayne Guinn, explained in a letter to Richmond RCMP, "The problem arose when officers tried to fit too big an object into too small a place ... they created the trouble."

Mr. Spicer's lengthy submission includes police reports, a letter from the RCMP Public Complaints Commission and his allegations of excessive force in a B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit, as well as details of Mr. Quesnel's ordeal.

His story is among about three dozen sent to the inquiry from people who feel police abused their authority by using the weapon as a compliance device.

Neither Sgt. Malkoske nor Mr. Quesnel could be located for comment.

Former B.C. appeal court judge Thomas Braidwood is conducting a two-part inquiry at the behest of the B.C. government after the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport last October.

Mr. Braidwood has already held public hearings for the first phase of his inquiry and a report is expected later this year. The second phase of the inquiry, looking specifically at Mr. Dziekanski's death, will begin when other investigations are complete.

About 2,800 tasers are being used by more than 9,100 RCMP members across the country. Municipal and provincial police forces, correctional officers and, in the case of Vancouver, transit police, also use conductive energy weapons.

Mounties have wielded the electronic guns more than 3,000 times since their introduction in December, 2001. Mr. Dziekanski was the 18th person in Canada to die after a taser strike.

Lorraine McLeod of Edmonton wrote to the inquiry about her nephew. "I believe the taser weapon is in the hands of police officers who are not trained to its lethal force," she said.

Taser International maintains that the weapon itself is not lethal. The question is one that will be examined by the commission.

Ms. McLeod's nephew, Jason Doan, 28, stopped breathing after he was shocked three times in August, 2006. He died a few weeks later in hospital.

"This tragedy with my nephew Jason happened to a man who needed help - not death," she stated.

Police responded to a report of a man smashing car windows and said they used the taser after an officer was hit with the wooden handle from a pitchfork.

Alison Beil wrote to the commission to say her son was "tortured" when the University of Victoria student was awakened in his home by Saanich Police and jolted five times.

And Margaret Hantuik told the commission that she called Victoria police herself when she was worried her son could hurt himself. The Grade 12 student, who has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, was stressed from exams and in a manic state. The slight, 125-pound teen was already in the hospital when police officers used the taser.

"I strongly believe my son was tasered for expediency. The officers wanted to get on their way," she wrote to the commission.

"How could three strong, middle-aged officers not have held a slight, terrified lad, calmed him a bit and then shut the door?" she asked.

Naomi Klein, tasers and TO ..

Police and Tasers: Hooked on Shock

By Naomi Klein - February 11th, 2008

The past couple of weeks have been rocky on the stock market, but one company that hasn’t been suffering too much is Taser International. At the end of January, its stock jumped by an impressive 8 per cent, and it’s even higher today.

Matthew McKay, a stock analyst at Jeffries & Co. in San Francisco, cites a simple cause: news that the Toronto Police Services Board plans to buy 3,000 new Taser electroshock weapons, at a cost of $8.6 million for gear and training. If the deal goes ahead, tasers would become standard issue weaponry for all of Toronto’s frontline officers, right next to their handcuffs and batons.

On Wednesday night, I participated in a public forum about the prospect of a fully taser-armed police force, organized by the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition. One speaker, who had a history of psychiatric illness, told the room: “We’re worried because we’re the people who are going to get shocked.”

It’s a concern grounded in experience. According to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair’s own analysis, in 2006, city cops deployed the devices in 156 incidents. In all but nine, the subject appeared “to have a mental disorder” or was in some sort of “crisis.”

Several speakers at the forum pointed out that $8.6 million would be better spent keeping people out of crisis – by opening more beds and providing better mental health and addiction services. Instead, four homeless shelters were closed last year, at a loss of 258 beds.

But the most troubling remark of the evening was this: “Why is this happening now?” The timing is indeed baffling. It was only three months ago that video of the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport caused an international furor. The tragedy exposed the most prevalent misconception about tasers: that they are used primarily as an alternative to guns. As former Toronto mayor John Sewell told me, “the taser is not the thing that replaces the gun, it’s what replaces all the other things that police might do other than use a gun, like talk to you.”

That certainly appears to have been the case with Mr. Dziekanski. When the RCMP approached him, they made no attempt to calm the unarmed Polish man, or to discover the source of his extreme agitation. Within 25 seconds, he was getting zapped.

Mr. Dziekanski’s death also put a spotlight on the other post-taser deaths, the ones not caught on film. According to Amnesty International, 310 people in North America have died after being shocked with a taser since 2001.

Were these deaths caused by the device or by something else? Taser’s aggressive lawyers make it tough to know. The company has been hit with roughly a hundred wrongful death and injury lawsuits and claims it hasn’t lost one yet. But in August, Bloomberg News reported on “several mysterious dismissals” – instances where the plaintiffs asked for the cases to be thrown out. Though Taser denies paying off all its accusers, it admits to paying in some, “where the settlement economics … were significantly less than the cost of litigation.”

Taser has consistently claimed that something else is causing the deaths. The company points to a report saying that that death by electrocution happens within seconds. Yet in many cases, subjects have died minutes, even days, after being shocked.

A recent study may explain the discrepancy. Trauma researchers at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital conducted an experiment on 11 pigs, zapping each for 40 seconds; then zapping them again 10 or 15 seconds later. (This mimics how tasers are actually used, since Amnesty reports that those who have died after being Tasered were frequently “subjected to multiple or prolonged shocks.”) The study found that all the pigs exhibited heart problems after the shocks and two of them died of cardiac arrest, one three minutes later.

Taser CEO Rick Smith has brushed off the study, saying human research is more relevant. However, according to Bob Walker, one of the lead researchers, it shows “that the effect of the taser shot can last beyond the time when it’s being delivered.”

