A Taser isn't always the answer

I'm getting more and more worried by the seeming willingness of some police forces to use a Taser on suspects at the drop of a hat - even when no violence is involved and there's no threat to the officer(s) concerned.




The latest example comes from Canada, where it's been revealed that transit police in Vancouver have been using tasers on freeriders - those who try to ride on public transport without paying for a ticket.

In one incident, a non-paying passenger was tasered after he held onto a railing on the SkyTrain platform and refused to let go.

"After several warnings to the subject to stop resisting arrest and the subject failing to comply with the officers' commands, the taser was deployed and the subject was taken into control," said the report provided by TransLink, the region's transit authority.

An internal review of the incident concluded that the action taken by transit police officers complied with the force's policy and was within guidelines "set out in the National Use of Force Model," the report said.

On another occasion, a passenger was tasered when he fled from police who found him without a payment receipt during a "fare blitz." This time, however, the passenger got away because, as recounted in the report, "the Taser was ineffective due to the subject's clothing and [he] escaped the custody of the officers."

Politicians and civil-liberties activists alike decried the use of tasers on individuals who were attempting merely to avoid paying a fine for not buying a ticket to ride.

"I think it's absolutely uncalled for, absolutely reprehensible, and the police should not be doing that," federal Liberal public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh said in Ottawa yesterday.

On the face of it, the use of tasers by transit police here is far outside guidelines that say they should be used only if someone is suicidal, violent or about to injure himself or someone else, Mr. Dosanjh said.

"Their current use is absolutely inappropriate," he said, adding that the latest revelations, coming after a storm of recent controversy over taser use by regular police forces across the country, have brought him close to calling for a moratorium on the powerful stun guns.

"This is the kind of example that would lead people like me, who have so far resisted asking for a moratorium, to actually call for that," he said.

Quite frankly, I couldn't agree more. I'm all in favor of Tasers being available to an officer as a less-lethal option in the escalation of force: but that's precisely what they are - less lethal weapons. They can cause or be a contributing factor in deaths, particularly in the presence of aggravating factors like drug use or heart disease, and in many cases are thought to have done so. They're intended for use when an officer has to subdue a resisting opponent, minimizing the risk of injury to law enforcement and suspect alike. However, to use them when there's no threat whatsoever to the officer(s) concerned is just plain stupid!

On top of that, the potential for misuse is very great. Readers may be familiar with allegations that deputies in a jail in Orange County, CA tasered a cat to death. This is only the latest of a growing number of such stories.

I'd like to encourage readers to keep a watchful eye on the use of these devices by law enforcement agencies in your area. They're a viable and valuable tool if properly used. However, if misused, the consequences can be devastating - and if they're used indiscriminately, who's to say that you or your loved ones might not end up in the line of fire?

Peter