tasers
Since the story of Robert Dziekanski’s execution at the hands of the RCMP broke in 2007, TASERs have become a potent symbol of police militarization. To date, however, Canadians have yet to effectively question the wider issue of the motives and consequences of the powerful economic and political lobbies pushing to create markets for devices such as TASER International’s pain compliance weapon. Like something from a dystopian nightmare, the TASER skews relations between citizens and police by normalizing torture – many examples exist of multiple TASER deployment against the passively resistant and those who’ve merely spoken back to police – and the Scottsdale, Arizona manufacturer helps twist our former ‘peace officers’ into enforcers by promoting the use of electrocution as a safe and consequence-free alternative to the use of negotiation or physical restraint. Despite multiple studies demonstrating the dangers of the TASER, TASER International’s storied litigiousness, propaganda, and sponsorship of police events has effectively neutered dissent on both sides of the thin blue line, and the use of TASERs continues to accelerate, a trend symptomatic of the ongoing shift in western culture towards a closed society.
Smoking Guns — Suggested Reading
Police TASER Grandmother in Bed
RCMP defend Taser use on girl, 16
Mounties discussed Tasing Dziekanski prior to altercation
Chicago study calls Taser’s safety claims into question
Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man
Officer injured in Taser demonstration
Archive (Most recent headlines first)
2010
Collingwood man dies after being tasered by police in group home | Police TASER Grandmother in Bed | Special prosecutor named as inquiry blasts ’shameful’ Dziekanski Tasering | RCMP wrong to use Taser on Dziekanski: final Braidwood report | RCMP unveil new stun gun rules: Verbal warning, imminent harm required | Taser International allowed to challenge Braidwood report | Toronto police disclose Tasers often used on mentally ill | Taser International challenge should be dismissed, B.C. government argues | Taser use by Montreal police focus of hearings | RCMP gives cash settlement to Taser victim’s mother | Cop Cleared By Grand Jury For Tasering Great Grandmother During Speeding Stop | Officers suspended after using Taser on 10-year-old | Ontario report rewrites stun gun rules, somewhat | UK: Police Taser use ‘doubled’ in third quarter of 2009 | Ontario stun gun review complete: report | Chicago police expanding Taser use | RCMP to test Taser cameras | RCMP plans dramatic changes to Taser policy | Regina police probe RCMP torture claims
2009
Taser inquiry can rule on RCMP misconduct | U.S. ruling limits how police can use Tasers | RCMP had no grounds to use Taser on N.W.T. girl: report | Scathing report concludes RCMP used TASERs prematurely in Vancouver airport death | 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’ | All officers need Tasers, police associations say | 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
2008
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
2007
Tasers: the next generation | Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man | Officer injured in Taser demonstration
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