So back to that question: Why now? In addition to the troubling new scientific evidence and the disconcerting lawsuits, there are several public investigations in Canada that are still ongoing. In addition to those sparked by the Dziekanski death, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are all conducting taser reviews.

Surely it would be wise for Toronto’s police chief to wait for those findings before ordering a seven-fold taser increase. But something more powerful than reason appears to be at play here, and I believe it has to do with the seductive promise of no-touch policing.

No other method of controlling unruly suspects offers police the same kind of all-encompassing, instant effect. Talking, calming, negotiating are all messier and take time. Other physical techniques put officers’ own bodies at risk.

Then there is the taser. The company boasts that its technology, which allows electrified darts to be fired from more than 10 meters away, “temporarily overrides the command and control systems of the body.” At the push of a button, even the strongest, angriest subject drops to the floor. In a way, firing a taser is the maximum power one person can exert over another. As an Ottawa Police officer reportedly said after tasering protesters at the ministry of immigration back in 2003: “Less mess, more fun.”

Few would argue with an officer’s right to use an electroshock weapon when lives are in danger and the only alternative is a gun. Many Toronto police officers, particularly those on the Emergency Task Force, clearly use them with restraint.

Yet there is also plenty of evidence that some officers get hooked on shock. In Edmonton, in 2001, reports of taserings averaged less than once a week. Three years later, they were coming in daily. In another part of the country, a mother in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia called police when she and her 17-year-old daughter were having an argument. Three officers showed up and tasered the teen in her own bed. In a recent court ruling, the judge called these actions “very disturbing and disconcerting.”

It may well be possible to prevent shock-happy policing with tighter controls. Yet, despite repeated calls for stricter regulations for police, Taser International is racing to get its devices in the hands of civilians, marketing the product as not just safe but fun. In the United States the company has been aggressively pushing its line of C2 “personal protectors” – available in pink, leopard print, and in holsters with built-in MP3 players. (The weapon is nicknamed the “iTaser.”) Tupperware-style taser parties are springing up in the suburbs of Arizona.

Taser International is a company whose executives present themselves as serious experts in public safety. Yet it has launched this foray into fashion at the very moment when the safety of its devices is being questioned on multiple fronts. Valentine’s Day is coming and Taser’s website is busily hawking the C2 in flaming red. “Love her? Protect her,” goes the slogan.

This is what corporations do: whatever they can get away with to sell more product. From Taser International, we should expect nothing less. From our police we have a right to expect much more.

This article was first published in The Globe and Mail.

Troubling item by head of Toronto Police Services Board Chair

Like all influence peddling domestic chickenhawks, Mr. Mukerjee will need to have someone he knows dead or disabled PERSONALLY, before he wakes up out of lalaland profit$ land.

This man gets paid public money to serve a tiny percentage of the population.

Vegger

Friday, February 29, 2008

Tasers and Councillor Michael Walker

This might come as a bit of a jolt to Toronto Councillor Michael Walker – but he is wrong!

The Toronto Sun is reporting that Councillor Walker wants to see a moratorium on the purchase of additional Tasers by the Toronto Police Services.

A few points of clarification for the Councillor –

1. The TPSB has not made a decision to equip front line officers with Tasers.

2. The fact is that two Coroners' juries recommended to the Board that all frontline officers be provided with Tasers because, in their view, lives would have been saved had Tasers been available. The Board received these recommendations and, following our practice, asked the Chief to respond. The Chief came back to the Board to say that he was in agreement with the juries' recommendations. However, he pointed out that in order to provide Tasers to frontline officers, the provincial rules will have to change. At present, the province allows only supervisors and tactical units to have Tasers.

The Board has asked the chief to provide a more detailed business case and research from other jurisdictions on the effects of Tasers. That report has not been provided to the Board for consideration.

3. In terms of the cost of the Tasers, this discussion is premature. There is no request in the Toronto Police Services 2008 budget request for Tasers for front line officers.

4. Regardless, as I explained in a previous blog Council is prohibited from approving or disapproving specific items in the police budget.

5. In the three or so years that the Taser has been used in Toronto, there has not been a single serious injury, let alone a death. This is because the Taser is only given to supervisory and ETF officers after an intensive training that takes double the time recommended. In addition, there are very strict rules about when the device may be used, full reporting after each time the Taser is brought out (whether fired or not), close monitoring and supervision, and, finally, reporting annually to the Board, in public, on all use of Tasers in that period, includinggeographic location, reasons for deployment, any injuries and complaints or civil actions. This combination of training, monitoring and accountability has, I believe, prevented the type of consequences that we have seen elsewhere.

6. Before any decision is made to expand on the use of Tasers, the Toronto Police Services Board will meet conduct its due diligence and consult with the public to ensure we make the right decision for our City.

Posted by Alok Mukherjee

Dr. Alok Mukherjee

Toronto Police Services Board Chair

I am Toronto City Council’s appointee to the Toronto Police Services Board and am the first South Asian to be elected Chair of the Board.

New truth not tasers item posted!!

And now ... a NEWS ALERT from our sponsors

Here we go again - the American manufacturer of tasers - taser international - releases another "NEWS ALERT" in praise of a Canadian police force - this time, the RCMP - for using a taser without killing anyone.

The last time I read a taser international-sponsored "NEWS ALERT" related to Canadian police (New Westminster, BC) was on December 19, 2007. I've copied it at the bottom of this post.

Since when does the RCMP allow a controversial weapon manufacturer speak on its behalf? Am I missing something here?

