CURBING TASER USE

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

RCMP says it will curb Taser use after negative report

Watchdog says force is using weapon too often

Andrew Mayeda and Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service, with files from Reuters Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Richard Lam/Canwest News Service

OTTAWA -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Wednesday it would curb the use of Taser stun guns after the federal force's watchdog issued a stinging report accusing officers of zapping suspects unnecessarily.

"We will act on the recommendations as quickly as possible to provide clearer direction to our members, to further restrict situations in which the CEW can be deployed, and to develop and implement measures to enhance accountability, " the RCMP said in a statement.

A report released by the RCMP public complaints commission on Wednesday said that the RCMP should limit its use of Tasers to "combative" suspects and take the weapons out of the hands of inexperienced officers, the watchdog agency also threatenened to withdraw support for the devices unless the Mounties change their policies.

In an interim report in December, RCMP public complaints commission chairman Paul Kennedy stopped short of calling for an outright ban on Tasers, but urged the Mounties to scale back their use of the devices.

But in his final report, released Wednesday, Mr. Kennedy scolded the RCMP for ignoring his primary recommendations, and suggested the force would lose his backing if it continues to do so.

"The commission supports the continued use and deployment of the [Taser]. However, ... this support is subject to RCMP acceptance and implementation of the recommendations contained in this report," Kennedy wrote in the final report, which lays out 12 recommendations.

Mr. Kennedy said the RCMP has refused to acknowledge that the public "has a role to play in shaping how the police use the weapon," suggesting they believe "the police are the use of force experts and can unilaterally decide what is appropriate for those they serve."

The commission was asked to probe the RCMP's use of Tasers after the death last fall of Robert Dziekanski, who died after RCMP used a Taser on him at Vancouver International Airport.

Mr. Kennedy once again defended his decision to reject a moratorium on Tasers, saying the public recognizes the need for police to use force. The risks of Tasers must be weighed against the risks of other weapons, he argued.

He said RCMP officers appear to be using the weapons more often, and much earlier in encounters with suspects, than originally intended when the RCMP started using Tasers in 2001.

However, he said it is impossible to measure such "usage creep," because the RCMP's internal reporting system is so poor. RCMP officers must file a report each time they use a Taser, but Mr. Kennedy said the Mounties have engaged in "systemic under-reporting. "

"Everything I think intuitively recognizes well, given your choice, yes, a Taser is better than being shot," Mr. Kennedy told reporters. "But ... there are circumstances where we can't really understand why you're using this Taser."

Mr. Kennedy called on the RCMP to take a "more conservative approach." He recommends reclassifying Tasers as an "impact weapon" that would only be used when an individual is "combative" or poses a risk of death or "grievous bodily harm" to police, the suspect or the public.

The RCMP considers the Taser an "intermediate device" that can be used when suspects are displaying "active resistance."

Mr. Kennedy also recommends that RCMP officers seek immediate medical attention for anyone who has been shocked by a Taser, and that the Mounties establish clearer guidelines for how Tasers would be used against "at-risk" individuals, such as the homeless or people with mental-health issues.

Under Mr. Kennedy's recommendations, no RCMP officer with less than five years experience would be allowed to use a Taser. In urban settings, Tasers could only be used by officers at the rank of corporal or above; in rural settings, by constables with at least five years experience.

"Policing is not an easy job. It takes years of experience to acquire instinctive knowledge and acute assessment skills," said Mr. Kennedy.

Mr. Kennedy also urged a number of measures to improve transparency and accountability. Reporting forms should be expanded to include broader descriptions of the events that led to the use of a Taser, and the RCMP should release quarterly and annual reports on its use of the weapons, he said.

The commission chair told reporters that he thinks the RCMP has "the weakest policy" on Taser use compared to other police forces in Canada, and indicated that the potential harm the weapons can cause is not always appreciated.

"We've all successfully diminished the significance of the use of the Taser and that's why we find it being used, I think, in circumstances that are highly inappropriate, " Mr. Kennedy said before going on to describe how the commission had 117 reports of Tasers being used on 13- to 16-year-olds. In some cases, the devices were used on individual teenagers four or five times.

"That tells me that people are viewing and using the Taser in a fashion far different than they would a gun. A gun brings its own respect, a Taser doesn't seem to have done that. And that's why I'm calling for stricter guidelines," he said.

Last week, the commission delayed the release of the report after Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day requested a last-minute meeting with Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy said not a word of the report has since been changed, and Day was "appreciative" of the findings.

In a statement, Day said the government accepts the recommendations "in principle, including the main recommendation to further restrict the circumstances within which [Tasers] may be used."

But RCMP Commissioner William Elliot, through Mr. Day, offered a cooler reception. Mr. Day said Mr. Elliot "indicated to me that he intends to act on the recommendations in a manner that takes into consideration the operational requirements of the RCMP."

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