[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: Because of the controversy over tasers, Ottawa police have done a survey. There are some 1,200 responses to an online questionnaire, including as well as 700 filled out by police. Views will be analyzed in a report to be published in April. The Ontario Civil Liberties Association wants to see increased police […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Greg Matters, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, died when he shot – not tasered – in Prince George, British Columbia, by heavily armed members of the RCMP emergency response team sent to arrest him on a charge of assaulting his brother. Like other inquest juries, this one is expected to recommend […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Activists and other local citizens – including from the mental health community, CCLA and the ex-mayor of Toronto, John Sewell – spoke out against plans to expand police use of conducted energy weapons, or tasers, in a public board meeting at Toronto’s City Hall on Sept. 24. Need to improive communication […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : At last, a realistic cost-evaluation of a roll-out of tasers to a police unit – following the green light to tasers by the Ontario Ministry of Community Affairs: 150 tasers + adequate training for the Hamilton Police is anticipated to cost $1,000,000. In Hamilton, tasers were deployed in 49 separate incidents […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : As province relaxes stun gun rules, police accused of putting too much faith in high-tech weaponry. Canadian Civil Liberties Association, criminologists, and mental health advocates are raising concerns about the Ontario government’s decision to allow frontline police officers to carry Tasers, warning that the powerful energy weapons could be over-used by […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : There are fears that tasers will be used instead of non-violent de-escalation techniques, stoking concern the province’s rules governing their use are too broad. The rollout follows years of reviewing medical literature and consulting with police. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is concerned. The taser contributed to the death of Aron […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Police and the province argue Tasers will save lives. Critics say they’re no cure for poor police skills when dealing with people in crisis. Toronto’s deputy police chief, Michael Federico, said that 12 coroner’s inquests involving police shootings have recommended wider use of Tasers (???).The Taser was used more than 270 […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Thee CCLA press release following the Ontario government’s decision to expand taser deployment in the province. Need for de-escalation training and mental health and disability crisis response teams not expanded taser use. While there are extreme situations in which the taser can be effective, misuse of the taser – it becomes […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : The CCLA protests the RCMP tasering of an 11-year-old boy in Prince George, B.C in April 2011 and calls for uniform national standards for the use of tasers by law enforcement – the RCMP’s current taser policy does not impose any restriction or caution against the use of the weapons on […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : A healthy trend: substantial decline in taser use: Vancouver police dept officers used Tasers 93 times in 2006, 74 times in 2007, 27 times in 2008 – with fewe officers being trained and carrying the Taser. Only 7 incidents – with two of them involving discharges – in first 4 months […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: Brief article in a Canadian Civil Liberties Union newsletter: Since March 2010, New Zealand police have used tasers 890 times, despite criticisms including the New Zealand Civil Liberties Council depiction of its use as “inhumane” . The taser seems to be becoming police-officers’ weapon of choice.]] Canadian Civil Liberties Union, by Laura […]
[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: (Note this article does not link AXON to tasers, nor to EVIDENCE.com) The RCMP and Calgary police are seriously tryng out TASER Inc’s “AXON” head-held camera system, designed, according to the corporation, to protect police officers from litigation (“Police tout video as a means of documenting their side of the story when […]
[[Summary / Comments : Four days after the event – RCMP: “the boy was a suspect in the stabbing of a 37-year-old man, and a Taser was used in his arrest. Officers found the boy inside a group home next door to the crime scene, and when he came out, he was shocked with a […]