'Drop the beer!' No? Zap!' – Tasers a Weapon of Convience

The BC Police Complaint Commissioner agrees with the earlier report of the RCMP Complaints Commissioner that Taser weapons should be reclassified as firearms.

B.C. Commissioner, Dirk Ryneveld, says “Unfortunately, the Taser has become a tool of convenience in some situations. Sort of a come along device. ‘Drop the beer!’ No? Zap!”

My question is how many of reports is it going to take before the Taser is reclassed? And come to think of it - How many people have to die from this so-called non-lethal weapon before something is done?

Police oblivious to pain Tasers inflict: RCMP complaints commissioner

Re-Class Taser Guns, RCMP Watchdog says

A report by Head of Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, Paul Kennedy, on the use of taser guns by the force has noted that the use of the weapons has increased over the last six years to include situations where people were “clearly non-combative”. Kennedy states that “Use [of taser guns] has expanded to include subduing resistant subjects who do not pose a threat of grievous bodily harm or death and on whom the use of lethal force would not be an option”.

The report recommends that the taser guns be reclassified from “intermediate tool” to “impact weapon”, meaning the weapon should only be used by officers when there is a clear threat of death or moral injury to officers or the public. In addition to restricting the use of tasers the report also calls for more monitoring of the weapon’s use and further research into the effects of the stun gun on the human body and the risks of inducing the condition that Dziekanski is thought to have died from, called excited delirium.

Hopefully the government will act quickly on the recommendations of this report so that we can avoid further tragedy.

Link to Report:
The commission's Taser report to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day

Reference:
RCMP must curb Taser use, watchdog says

Tasering and Other Crimes Against Humanity

The latest taser death to make the headlines is that of a Utah man that was tasered in September for not signing his traffic ticket!

Police are not allowed to shoot a man for speeding . So why then it is okay to zap him with 50,0000 volts of electricity? Is it because bullets make people bleed all over the place while tasering is all neat an tidy? Here in Canada, the government said it will not place new any restrictions on the use of Tasers and awaits the findings of the RCMP's internal review of its policy on the weapon.

On the issue of Capital Punishment the Harper Government said yesterday, that if a Canadian Citizen is sentenced to death abroad they can not automatically expect the Canadian Government to come to their aid if the rule of law in that country is being applied. When asked by opposition parties if the Canadian Government was reversing its long standing policy to extradite Canadians on death row back home to carry out a life sentence, the Justice Minister would simply say that there are no plans to change the law in Canada. Basically, Minister Nicholson is saying that the death penalty is okay as long as it isn't the Canadian justice system doing the killing. When did our government become contract killers?

Reference: Wise Law Blog: Another Taser Victim on Video: Utah Driver Refused to Sign Speeding Ticket