February 29, 2008
RCMP use taser to avoid tragedy in kamloops

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), a market leader in advanced electronic control devices, released the following News Alert:
According to an article in the February 27, 2008 edition of the Vancouver Sun, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are crediting the use of a TASER(r) electronic control device (ECD) for avoiding the use of deadly force late Monday in Kamloops.

According to the article, RCMP officers faced an armed and distraught man who stormed into a massage parlor threatening to kill a female employee. He repeatedly said he was going to harm himself and yelled at the RCMP officers to shoot him.

"Faced with the option of discharging their pistols or using a TASER electronic control device (ECD) to subdue the distraught man, police opted to use the stun gun. One officer positioned himself to safely activate the TASER and the man was subdued without injury or risk," said RCMP Staff Sergeant Grant Learned.

Two women at the scene at the time of the incident were unharmed. The parlor's owner praised the RCMP for the way officers handled the situation and credited officers for capturing the man without injuring him.

It was reported that RMCP Constable Michelle Toews said the incident is textbook case of when a TASER should be used since the other option constables had was to shoot the man."If we hadn't had the TASER (ECD) we would have found ourselves in much more difficult circumstances," Toews said.

The complete article is available at: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7c8ede0e-e169-4f6a-bc83-9eff3e12c682&k=35578

TASER International, Inc. disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy of the media reports that are the sole responsibility of the attributed media source. HUH?!?!
For more information on protecting life with TASER technology, please visit: http://www.TASER.com.

The TASER International logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2931

CONTACT: TASER International, Inc.
Steve Tuttle
480-444-4000
steve@TASER.com


December 18, 2007
Device to Stop Man Armed With a Knife

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 18, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), a market leader in advanced electronic control devices released the following News Alert:

According to News 1130 AM New Westminster Police in British Columbia were, "called to a disturbance Friday night after a tenant used a pipe on the landlord and then armed himself with a kitchen knife."

"New West Police say the suspect taunted them, and after repeated commands to drop the knife, they used a TASER and then 'touch stunned' him again while attempting to handcuff him. Once back in the cellblock in the police station, police say he head-butted one of their officers while still-handcuffed."

The complete article is available at: http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20071217_184117_2640

TASER International, Inc. disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy of the media reports that are the sole responsibility of the attributed media source. HUH?!?!

For more information on protecting life with TASER technology, please visit: www.TASER.com.

The TASER International logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2931

CONTACT: TASER International, Inc.
Steve Tuttle
(480) 444-4000
Steve@TASER.com

Posted by Reality Chick at 7:25 PM

Toronto taser tidbit

Councillor wants to put Tasers on hold

Posted 19 hours ago

A Toronto city councillor wants to see a moratorium on the purchase of additional police Tasers until there's more evidence about the safety of the stun guns.

Michael Walker says he plans to ask fellow councillors on Monday to support his motion.

Walker says the city has had effective policing for a century and a half without Tasers.

Toronto police Chief Bill Blair wants to outfit all 2,600 frontline officers with Tasers at the cost of about $8 million.

The force currently has 432 Tasers for frontline supervisors.

The problem with Toronto is that we need more frontline officers with good training, period. Not more HARDWARE. Any street cop could tell someone that is a FACT.

Someone is getting good kickbacks and inducements to push tasers here.

Bravo to Michael Walker who is taking a politically unpopular position based on ethics, not opportunism of the moment.

We need a comprehensive civic program to avoid crime and far better mental health services, NOT more power to STUN and TORTURE people. But then, Blackwater is already up here working away in the Police Services Board.

Sigh.

‘Unnecessary and Excessive’: Brattleboro Receives Independent Report Calling July 24 Use of a Taser Unjustified

Brattleboro Vermont police, who have a history of using brutal (sometimes deadly) force against political protestors who pose no direct threat to them, have done it once again. They need to be held legally accountable for their reckless and unprofessional conduct. Citizens of Vermont: you must demand that your police begin serving and helping the people of Vermont, rather than torturing and murdering them.

by Bob Audette

BRATTLEBORO - The town can expect another lawsuit to hit its attorney’s desk soon.

“We will be naming all parties,” said St. Johnsbury attorney David Sleigh, who is representing Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray, two nonviolent protesters who were stunned with Tasers July 24, 2007, by Brattleboro police after they refused to leave private property.

Those parties include the town of Brattleboro, its police department and all the officers involved in the incident, said Sleigh.

On Tuesday, the town received a report on the July 24 use of Tasers from Gordon Black, an attorney from Bennington County. Black was hired by the town to conduct an investigation as to whether the use of force by the officers was justified within the department’s old use of force policy, which has been revised since the incident.

The report (PDF format).

“The decision in this case to use the Tasers on otherwise peaceful protesters who were chained to an object was hastily made, and was unnecessary and excessive,” wrote Black.

“Tasers are not meant to enforce compliance,” said Sleigh.

Lt. Robert Kirkpatrick and Officer Peter DiMarino were named in the Black report as the officers who administered the shocks to Crowell and Kilmurray. Officer Michael Gorman and Department of Public Works employees Rick Looman and Robert Murray were also present at the time, according to the Black report.

Any and all disciplinary action against the officers is a personnel issue and will be handled internally, wrote Town Manager Barbara Sondag in a memo attached to the report.

Memorandum from the Selectboard regarding the Report

Crowell and Kilmurray were part of a small group of people protesting development on Putney Road. They had spent the night on a piece of private property on the corner of Black Mountain and Putney roads. When police arrived the morning of July 24 to evict them from the property, they found the pair had handcuffed themselves inside a device called a dragon, which is used to hinder police efforts to end a protest.

