Canada: Some Edmonton police abandoning Tasers

Some Edmonton police officers have chosen not to carry Tasers because of the controversy the weapons attract, despite believing the devices are valuable tools. While testifying as a witness in a disciplinary hearing for two other officers, Const. Mike Wasylyshen said he has stopped carrying a Taser because of past criticisms.

In April 2004, Wasylyshen helped arrest a suspect after a lengthy car chase. While two other officers face disciplinary charges for using their Tasers that night, Wasylyshen chose not to use his.

"I had some bad luck with a Taser incident in 2002, to be honest," the officer said when asked why he didn't draw the Taser he had that night. "Using it would have been practical, it would have been justified. I just didn't utilize it. It would be a hassle for me to use it."

Wasylyshen said he has since turned in his Taser and has not requested another one.

In October 2002, Wasylyshen used a Taser to wake up Randy Fryingpan, 16, who was passed out in a car. The incident was heavily criticized and a judge later threw out a charge against Fryingpan.

Const. Darryl Fox, one of the officers facing a disciplinary charge for using excessive force, said he agrees with his fellow officers' opinions, even though he supports the Taser itself. It is the debate after its use that makes him wary.

"The Taser is an effective, life-saving tool that is beneficial to law-enforcement," Fox testified. "However, I concur with Const. Wasylyshen in that I will likely never carry one again."

The two officers are not alone. Others avoid carrying Tasers to eliminate possible public complaints or disciplinary hearings that can shadow an officer's career for years.

Det. Shawna Goodkey trained many current officers on Taser use and said Monday that other officers have made the same decision as Wasylyshen and Fox.

"There have been officers who don't want to carry a Taser because they don't want to be placed in a controversial situation," she testified.

Some officers believe that every time a Taser is pulled, rightly or wrongly, an internal investigation into their conduct could follow, Goodkey said.

Fox and Const. Ryan Sparreboom are currently facing charges of unnecessary force for an October 2004 incident in which each fired a Taser at Hector Jara, who was standing next to a car he had stolen. Jara has said he did not receive any major injury from the Taser strikes.

Last October, a national furor arose when Mounties used a Taser on Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who was upset and confused at the Vancouver airport. The incident was captured on video, and Dziekanski later died.

Last week, the Crown announced that the four RCMP officers involved will not be charged.

Since the EPS began using Tasers in 2001, four people have died after arrests that involved use of the weapon. In three of those, fatality inquiries determined the Taser did not directly contribute to the death. The fourth case is still under investigation.

Activists hold anti-Taser vigil after year of deaths

In Santa Rosa, Calif., residents are not happy with their local law enforcement.

After two men died by police wielding Tasers in the last two months and four more in the past year, a number of Sonoma County groups rallied about 40 people to protest the electro-shock weapon.

"Although it might seem like a lesser evil, they have been misusing it to such a degree that it has become lethal in this county," said Maggie Coshnear, a member of the county's October 22nd Coalition.

Sherry Heyberger, a 40-year-old hairdresser, stood on a curb during the rally holding a sign that read "Tasers are Torture."

Nathan Vaughn, the most recent victim of Taser use, was hit three times by a Taser less than two minutes after a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy entered his home.

Vaughn, 39, was assaulting his father and his mother had called police for help, but less than an hour after the deputy arrived, Vaughn was dead.

"He shouldn't have died the way he did," Heyberger said. "He's been in and out of jail, yeah, but does that call for someone being Tasered three times?"

Tasers have grown increasingly controversial as stories like Vaughn's continue to surface across the country.

In Houston, Texas, a naked man disturbing the neighborhood died after police shocked him with a Taser four times.

A recent report found that 400 people in the US and Canada have died from Taser shocks since 2001. Since the report was issued, Canada has begun removing the weapon from its police forces.

Taser stun gun kills California man

SAN FRANCISCO: A 26-year-old man died on Friday after police used a Taser stun gun to bring him under control, a local sheriff's office in California said.

The incident occurred in San Jose, 70 kilometres southwest of San Francisco, at a hospital where police were called to break up a fight.

In trying to subdue an alleged troublemaker described as "a 26-year-old Hispanic male resident of San Jose," police fired a Taser gun at him leaving him unconscious, the Santa Clara sheriff's office said in a statement.

"Deputies observed that the subject was unresponsive. CPR was started immediately by deputies and officers on-scene," it added.

The injured man was taken to a hospital emergency ward but died a few minutes later, the sheriff's department said.

"The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is conducting the primary investigation and it is being monitored by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office," it added.

Amnesty International said on Tuesday in a recent report that 334 people died in the United States between 2001 and August 2008 after being zapped with Tasers, with medical examiners and coroners concluding that Taser shocks caused, or contributed to, at least 50 of the deaths.

