Tasers are in the news again. Ontario has announced rule changes for the use of the device and the RCMP will offer a second apology along with compensation to the mother of Robert Dziekanski. Nothing can compensate the family of Mr. Dziekanski and no apology will return a son to a mother. All we can do is learn from that tragic night at Vancouver Airport.
So what have we learned? If the recent report to the Ontario government is any indication, not much. The report recommends stricter limits on use against ‘vulnerable groups’ such as pregnant women and children. How I wish Cheech and Chong were still together. I can hear a rewrite of their famous emergency room sketch where the attendants at the desk are betting whether the old geezer will make it to reception or croak along the way.
Image if you will:
Cheech: Oh wow! That poncho is really ripe. She’s gonna pop any second. I bet I give her two zaps and that bambino will shoot right out the cruiser.
Chong: No way man! I bet she’ll take three zaps without even dilating.
And now a word from our sponsor:
Ed McMahon: Women are you tired of your pregnancy? Is that little bugger just refusing to come out? Well President’s Choice Baby Zap is just the thing for you. Just place the Baby Zap firmly on your stomach and crank that trigger. Voila! Instant motherhood. Recommended by police wives everywhere.
Why do we pay thousands of dollars for morons to state the obvious? Of course it is not really the obvious. The obvious would be don’t use this on pregnant women at all. If you feel threatened by a bloated human being who needs help to get up out of a chair perhaps policing is not your vocation and you might want to rethink your career choice. Or perhaps it is a reflection of police intelligence that they need everything spelled out for them. ‘Duh, I wonder what’ll happen if I zap her?’ Beyond this little gem of reasoning the bottom line is business as usual for Ontario police and tasers. The only other big recommendation is to discuss expanding their use to all uniformed officers.
Once again police justify the deployment of tasers as less lethal alternative to guns therefore saving lives. Twenty or more people have died from taser attacks by police across Canada. I would be curious to see, in say the decade prior to the introduction of tasers to Canadian police agencies, how many people were fatally shot by police. I have been searching for that information on Statistics Canada but if it’s there they aren’t making it easy to find. I do know that there are many officers who retire without ever having fired their gun in the line of duty. The taser has been deployed much more liberally. I would also like to know how many people have been killed by police using pepper spray or the baton. In the same breath as saying tasers are less lethal than guns police agencies assert that the taser was never meant as an alternative to the gun but as an alternative to these choices. Double talk like this by those charged with our safety should make us pause. Ask yourself this simple question. If Rodney King had been zapped with tasers instead of beaten with batons do you really think he would have lived to tell about it?
But our politicians are right on the ball. The Minister of Community Safety is quoted in the Globe and Mail saying:
We’re enhancing Ontario’s position with regards to its measured approach by introducing a very, very significant guideline (that’s) very very prescriptive
Oh that makes me feel so much better to know a genius like you is very, very on top of this.
