Special Committee Established to Check on Implementation of Braidwood CEW Recommendations
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 @ 3:37 PM
Prince George, B.C.- An all party committee of the Legislature has been formed to see if the recommendations from the Braidwood Commission on the use of conducted energy weapons have been adopted.
The Committee will also audit randomly selected police complaints to gauge the effectiveness of the police complaint process.
In fact, setting up this committee, satisfies recommendation number 18 of the 19 recommendations made by Justice Braidwood in his report “"Restoring Public Confidence: Restricting the Use of Conducted Energy Weapons". That recommendation is as follows:
that the Police Act be amended to require that a special committee of the Legislative Assembly, or an individual appointed by the Legislative Assembly, begin a comprehensive review of conducted energy weapons within three years after this Report is made public and submit to the Legislative Assembly, within one year after beginning the review, a report that includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
• the extent to which the recommendations contained in this Report have been implemented;
• new information about the medical risks associated with the use of conducted energy weapons, including new models of weapons that have become available since this Report was written; and
• recommendations relating to the circumstances in which it is appropriate to use conducted energy weapons, and to training of officers in the use of such weapons.
While the Committee will be holding public hearings on the 22nd and 23rd of October, the location for those hearings has not yet been determined.
The Committee’s first work will involve being briefed by experts on the status of implementation of the Braidwood recommendations and the latest scientific research on conducted energy weapon use.
Murray Coell is chairing the committee “"Over the next month, we will consult with the public to review how effectively the recommendations have been implemented throughout the province."
Coell says his committee will invite public input and key stakeholders to develop recommendations.
Public participation includes the opportunity to attend a public hearing or making a submission that could be written, or a video or audio file. The deadline for public input is November 2nd.
Details on making a submission areavailable here.
Comments
It’s about time and well worth the wait, I hope this will limit and or put more restrictions on the use of Tazers by law enforcement personnel. In recent the media has been bring forward numerous incidents where the use of “non-lethal force” have been used. In some cases the use of such force was unnecessary given the nature of the situation.
Is it a case of improper training, or maybe immature members* (lacking life experience) that lead to the use of these devices before having a clear picture of the situation to validate the use. Needless to say this will be worth watching to see what the outcome will be.
No Tazers will mean more Pineview incidents.
Hey there Perfessional, I take it from yer post you’ve never been on the front lines and had to make a decision in the split second it might take, gun or taser.
The CEW has saved countless lives, and No Way, yer right.
One has to wonder how the RCMP, and other Police forces managed to police the Country for 100 years or more before the use of Tazers.
During that period there were less people shot, and certainly none tazered. There were on occasions people with a sore head, because they ran into the wrong end of a billy club.
It seems that the number of people shot and tazered by Police has taken a huge increase in the past 20/25 years. Why is that?.
Dont use drugs as an excuse, because people have been using drugs since the 1930’s. It was big business in the 40’s and 50’s.
Look up some of the books written back then (fiction) but based on facts.
1. Monkey on my back.
2. The Golden Needle
3. A stone for Danny Fisher
Just to name a few.
Drinking and drugging is not new. The accelerated rate of people being shot by police is new.
Slim2229, I am sorry to have to correct you, but I have in fact been on the front line. The option to shoot or tazer were not options. Clear thinking and the ability to defend yourself should the need arise were the only options available. I spend many years in the private security industry dealing with all forms of situations from event crowd control, executive security as well as physical plant protection, aviation security to name a few.
Shooting and tazering are not options, common sense and working closely with fellow members in situations to come up with a peaceful resolution is the only option available. The current situation is not acceptable, shooting or tazering when taking a little more time to defuse a situation before having to resort to these options has been the method used by many police forces for years. England still has unarmed Bobbies working the beat and the only equipment available to them is the nightstick and radio for backup.
I think the problem is a matter of training and adrenaline for too many of our younger members joining the force. They donât get the mentoring they need from older more seasoned members to assess a situation correctly before acting. Case in point the young lad that was shot in the police station over an under age drinking rap. That was a protocol issue due to improper staffing at the station.
Look at some of the members, they donât look like police officers, they look like wild west gunslingers when they get out of their car on a call. Fact is they look ridiculous packing all that needless hardware. They have so much crap strapped to them they cant move properly. What kind of message is that sending to the public? The use of tazers should be only when the situation has degraded to a point that the use of lethal force is being considered. Seriously tazering someone armed with a folding paper stapler, which is clearly not a âlethal weaponâ is not a correct approach to the situation.
Itâs not so much as when these weapons are being used, more over who is using it and why, does the situation clearly require the use of a weapon that clearly has the ability if used incorrectly, to injury or event kill if deployed in the wrong manner.
Well shucks, Professional,I’ve been there done that too. And I agree, that when a 5 year Cpl. is training you, unless he has had some serious experience and knows how to “talk to people”, there’s not much there. And yes, the younger set doesn’t have enough life experience to do his job properly. And yes, Monty screwed up big time. Training is all about control first, talk second which is sad. But, I’d rather be tasered than shot. There is a use for it, just wish some would get it right. Got a funny feeling it boils down to on the job injuries and down time for same.
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