At the end of November, Amnesty criticised the British government's decision to equip police in England and Wales with 10,000 Tasers, following earlier trials. Regular British officers do not carry guns.

Last Friday, prosecutors in Canada opted not to press charges against four police officers seen on video jolting a Polish immigrant with a Taser in Vancouver airport in October 2007. The 40-year-old man died within minutes. - AFP/de

Amnesty urges moratorium on Taser use after CBC/Radio-Canada probe

Last Updated: Friday, December 5, 2008 | 5:34 AM ET Comments109Recommend41

CBC News

Human rights group Amnesty International is renewing its call for a moratorium on Taser use after recent tests commissioned by CBC News and Radio-Canada found some of the stun guns deliver a higher level of electricity than the manufacturer promises.

The tests, conducted by the U.S.-based lab National Technical Systems, used 41 X26 model Tasers from seven police departments in that country. Each weapon was fired six times.

Of the 41 Tasers tested, four delivered significantly more current than Taser International says is possible. In those cases, the current was up to 50 per cent stronger than specified on the devices.

The abnormal X26 model Tasers were made before 2005, prompting some scientists to suggest police should stop using any older versions of the stun guns until they can be tested.

The human rights group has said it believes police forces around the world have relied too heavily on the manufacturer's safety claims. It wants to see more independent tests.

"The fact that Tasers were firing above their specified limits then raises questions as to what of the thousands of Tasers that are out there across Canada and across the United States, how often are they misfiring," said Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.

TASER INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

"TASER International has reviewed the testing results from the National Technology Systems study various TASER X26 electronic control devices as provided by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The results from the testing are generally consistent with the specifications provided by TASER International and which would be expected from such tests.

TASER acknowledges that there are four data that appear to be outliers — instances where current increased as resistance increased, which would not be expected based on the laws of physics. TASER International intends to contact NTS to suggest that the tests be repeated to verify the results.

TASER International appreciates the continued interest in TASER technology, and sincerely hope that the CBC report will focus on the proven injury reductions law enforcement experience with this technology, rather than using engineering minutiae to confuse the viewer and create a false sense of controversy over a test that confirms the output of TASER X26's are consistent, and well below acceptable safety thresholds."

Arizona-based Taser International makes virtually all the stun guns in use today. They are intended to incapacitate people with an electric shock.

The RCMP says it pulled a random sample of some of the force's Tasers for testing, based on the results of the CBC News/Radio-Canada investigation.

A force communications official, Supt. Tim Cogan, informed CBC News late Thursday that preliminary test results showed the sample of Tasers operated within the manufacturer's specifications.

Pierre Savard, a biomedical engineer at the University of Montreal, designed the technical procedure for the CBC's testing, based on Taser International's specifications.

Savard told CBC News it is scientifically significant that 10 per cent of the Tasers fired in the tests delivered more current than they are supposed to do, especially since he believes no one is verifying the company's claims.

"I think it's important because Taser is not subjected to international standards," Savard said.

"When you use a cellphone, well, cellphones have to respect a set of standards … for the electric magnetic field that it emits. The Taser, well, nobody knows except Taser International."

Savard said the cause of the increased current could be either due to faulty quality control during the stun guns' manufacturing or electrical components that deteriorate with age.

The findings are troubling, since police officers are trained to aim a Taser at the chest, said Savard, who studies heart rhythms and how they are affected by electrical stimulation.

"When you combine an increased current intensity with a dart that falls right over the heart for somebody who has cardiovascular disease or other conditions such as using drugs, for example, it can all add up to a fatal issue," Savard said.

Need time to examine results, Taser says

For years, police forces across North America assured people that Tasers were safe.

Taser International has said its product is "safer than Tylenol."

Taser said that because of the time needed to analyze the test results and the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday Nov. 27, the company couldn't provide someone for an interview before CBC News made its results public.

However, Magne Nerheim, Taser's vice-president of research and development, sent a written response, acknowledging the CBC tests show four of the Tasers malfunctioned.

Nerheim called the malfunctioning an anomaly — one that could be explained if the weapons are not spark-tested on a regular basis.

Nerheim also suggested the testing be repeated to verify the results. He made no comment about the age of the Tasers and whether there could be an issue of reliability.

During the tests commissioned by CBC News and Radio-Canada, three Tasers didn't fire, even with charged battery packs. Those were set aside and not counted in the final results.

But a Taser that doesn't deploy could create a safety issue for a police officer, Savard said.

"When we are talking about Tasers that don't function, I think it is dangerous for the policeman who would try to use the Taser and the individual response can be aggressive," he said.

The CBC showed the results to several electrical engineers as a peer review of the analysis. They agreed that, at the very least, the Tasers made before 2005 should be withdrawn and not used again until they are tested and proved reliable.