After Crowell and Kilmurray refused to unlock the cuffs, police used a Taser to get them to comply with their orders to leave the property. After being stunned several times, the pair unlocked the handcuffs and were arrested and charged with unlawful trespassing and disorderly conduct.

While the disorderly conduct charges were dropped, Kilmurray was entered into a diversion program for her charge of unlawful trespassing. Crowell is requesting a jury trial in the trespassing charges filed against him.

Tasers should only be used to end a dangerous situation quickly where the officer or another person is in physical danger, said Sleigh.

“(Police) figured this was a problem, reacted, didn’t consider their options and went to the Taser,” said Sleigh.

“(I) reviewed the situation with the question of whether I believed, as an ‘independent reviewer,’ that the use of the Taser was appropriate at the time it was used,” wrote Black in an e-mail to the town manager and Bob Fisher, attorney for the town. “I came to the conclusion that it was not.”

The e-mail was written after Sondag and Fisher questioned Black’s methodology in reaching his conclusion.

Black reviewed reams of documents, including user manuals and suggested policies from the maker of the Taser device, sworn affidavits, arrest reports, supplemental statements from each officer involved, memoranda from supervising officers, e-mails, a sworn statement from a witness to the incident and “even a video of a portion of the incident circulating on YouTube.”

See the video.

“I trust that none of us can imagine that it would have been acceptable for the officers to shoot the protesters with a gun,” wrote Black in his e-mail. “It is also hard to imagine the policemen pulling out billy clubs and using them against the protesters chained to the barrels, or the policemen hitting the protesters with their fists … If these options are almost unimaginable, how can the intentional infliction of what has been consistently been described by subjects … with words like ‘intense pain’ and ‘like getting hit with a sledge hammer,’ be acceptable?”

When should a Taser be used, asked Black in his e-mail. “Only when the officers are using the device to protect themselves or others. That was not the case here.”

“There is no evidence that they were either threatening to harm others or harm themselves,” wrote Black. “They were not described by anyone involved as being engaged in any activity that could conceivably be described as aggressive or particularly disruptive.”

Black rendered further comments that echoed sentiments that have been expressed by some Selectboard members and town residents during the town’s review of its use of force policy.

“The protest was little more than a nuisance and there seemed to be little reason to escalate matters to involve the use of pain compliance devices,” wrote Black. “The protesters were occupying a vacant commercial lot. There was no urgency to resolve the matter quickly, as the protesters were not obstructing traffic, impeding pedestrians or interfering with adjacent business.”

Black wrote that the town’s old use of force policy contributed to the inappropriate use. He also appeared to absolve former Police Chief John Martin - who was fired by the town last fall, in part because of the July 24 incident - of any wrongdoing in the event.

While use of the Tasers “may theoretically comply with the broad language of the use of force policy, it clearly shows a lack of appropriate restraint, as had been encouraged the day before by Chief Martin,” wrote Black. “The ‘laid back,’ ‘take no action’ approach suggested by Chief Martin … seems, in retrospect, to have been the most appropriate under the circumstances.”

Martin and Capt. Steve Rowell also allegedly told Kirkpatrick to not be “heavy handed” in his actions against the protesters, according to the report.

The report may find its way into court in a lawsuit filed by Martin against the town contesting his termination, said Burlington attorney Pietro Lynn, who is representing Martin in federal court.

“This (report) must have been a very unpleasant surprise for the town,” said Lynn. “It’s fair to say we will review the report and take it under consideration and choose whatever course of action that is appropriate.”

Black’s conclusions may also find their way into a report being written by Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, the result of an investigation into use of force policies around the state.

“We would hope to be done soon,” said Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell, about the AG’s report.

Black suggested the town revise its new use of force policy to prevent just such an incident from happening again.

“This policy is an excellent step forward in better defining use of force,” wrote Black. “The justification of nondeadly force, however, appears to contain the same wide grant of discretion that may have contributed to the underlying incident.”

Black recommended a use of force policy allows officers to use a Taser only on suspects exhibiting “active aggression” and who are deemed likely to harm themselves or others. He recommended “active aggression” be defined as an assault or imminent assault.

Sondag is in the process of making those changes to the current use of force policy.

While police organizations around the country rely on Tasers to subdue violent suspects, Amnesty International has claimed police agencies are using the devices inappropriately “as a routine force option to subdue noncompliant or disturbed individuals who do not pose a serious danger to themselves or others,” wrote Black in his report.

The police officers’ “quick action fails to show appropriate patience and restraint in attempting to resolve the situation.”

The Putney Road incident is the perfect example of “where officers eschew perhaps other slower solutions to a problem because they have 50,000 volts in their back pocket,” said Sleigh.

“Black points out how hastily the officers handled the situation,” he said. “He suggested an alternative which should have been readily available, a flash citation.”

The flash citation could have been used to order the pair into court that afternoon, wrote Black. Their failure to appear in court could have conceivably been used to justify the use of the Taser, he added.

The complete report is available on www.reformer.com or by calling the town manager’s office at 802-251-8100.

Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com

© 2008 The Brattleboro Reformer

Canadian Coaltion calls for taser moratorium

No essay is required on this. I've already said it ALL. The taser is an instrument of torture. It is banned by international law and the UK, although still buying them, has BANNED them at international armaments shows held there.

The principal financial holder in Taser International appears to be Marc Mukasey, the US Attorney General's son - you know, the guy who makes apologies for America's use of torture.

Simply push on the links at the bottom for a full load of information.

Sigh. Somedays are just too much.

V

Coalition calls for taser moratorium

Thu, 2008-02-07 13:52.

Shuyee Lee

A renewed call by a growing coalition for a moratorium on the use of Tasers by police.

The coalition includes Amnesty International, the Quebec Black Coalition and politicians of all stripes including Montreal city councillors, the NDP, and the PQ.

