CPC Launches Investigation Into Tasering

Thursday, April 14, 2011 04:50 PM

Prince George, B.C. - The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has initiated a complaint into the conduct of Prince George RCMP members involved in the tasering of an 11-year-old Aboriginal boy in Prince George.

Prince George RCMP say the young boy was a suspect in a stabbing incident that occurred last Thursday evening. A 37-year-old man was treated in hospital for non life-threatening injuries. As per RCMP policy, an external, independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tasering is being handled by the West Vancouver Police Department.

Now, Interim Chair, Ian McPhail, has announced the CPC will conduct its own investigation, which will also address the adequacy of the actions taken by the RCMP in response to the incident.

The Chair-initiated complaint will look at RCMP member conduct related to this case and whether it complied with policies, procedures, training and statutory requirements related to the use of force.

The Commission had been monitoring the case since the incident occurred and felt it necessary to initiate its own complaint at this time. The Commission has done extensive work on RCMP taser use over the past few years–including individual high-profile investigations and reviews of Force-wide use. Many of the Commission's recommendations have been adopted by the RCMP, culminating in a new RCMP taser use policy which was announced in April 2010.

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Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2011 04:50 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: supertech on April 14 2011 8:47 PM

So what was the new policy announced in 2010? Has it done any good at all or is it just a "feel good" policy.

Posted by: NoSeverance on April 14 2011 10:10 PM

The new policy is use it if you need to no matter what.

Posted by: gus on April 14 2011 10:27 PM

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/RCMP+Taser+drops+mentally+remain+more+frequent+targets/3198935/story.html

According to the almost year old article, use of the Taser by RCMP members in B.C. dropped by nearly half last year, but officers there are slightly more likely to use the weapon against young people than those elsewhere in the country, according to a new report by the force's independent watchdog.

The watchdog says Taser use involving youths was "proportionately more likely" in B.C., though such cases are still rare.

The report notes that officers are Tasering those with mental-health problems "significantly" more than non-mental-health cases for the fourth straight year -- a statistic that is "worrisome" to the RCMP watchdog.

The most recent change was in May when it was determined Tasers should only be fired when a suspect is causing "bodily harm" or is about to do so.

The RCMP also changed its rules in June 2009 so that police could no longer use the weapon on suspects who did not cooperate.

The revised policy dictated that there must be a threat to the public or the police.

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So we can readily see why the Commission launched the separate inverstigation so quickly.

Posted by: Surefire on April 15 2011 11:00 AM

I have worked with the disabled for a number of years and there was a couple of individuals that were extra agressive. Wde had to have the knives put in a safe place and we had to keep the individuals from hurting eachother or themselves. I was given restraint training, but that only goes so far to help the care giver. The rest is up to the care giver who usually has to work alone. Usually the kind of restraint that was the most effective was found to be incorrect by management. If there is damage done to the property orf if the individual is injured the care giver is either disiplined or found to be at fault. So that being said it's plain to see that management often doesn't back back up the care giver.

Posted by: lmorge on April 15 2011 1:22 PM

"The Chair-initiated complaint will look at RCMP member conduct related to this case and whether it complied with policies, procedures, training and statutory requirements related to the use of force."

Which is basically what the police from west vancouver police dept are doing already.

What a repetitive waste of money investigation, especially from a commission who has no authority.