statism watch

Flashback: Taser inquiry wraps up in Vancouver with legal squabbles | Canadian police adopt new TASER directive | RCMP actions ‘gratuitous, ‘violent,’ BC needs own police lawyer tells inquiry | Braidwood inquiry reopens, RCMP bickers over preplanned TASER use | TASER files court motion to quash Braidwood probe’s findings | Mounties have no choice but to comply with TASER ruling | Justice says changes needed in Taser use | Mounties discussed Tasing Dziekanski prior to altercation | Judge: B.C. taser probe can rule on Mountie misconduct issue | Mounties want to bar Taser inquiry from finding misconduct | RCMP spokesman told to hold off correcting false details of Dziekanski incident, inquiry hears | RCMP supervising officer contradicts earlier testimony in Dziekanski inquiry | RCMP to face no charges in case of TASERed Polish immigrant: Report | Mountie involved in fatal crash was supervisor at time of airport Taser death | Perjury: Is it different for cops? | Mounties censor Taser report | Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man

Petti Fong, Toronto Star
December 8, 2009

The four RCMP officers involved in the Tasering of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski failed to de-escalate the situation and used the Taser weapon prematurely and inappropriately, the office for public complaints against the force has found.

Following a two-year investigation, Commissioner Paul Kennedy made some harsh criticisms of the RCMP in its handling of the case. Dziekanski was fired upon, within 24 seconds of four RCMP officers arriving at the scene, five times with the Taser weapon. He died minutes later on the floor of the international arrivals area at the Vancouver International Airport Oct. 14, 2007.

The incident has dogged the RCMP since, especially following the release of a video shot by a bystander which clearly showed that Dziekanski was not combative and no warning was given before the weapon was deployed.

“Overall I found that the conduct of the responding members fell short of that expected of members of the RCMP,” wrote Kennedy in his report. Earlier this month, Kennedy’s contract as head of the commission, an oversight body, was not renewed.

“The members demonstrated no meaningful attempt to de-escalate the situation, nor did they approach the situation with a measured, coordinated and appropriate response,” he wrote.

The failure of the senior member to take control of the scene and communicate with the junior members negatively manifested itself, according to the commission’s findings.

In total, the commission made 23 findings and 16 recommendations. Among those findings were that the RCMP members involved had “considerable and significant discrepancies in the detail and accuracy of the recollection of the event.” One recommendation by the commission was a broad review of the effectiveness of the Conducted Energy Weapon’s (the Taser’s) quality assessment.

In a written response, RCMP commissioner William Elliott said that the RCMP have already taken “concrete action in relation to the death of Mr. Dziekanski and the events leading up to and following that terrible event.”

Those improvements, wrote Elliott, included changing the RCMP’s policies and training in relation to the use of the Tasers.

An RCMP investigation into the action of the four members led to a report to the provincial crown counsel, which had considered charges of manslaughter and assault. But the crown decided not to charge the RCMP officers because convictions were unlikely.

The senior officer in charge that night Dziekanski died made his own court appearance in a Vancouver suburb Tuesday morning after he was charged last week in an unrelated car accident, which led to the death of a motorcyclist. Corporal Monty Robinson was charged with obstructing justice after a decision was made there was not evidence to charge him with impaired driving causing death.

Key findings from the RCMP Commission:

— While they were in the lawful execution of their duties as police officers, the four officers failed to adopt a measured, coordinated and appropriate response to Mr. Dziekanski’s reported behaviour.

— The senior on-scene RCMP member failed to take charge of the RCMP’s response.

— No meaningful attempt was made to de-escalate the situation.

— No warning – visual or otherwise – was given to Mr. Dziekanski prior to him being Tasered by the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW).

— Use of the CEW against Mr. Dziekanski was premature and inappropriate.

— The CEW was used multiple times on Mr. Dziekanski without any significant effort made to determine the need for further use.

— The RCMP members present should have more actively provided first aid and monitored Mr. Dziekanki’s condition.

— The four RCMP members inappropriately met alone after the death of Mr. Dziekanski — prior to giving their statements.

— The versions of events given to investigators by the four RCMP officers involved in the Vancouver International Airport in-custody death of Robert Dziekanski are not deemed credible by the CPC.

— The senior on-scene RCMP member should not have been present at the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) briefing held at the Richmond Detachment on October 14, 2007.

— No bias or partiality toward the involved RCMP members was present in the IHIT investigation of the death of Mr. Dziekanski, but the Pritchard video should have been shown to the members before taking statements from them.

— The RCMP should have released certain information to the media which would have served to clarify information pertaining to the death of Mr. Dziekanski and corrected erroneous information previously provided without compromising the IHIT investigation.