They want an independent study and a public Montreal meeting on Taser use, dissatisfied with the recent RCMP review and Quebec public security report on Tasers because they were compiled mostly by police officials.

Councillor for Loyola Warren Allmand.

"There are some worthwhile things that are in the report but it doesn't get to the basic problem which, (is) what is the real danger and impact of these weapons on a wide range of people."

Chantal Registre's brother Quilem was killed after police allegedly tasered him six times last October while trying to arrest him on a drunk driving charge. She says they still have no answers into his death.

"On attend toujours des réponses et on n'a pas de réponses."

The coalition says politicians and police have to take a closer look at the use of Tasers in the wake of almost 20 deaths of people in Canada after being tasered by police in the past five years.

PNAC'S torture methods

Consider the fiscal principals behind Taser International as you read this- Marc Mukasey is a prime shareholder ..

V

9/11? - 50.000 Volt will make you 'confess' anything... from Foreign Press Foundation - Henk Ruyssenaars - 04.04.2006 17:55 9/11 'hijacker' Moussaoui's 'testimony' is fabricated 'evidence' of his supposed 'guilt' - based on the fear of extremely painful fifty-thousand Volt chocks from the 'stun belt' he was forced to wear. In the PNAC's inferno 'justice' means: 'just us'. WHEN THEY DROWNED, IT WAS PROOF THAT THEY WERE INNOCENT... by Henk Ruyssenaars FPF - April 4th 2006 - At first the fact that 9/11 'hijacker' Zacarias Moussaoui had to wear a 50.000 Volt chock 'stun belt' - to make him confess anything the 'man with the button' wanted him to - was broadcasted by some major US gov't channels. It was a rare mistake made by some of the propaganda channels, like CNN and MSNBC, and it made millions upon millions in and outside the US info bubble cringe and flinch. Seeing the life of this fake 'hijacker' Moussaoui thrown to the propaganda wolves as part of the 9/11 cover up. Saying anything out of shock fear. It's quite easy to make people 'confess' anything: put on a stun belt and shock them a few times. They'll never forget the immense pain of this terror torture. When they return to life, and to avoid more torture, they'll say and do anything. Even incriminating oneself, and putting themselves in one of those 'christian' electric chairs, gas or deadly poison chambers american 'christians' use to kill fellow human beings. Which Bush is very good at - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/zylt7 During witch hunts in the Dark Ages a similar 'fool proof' system was used: somebody who was accused of witchcraft was thrown in the water, mostly shackled. - [ http://tinyurl.com/p86qb] - Could they swim and survived, that was the 'proof' that they were guilty. When they drowned, they were innocent... The same apparently goes for victims of the US 'justice' who must 'confess': first the stun belt is put on, and than the 50.000 Volt scared victim is for example given this official document to sign: YOU ARE HEREBY ADVISED THAT YOU ARE BEING REQUIRED TO WEAR AN ELECTRONIC RESTRAINT BELT. This belt discharges 50,000 volts of electricity. By means of a remote transmitter, an attending officer has the ability to activate the stun package attached to the belt, thereby causing the following results to take place: 1. Immobilization causing you to fall to the ground. 2. Possibility of self-defecation. 3. Possibility of self-urination. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE OFFICER DIRECTIONS COULD LEAD TO ANY OF THE ABOVE. The belt could be activated under the following actions on your behalf and notification is hereby made: A. Any tampering with the belt. B. Failure to comply with staff's verbal order to halt movement of your person. C. Any attempt to escape custody. D. Any attempt to inflict serious bodily harm on another person. E. Any loss of visual contact by the officer in charge. I UNDERSTAND THE ABOVE INFORMATION AND ACKNOWLEDGE BEING ADVISED OF THE SAME. signature ______________________ THE ABOVE FORM WAS TAKEN FROM BUREAU OF PRISONS (BOP) POLICY STATEMENT # P.S. 5558.10, DATED SEPT. 30, 1994. It is notable that this document fails to mention other possible side effects such as heart attacks, permanent twitching, memory loss, vomiting, etc." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/g4mao Threatening Moussaoui with 50.000 Volt shock torture, US made 'proof' is produced that 'Arabs' killed 3000 people in the WTC drama. Osama bin Laden, in his remote cave on the other side of the world, so the global brainwash goes, fooled the biggest intelligence apparatus on earth, the forty plus billion dollars costing NSA, CIA etc. with all it's electronic tapping, sniffing, snooping and killing squads... WHISKY AND PORK CHOPS Does anybody in a normal state of mind really believe Osama gave orders to a nitwit like Moussaoui? Or to the other 'patsies', the whisky and pork chops consuming so called 'fanatical muslims' - who were seen celebrating their coming 'death' in strip joints? Some of whom couldn't even fly a small plane?* - Of course not: 9/11 was an inside job by the PNAC group which needed to 'trigger' their inhuman agenda.* The globally spread deception regrettably sometimes has as a result in most PNAC countries/colonies, like The Netherlands, that the hair-raising and gruesome facts concerning the use of a stun belt is not even mentioned. Apart from the parroting TV prompter readers, and similar propaganda stenographers, NO normal human being would call this proof, nor justice. U.S. INJUSTICE: ONLY DEEP CONTEMPT IS LEFT For the so called court and jury, so utterly brainwashed and scared fawning to all injustice, only deep contempt is left. And a global and total disrespect for the false and faked 'authority' of American courts or their so called 'legislative body' spreading death and destruction. The corruption and the inhumanity of their quisling behavior, combined with medieval torture to extract 'confessions', stinks to Heaven. The initial mistake is among a few others shown in this MSNBC VIDEO claiming that: "Moussaoui wore 'stun belt' for new testimony." - And the text speaks for itself: "If you're looking for a reason why Zacarias Moussaoui suddenly testified today to a version of the 9/11 plot line that sounds more like the Official story than even the official Whitewash Commission report, this video may have the answer. In it, NBC news reporter Pete Williams lets slip that Moussaoui is wearing a "Stun belt" underneath his clothing controlled by US Marshals.