Another Canadian Taser related death?

I’m beginning to experience some “taser fatigue” from following this, but… 

Various news sources have been reporting on an incident in Nova Scotia that saw a man die in police custody 30 hours after being tasered.  Howard Hyde was tasered after struggling with police during his booking.  Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, Hyde struggled with officers and jumped a counter before being tasered.

As my prior posts here, here, and here show, the frequency of these incidents is increasing (the “Perfect Storm” of taser-related incidents?) and is giving police forces and government officials fits as they struggle with how to deal with this.  And don’t fool yourself - I’m sure the people at TASER Intl. are cooking up some wicked propaganda on this issue, as well.

What remains to be seen is if police forces across Canada will continue to unequivocally back the use of Taser’s, or if some meaningful debate and regulations will emerge.

TASER-RELATED DEATHS IN CANADA

Amnesty International says 17 people have died in Canada since 2001 after stun-guns were used by police. Besides the death Thursday of Howard Hyde, 45, in Dartmouth, N.S., the case of Claudio Castagnetta, 32, is also being reviewed. Castagnetta died in Quebec on Sept. 20 two days after being hit with a Taser.

2007

Robert Dziekanski, 40, in the Vancouver Airport in October.

Quilem Registre, 39, in Montreal after being stopped by police on suspicion of drunk driving, also in October.

2006

Jason Dean, 28, in Red Deer while running from police in August. 2005

Alesandro Fiacco, 33, in Edmonton, arrested while wandering into traffic in December.

James Foldi, 39, of Beamsville, Ont. while being arrested for breaking and entering in July.

Paul Sheldon Saulnier, 42, while being restrained by police in Digby, N.S. in July.

Gurmeet Sandhu, 41, of Surrey, B.C., while being restrained during a domestic dispute in June.

Kevin Geldart, 34, in Moncton, N.B. in May during an altercation with police in a bar.

2004

Samuel Truscott, 43, of Kingston, Ont. was Tasered by police during arrest. His death was ruled a drug overdose. Jerry Knight, 29, a semi-pro boxer was Tasered by police at a Mississauga motel in July after complaints he had become violent.

Robert Bagnell, 54, while in custody of the Vancouver police in June. He had cocaine in his system.

Peter Lamonday, 33, while being restrained by police in London, Ont. in May.

Roman Andreichikov, 25, high on cocaine and being restrained by Vancouver police also in May.

Perry Ronald, 28, while being restrained by Edmonton police after jumping from a window in March.

2003

Clark Whitehouse, 34, tried to flee the Whitehorse RCMP after being stopped in traffic in September.

Clayton Alvin Willey, 33, of Prince George was also high on cocaine when Tasered by police while trespassing in July.

Terry Hanna, 51, was Tasered by Burnaby RCMP in April during a break-and-enter. Cocaine was also involved.

Off-duty Police Officers Shoot and Kill 17-year-old in D.C.

Here’s an interesting tie-in to my earlier post on the “ShotSpotter” that was being set up in Boston.

Apparently, Washingon D.C. has also rolled one out a while ago, and it is playing a part in the recent shooting death of a 17-year-old by two off duty police officers.

At first glance this seems very cut and dry: officers a pursuing a robbery suspect are fired upon and return fire, killing the suspect.  This, however, doesn’t appear to be the case.  Apparently these two officers were off duty when they discovered that one of their motorbikes was stolen.  So, they do what any good cop would do - they go vigilante.  After driving around the neigbourhood they eventually spot  DeOnte Rawlings.  After giving chase, the officers claim they were fired upon, after which they climbed out of their SUV and shot Rawlings.

There are three unsettling things here.  First, the officers were off duty, out of uniform, and acting on their own.  Second, no gun has been recovered, although according to ShotSpotter .45 caliber was fired.  And third, the officers NEVER IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS POLICE.  So, all this guy knew was that he was being chased by two guys in a SUV.

Futhermore, the police are relying on the evidence of ShotSpotter and its anlysts, none of which is allowable as evidence, nor is there any public oversight of this private organization.

Just some more food for thought for everyone who feels like the police can never do any wrong.  Check out the article here.

2nd Canadian Taser Death in One Week

UPDATE: You can view a new post on this topic and the video here.

UPDATE: This post has been garnering lots of interest, so I thought I’d move it up to the top again and provide a link to a story from the Edmonton Journal.  Another “cop said/tasered guy said” case.  This time someone is tasered for jaywalking and getting a little uppity.  Apparently, “Have you ever heard of a crosswalk?” is Edmonton Police code for “You are breaking the law and I will taser you if you don’t stop walking.”

So, as usual, Jimsey is ahead of the curve on the news. Check out his post on Taser’s from Oct. 9th.

Now, in the span of one week, two people have died as a result of being tasered. One man at Vancouver’s airport died shortly after being tasered by police. Vancouver Police continue to maintain that his death was in no way related to the two blasts from a police Taser.

While police are working hard to deduce what possibly could have killed the man in Vancouver, Montreal Police are now linked to the death of Quilem Registre. Quilem was apparently stopped by police, was unarmed, but must have been enough of a threat that police felt the need to shock him not once, not twice, but SIX times. Yes, that’s approximately 300,000 volts the police felt was required to subdue this man. I think 300,000 volts would stop an elephant, let alone a man.

There are two very revealing statements that came out of this most recent death:

1. “If you don’t have that Taser gun, you’re going to have to use your handgun,” said the Quebec municipal police federation’s president Denis Cote.
2. When the issue of a possible lawsuit was raised, here is what Taser V.P. Steve Tuttle had to say:
   • “We’re 59 and 0 in court. That’s a great record right there because we can get rid of the junk science in a courtroom setting,” Steve Tuttle, vice-president of TASER International Inc. told CTV Newsnet.

There are a couple of things that spring to mind immediately. First, the only option for Quebec police to subdue a person beside the Taser is to shoot them? Remind me not to steal any poutine the next time I’m in Montreal.

Also, that V.P. sounds like a giant ass. You know, the kind who’s mother even wants to take a tire-iron to his head. And junk science? How much money do you think Taser has poured into various “research” projects in order to establish that there is no connection between these and the 14 other deaths and the use of a Taser in the last 5 years?

Is anyone else prepared to get a little pissed about this?

Police use of Tasers causes few injuries?

Article

“Two who were shocked with the weapon died, but the researchers said investigations and autopsies determined the deaths to have been unrelated to the Taser.”

I’m not a doctor, but are you are telling me that, if these people had not been shocked by the taser, they would have died at exactly the same moment in time?

In terms of sheer numbers (and w/o really thinking, Ben doesn’t pay me enough to think), I believe in the use of tasers where situations merit. Clearly its better than opening fire, or at the very least removing ones gun from the holster. But that’s not to say, that if a Cop uses a taser, he would have used a firearm given he wasn’t equipped with a taser.

All this talk of tasers has got me hungry, time to go shock me up some dinner

Police go on shooting spree across Boston

Okay, okay, maybe I’m using sensationalist headlines to grab attention.  In any case, it appears that Boston Police have installed and are calibrating an acoustic gunshot detection system, dubbed “Shotspotter“.  Apparently the system can detect the exact time and location of gunfire and relay it to police within seconds.

Two thoughts: 1) I see the safety and crime deterrence benefits, and 2) does this really creep anyone else out?

I mean, I’ve slowly gotten used to CCTV cameras everywhere, which I guess is even more invasive than this, but it doesn’t seem like a huge leap to go from acoustic gunshout detection to acoustic detection in general.