Source | See also under Tasers: U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Death linked to ‘excited delirium’: coroner | US Cop Tasers and Arrests a 10-Year Old Girl For Throwing a Fit | RCMP defend Taser use on girl, 16 | Taser inquiry wraps up in Vancouver with legal squabbles | Canadian police adopt new TASER directive | PQ wants probe after Taser used on mentally challenged man | RCMP actions ‘gratuitous, ‘violent,’ BC needs own police lawyer tells inquiry | RCMP tests Tasers that record video | Braidwood inquiry reopens, RCMP bickers over preplanned TASER use | Merced police used TASER on unarmed, legless man in a wheelchair | UK: Police may be issued with new high-power Taser | TASER files court motion to quash Braidwood probe’s findings | Pregnant mother tasered at baptism party | TASER introduces 3-shot semiauto | Mounties have no choice but to comply with TASER ruling | Justice says changes needed in Taser use | US Lawsuit: Cops tasered 3 kids in shelter, threatened one with sodomy | Officer denies uttering sexual threat before lethal TASERing | Latest TASER victim looked ’scared’ as officer approached with knife | Safety Tests MIA for Taser’s Shocking New Shotgun | Mounties discussed Tasing Dziekanski prior to altercation | UK Police watchdog to investigate Taser arrest, beating posted on YouTube | Judge: B.C. taser probe can rule on Mountie misconduct issue | New video shows officer shove, then taser 72-year-old great grandmother | Mounties want to bar Taser inquiry from finding misconduct | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | RCMP halts use of malfunctioning Tasers after B.C. decision | Taser inquiry into Dziekanski’s death hears last witness | Dziekanski’s death following Taser jolts no coincidence: expert | Dziekanski ‘would not have died’ if spared Taser, expert tells inquiry | TASER’s medical expert says weapon didn’t cause Dziekanski’s death | RCMP didn’t tell pathologist Dziekanski suffered multiple TASER stuns, inquiry hears | RCMP spokesman told to hold off correcting false details of Dziekanski incident, inquiry hears | RCMP ’sorry’ for errors in taser briefings | MPs grill top Mountie on tasers | RCMP shocked 16 people five times or more last year | RCMP still uses Tasers too often, watchdog finds | RCMP credibility battered by TASER inquiry | Quebec orders police to turn in Tasers | RCMP softened Taser-use restrictions | RCMP supervising officer contradicts earlier testimony in Dziekanski inquiry | Boys, 15, Tasered by police, stats show | Toronto police used Tasers 367 times in 2008: statistics | Stun gun shock to head may cause seizures, doctors warn | TASER launches new headcam for police – with ‘privacy mode’ | TASERed immigrant ‘had the stapler open… he was in a combative stance’ | Dziekanski’s ‘combative behaviour’ justified Taser jolt: Mountie | Witness alters story but maintains Dziekanski attempted to staple RCMP | Airport refused help from Polish-speaking employee before Taser death | Dziekanski didn’t wield stapler before RCMP fired Taser, inquiry hears | Selkirk teen sues RCMP over stun gun allegations | Ban stun gun use on young people, Ontario child advocate urges | Emergency call taken out of context: airport Taser death witness | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | U.S. study raises more questions about TASER safety | Second phase of Taser inquiry begins in Vancouver | RCMP watchdog launches new Taser probe around deaths | Police forces withhold information on Taser use from public: audit | US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons | No charges to be laid against RCMP officers in airport Taser death | RCMP to face no charges in case of TASERed Polish immigrant: Report | Taser International disputes CBC/Radio-Canada testing as ‘flawed’ | Red Deer man shot by Taser had pre-existing heart condition: doctor | Cops Taser Drowned Dad’s Distraught Son | Amnesty urges moratorium on Taser use after CBC/Radio-Canada probe | Some tested Tasers fire stronger current than company says: CBC/Radio-Canada probe | RCMP Investigates, Clears Self of Wrongdoing in Case of TASERed Inuvik Girl | US Cops Tase 54 Year Old Woman For Sitting In Wrong Seat At Football Game | Prison service ices TASER pilot project | B.C. man dies after Taser used during Calgary arrest | Mountie involved in fatal crash was supervisor at time of airport Taser death | Drug abuser executed by TASER blasts – TASER toll stands at 25 | Mountie arrested in fatal crash present at airport Taser death | Inquiry into Vancouver airport Taser death put off 2nd time | Tasers being used for pain compliance during interrogation, suit alleges | Family sues police claiming Taser raid on autistic son in own bedroom | Naked Langley, B.C., robbery suspect dies after Taser jolt | Tasering of mom with baby ‘necessary’ in order to take child, police say | Brampton man is 23rd Canadian TASER death; police duly investigate themselves | RCMP didn’t study Taser use enough: Report | Probe into tasering of teenaged girl reopened | Police Taser and abuse suspect, lie on stand, man still convicted | RCMP should end use of Tasers: Zaccardelli | Police delay report on Taser until 2009 | Mounties pinned me down in cell and tasered me, Manitoba girl says | 21st Canadian TASER death occurs in Winnipeg alleyway | RCMP e-mails throw Dziekanski Taser probe into question, critics say | TASER bracelets considered for airline passengers | Taser use could put police under fire | Inquiry says ‘insidious’ TASERs being used as tool of convenience, should be reclassified, restricted under criminal code | Man dies in custody after Taser incident involving Ontario police | Ban Tasers if RCMP doesn’t curb use by year’s end: Commons committee | One-third of people shot by Taser need medical attention: probe | RCMP firing Tasers multiple times at subjects, probe reveals | U.S. jury shocks Taser, investors, with rare loss in court | Youth Worker Subjected to Warrantless Raid on Secret Evidence | Tasering violated suspect’s rights, judge rules | RCMP willing to change Taser policy, inquiry told | Tasers pose risk to heart, MDs testify | ‘Peel and Stick’ Tasers Electrify Riot Control | Canadian police have been brainwashed, Taser inquiry told | Mounties censor Taser report | Taser group’s chair to defend stun guns at public inquiry | RCMP release heavily censored incident report about Dziekanski | Inquiry examining Taser use, Dziekanski’s death begins Monday | Chicago study calls Taser’s safety claims into question | Tasers: the next generation | Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man | Officer injured in Taser demonstration

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 3:41 pm and is filed under accountability, militarization, police. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.