* MSNBC host Dan Abrams gets some more details on the stun belt. A taste of the exchange: WILLIAMS: The old outbursts were gone... He was very docile today... We believe that he's wearing one of those stun belts, and it may be that he was very worried about doing anything that would cause those Marshals to press the button.... ABRAMS: A stun belt? They literally have something around his waist? That they can push a button and...? WILLIAMS: [Pause] Well... [end quote] JUSTICE? Justice is a concept involving the fair, moral, and impartial treatment of all persons, especially in law. But: [Four] years after Amnesty International and The Progressive magazine first warned about the marketing of stun belts, the shock devices have been adopted by at least 19 state prison systems and more than 100 sheriff's offices, police departments, and jails, according to an Amnesty survey. Dennis Kaufman, president of the belt's leading manufacturer, Stun Tech, says his company has sold 1,700 belts, with business growing 10 to 15 percent a year. The belts are used to control defendants in courtrooms and inmate crews working beyond the prison walls. But they're also used out of public view, where abuses can go unchecked. Deputies strap the belts on inmates being driven to hospitals or courthouses, and prison guards use them instead of shackles. At Red Onion State Prison in Virginia, 10 inmates were required to wear the belts while meeting with an attorney investigating charges of human rights violations; one prisoner who refused to wear the device was barred from speaking to the lawyer. Some officials even use the belt to control people with mental illness: The shock device was activated twice against Barrington Wilson, a Miami defendant whose behavior included eating his own feces and talking to an imaginary friend named Frank. ACTIVATED BY REMOTE CONTROL Stun Tech's two current models are wide elastic belts that wrap around the waist, holding a two-pound electronic device against the left kidney. "When activated by remote control," the company advises in its promotional literature, "the stun cycle operates automatically for eight seconds of continuous stun power." The belts cause searing pain that temporarily immobilizes wearers, often causing them to fall writhing to the floor and lose control of their bladder and bowels. "The electrical current was so intense that I thought that I was actually dying," Craig Ryan Shelton, a Kansas inmate who was shocked in a prison van, told human rights investigators." - Mother Jones - Outfront - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/s5lou GLOBAL PLAGUE OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY Normal people with some decency left, should never accept this global plague of crimes against humanity, committed in the name of a the US with it's 'Project for a New American Century'. Where the word 'new' must be replaced by 'nefarious'. Because the world sees their deeds... It's one minute to twelve for the millions of US victims to understand and do as the 'Philosopher of Freedom' John Locke said: "Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience...* NOBODY NEEDS TO OBEY 'THEM' when they use any weapon available against us, who nota bene were forced to pay for the weaponry with which we are killed. And when soldiers are killed for 'their empire' - the dead bodies arrive deep in the night, with no pictures allowed to be taken nor published. So the other lambs to the slaughter don't start thinking. But there still is the fact that people - according to all international and many times national law - have the absolute right to defend themselves when they are attacked. And definitely now is the time to react. Because, as George Bernard Shaw said: Indifference is the essence of inhumanity. HENK RUYSSENAARS Stun belt related: * NBC news reporter Pete Williams lets slip that Moussaoui is wearing a "Stun belt" - Text and Video MSNBC - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/z9f2x * 'Stun Belt' Moussaoui faces death sentence - Google selection of the 'news' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/l4hyy * The US Dept. of 'justice' and it's use of Stun belts - Google search - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/j9obd * CNN - July 1998 - Judge's order to shock defendant stuns witnesses - Url.: http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/10/stun.belts/ * Amnesty International condemns US for violations of UN Convention Against Torture - Url.: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/tort-m12.shtml * Lock Down USA is a network providing news, facts and resources about the American prison industry and Criminal Justice System - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/jvkgm * Testimony before United Nations Human Rights Commission: Amnesty International condemns US for executions and police brutality - Url.: http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/mar1999/amn-m31.shtml * The stun belt: Torture at the push of a button - Url.: http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/stun-j19.shtml * California judge orders man electronically stunned in courtroom - Url.: http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/july1998/shoc-j18.shtml * New York City - Jury hears tale of torture, brutality by New York City police http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/may1999/loui-m06.shtml * ONE OF THE ABSOLUTELY BEST WEB SITES ON 9/11 - DANIEL HOPSICKER - BACKGROUND - INVESTIGATING - URL.: HTTP://WWW.MADCOWPROD.COM/INDEX.HTML * John Locke - The Philosopher of Freedom - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/q5tgw * "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - And here's why: 'George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography' - by Webster G. Tarpley & Anton Chaitkin - Chapter - II - The Hitler Project - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/57qxk * The 9/11 drama was the 'trigger' used by the PNAC Group, killing Americans to further their inhuman goals: Anybody who after seeing this video - '9/11 revisited' - still believes the version from the 'PNAC pack' - the Washington cabal - is beyond all professional help - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/r5sx4 * FOX: Video 49 min. - The example how viewers are brainwashed and 'outfoxed' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/b2zzl * MSNBC - Live Vote - Concerning the "Project for a Nefarious American Century" (PNAC) - ''Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment?'' - YES: 86% - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/ *Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/ * THE ONLY SOLUTION? - Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE ARE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [ http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/ FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION http://forpressfound.blogspot.com/ Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars http://tinyurl.com/amn3q The Netherlands fpf@chello.nl

Taser Interal Pres to speak to Toronto cops ..

TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND CAROLINE ALPHONSO

January 15, 2008

How many volts from a taser does it take to stun a person? How many to kill one? What if the target's clothing is wet? And what if he's stoned on cocaine?

Few are better poised to field such questions than Thomas Smith, chairman of the board and co-founder of Arizona-based Taser International Inc., North America's overwhelming market leader in the production and sale of stun guns.

And in an unusual and probably lively public forum Thursday evening, Mr. Smith will get the chance to provide some answers.

The event, which will take place at police headquarters, has already attracted criticism. *snip*

Amnesty International has long urged a moratorium on tasers until further research clarifies the risks. In December, the RCMP narrowed guidelines governing taser deployment after a series of confrontations in British Columbia and Nova Scotia that saw three people die after being shocked by stun guns.

But what chiefly bothers John Sewell, a former Toronto mayor and veteran police critic, about Thursday's session is what he terms "the cozy relationship" between Taser International and those who endorse its products. Giving Mr. Smith such "a privileged vantage point" to promote his company is plain wrong, Mr. Sewell said yesterday.

more on the link ..

Taser file: important blogsite

TNT - TRUTH ... not TASERS

In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell, who died after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004

taser-Related Deaths = 310

ONE person has died in the US in December after being tasered. ELEVEN North Americans, including TWO Canadians, died in November. In October, TWO people died in Canada and FOUR in the US. ONE person died in September in Canada and FOUR people died the US. NINE people, a bear and a dog died in August. SIX people died during the month of July. THIRTEEN people died in May. At least 310 people have died in North America proximal to taser use since 2001. The taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in many of the deaths. TWENTY people have died in Canada since 2003 after police used tasers on them.

What we believe:

1) The safety implications of Tasers require urgent independent and unbiased study. 2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons. 3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort. 4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon. 5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight. 6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

TASER FILE: update on next generation

ENFORCEMENT

TheStar.com | Technology | Tasers: the next generation

Tasers: the next generation

Alarmed by recent incidents? Wait'll you see what the company is planning for 2008

Dec 02, 2007 04:30 AM

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Technology/article/281670

Andrew Chung
Staff Reporter

The Taser is going wireless.

Until now, the electric-shock gun consisted of two barbed darts attached to wires that shoot out and strike the victim, immobilizing the person with 50,000 volts of electricity, causing severe pain and intense muscle contraction.

But the wires could only extend a few metres. With the new "extended range electronic projectile," or XREP, the Taser has been turned into a kind of self-contained shotgun shell and can be fired, wire-free, from a standard shotgun, which police typically have in their arsenal already.

The first electrode hooks on to the target, the second electrode falls and makes contact elsewhere on the body, completing the circuit and activating the shock. It can blast someone as far as 30 metres away, and, unlike the current stun guns, whose shock lasts five seconds, the XREP lasts 20 seconds, enough time to "take the offender into custody without risking injury to officers."

Taser International spokesperson Steve Tuttle says the XREP would be perfect in a standoff. "Here's someone you just don't want to get anywhere near," he says.

The XREP is one of two major new applications the Scottsdale, Ariz., company is preparing to field test, a prospect that makes Taser's critics anxious. They say more study is needed of the old products, let alone the new.

Tasers are sparking all sorts of questions and concerns these days.

Like death after Tasing. Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after the RCMP Tased him when he'd become agitated after spending 10 hours inside the secure area at the Vancouver airport.

Or questionable Tasing. University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was Tased even though a handful of officers had already piled on top of him after he refused to stop asking former presidential candidate John Kerry questions at the microphone. (He's the one who uttered that now infamous plea that has spawned bumper stickers and T-shirts: "Don't Tase me, bro!")

Tasers are now used by more than 11,000 law enforcement agencies in 44 countries. There are more than 428,000 Tasers in the field, not to mention the tens of thousands of Tasers that have been sold to civilians.

And the innovations keep coming.

Besides the XREP, the company has developed a device meant to keep someone from approaching a certain area – a tactic called "area denial." "What if you could drop everyone in a given area to the ground with the simple push of a button?" asks a dramatic promotional video for the "Shockwave."

Taser has turned its weapon into a connected series of six darts arranged in an arc. The company says the device can be extended in a chain or stacked "like Lego," depending on the needs of the user.

So an army platoon, for instance, could use it to prevent unwanted people from approaching their camp, and not have to risk getting close to their targets.

Amnesty International, which has raised concerns for years, says the Shockwave poses serious risks of inappropriate use. When you target an entire area, or a crowd, you can't distinguish between the individuals you're trying to restrain, says Hilary Homes, a security and human rights campaigner for Amnesty International Canada.

"It targets everybody to the same intensity or effect," Homes says. "With materials like that, you worry about ...arbitrary and indiscriminate use."

Tuttle says the technology will be used for military applications, "not for a riot in Toronto."

Amnesty says that between 2001 and Sept. 30, 2007, there were more than 290 deaths of individuals struck by police Tasers in North America, including 16 in Canada. It reports that only 25 of those electroshocked were armed, and none with firearms. It's calling for a moratorium on their use by police until a full, independent inquiry is held.

Homes says the new shotgun-style Taser doesn't pose any risks that aren't already there with the older weapon, except that "this allows more things to be done from a greater distance."

Mostly, it's the concern over the expansion of this technology even as there is heated debate over the devices' safety. "We'd prefer there weren't new variations until a study of the central technology was done," she says.

The safety concerns revolve around the growing number of deaths following Tasering and the increasing use of the term "excited delirium" by the company and other experts to explain the deaths, while denying the weapon any culpability.

Excited delirium is a catchall phrase to describe symptoms of extreme stress, such as disorientation, profuse sweating, paranoia, and superhuman strength.

When someone is in such a condition – heart racing, blood pressure bursting, fight-or-flight hormones like adrenalin coursing through their body – wouldn't a giant electrical jolt just make things worse?

"Show me the medical and mechanical reasons why it would make it worse when doctors are telling us, when someone is in that situation you should treat it as a medical emergency and get that person to a medical trauma centre in the quickest way," Tuttle says. "With no Taser, he's impervious to pain, agitated, slippery with sweat – you won't get control in five seconds. Maybe you'll use batons, which won't work, pepper spray, which is much more stressful, a bean-bag round, maybe deadly force because the situation spins out of control?"

Dr. David Evans, the Toronto regional supervising coroner for investigations, says that while there's no proof to say the shock could make things worse, "I agree potentially it could." But, he adds, "why aren't they dropping dead immediately?"

Evans says that it doesn't seem to make sense that the Taser is at fault in the deaths, because the deaths have not been instantaneous. "Normally you'd expect that if someone was going to die from electrocution related to electrical discharge, they'd die right there and then, within a few seconds," he says.

Tasering doesn't cause changes in the heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, which leads to death, he says.

It's a view that Ontario's deputy coroner, Dr. Jim Cairns, has used to help shape the Toronto Police Services Board policy toward allowing Toronto police to use Tasers. Cairns also spoke at a Taser tactical conference in Chicago last July about excited delirium.

Taser points out that the weapon has not been implicated in any of the deaths in Canada. "We're just repeating what the medical examiners are saying," says Tuttle. "The vast majority of those cases have been excited delirium or (drug) overdose."

Even though "excited delirium" isn't an accepted medical diagnosis, it may be listed as a "contributory factor" in police-custody deaths, Evans says, but not as the primary cause.

Taser isn't the only company developing electrical stun weapons. Indiana-based Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems has, in a prototype phase, a futuristic weapon that sends out a streak of lightning, apparently by projecting an ionized gas or ionizing the air itself with a laser, which conducts the electricity forward. The technology could potentially also be used to disable vehicles and, in the future, to help militaries neutralize incoming rocket propelled grenades.

Taser expects its new products to be available by mid-2008.

latest Taser horror story: mistaken identity

Wrong Suspect Tased In Blytheville

Updated: Dec 3, 2007 12:14 PM

andy.wise@wreg.com

(Blytheville, AR, 11/30/2007) Blytheville's police chief says it was the wrong man, but the right action when his officers "Tased" a Special Olympics athlete Wednesday night.

Two Blytheville Police Department officers were on the look out for a 'Travis Henderson' who has an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on a reckless driving charge. While on patrol, one of the officers recognized 25-year-old Travis Henderson, a Special Olympic medalist who has competed in track-and-field events from Iowa to Shanghai and has been honored in the local newspaper. Henderson was jogging near Knowles and McHaney in Blytheville.

Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson says Officers Michael Tovar and Brandon Bennett stopped Henderson to question him, but they called for a third officer, Jeremy Joseph Ward, when Henderson appeared not to cooperate with them.

According to Ward's use of force report, he

"...noticed a black male subject who was pulling away from Officer Tovar. Officer Bennett then came around to the left side of the subject and grabbed his arm and attempted to restrain him while Officer Tovar tried to handcuff him. The subject continued struggling and attempting to get free. After being told several times to comply with the officers he was drive stunned on the right part of his chest. After this application, the subject struggled with officers again briefly but stopped when I was about to administer another drive stun. The subject who was identified as Travis Henderson was taken into custody without further incident."

Except he wasn't the 'Travis Henderson' they were looking for.

In an exchange with Thompson, 3 On Your Side determined the officers failed to establish Henderson's identity. They stopped the wrong 'Travis Henderson' simply because one of the officers recognized him either from school or from his Special Olympics fame.

"(3 On Your Side) DID (YOUR OFFICERS) CHECK THEIR BIRTHDATES?"

"(Thompson) They actually did, and they found they were very similar."

"(3 On Your Side) BUT NOT THE SAME."

"(Thompson) But not the same."

"It was a misidentification," says Nina Spiller, a friend of Henderson's family, "and if they had did correct protocol to find they had the right 'Travis Henderson,' then all of this could have been prevented."

"I just feel like...like I've been treated like an animal or something,"

says Henderson.

3 On Your Side obtained the Taser cam footage of the incident. The footage came from a camera mounted on the Taser gun. It shows what appears to be the side of Henderson's right chest in some sort of a struggle. There is an exchange of words between Henderson and Officer Ward:

"(Officer Ward) O.K., don't resist..."

"(Henderson) O.K."

"(Officer Ward)...'cause you're gonna get Tased."

"(Henderson) I'm not..."

A few seconds later, Henderson screams as he receives a single "drive-stun," a low-level burst of electricity that is not a full deployment of the Taser's power.

"I thought he was trying to kill me or something,"

says Henderson, whose family says he suffers from a severe learning disability.

Thompson admits his officers got the wrong guy, but he supports their decision to "Tase" Henderson because of his resistance. The officers charged Henderson with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

But under recommendation of City of Blytheville Prosecutor Mike Bearden, the city dropped the charges.

"I'm not sure what continuing on with our charges would do," says Thompson. "I'm also trying to take a look at the warrant for the real Travis Henderson that is out there to see what we can do to possibly avoid this any kind of confusion with this young man again."

Thompson is meeting with Henderson and his family Dec. 4 to present the Taser cam footage to them and address their concerns.