New Democrats Call for Taser Moratorium

Friday, November 16, 2007 05:54 PM

New Democrat Leader Carole James is calling for a review on the use of tasers, including a temporary moratorium, by law enforcement officials to ensure public confidence and protect lives.

"All British Columbians were shocked and saddened to see the video footage of Robert Dziekanski's death," said James. "Unfortunately this
is not the first death in Canada caused by Tasers. There have been 17
across the country. The public is looking to government and law
enforcement officials for leadership to ensure this does not happen
again. Today, I am calling for an immediate and swift review of the use
of Tasers by officials. And until that review is done, there should be a
temporary moratorium."

The Newfoundland Constabulary has suspended the use of Tasers in response to the incident at YVR. James said and British Columbia should follow suit.

"The video footage has shaken many British Columbians and they want
assurance that it this type of tragedy will not happen again," said
James. "Tasers are a weapon meant to be used as a last resort. In this
case, there are enough unanswered questions to take serious measures to
protect the public. We must also ensure police have the proper training,
so that they have the confidence to use and apply these tools in the
protection of themselves and the public. We must all work together to
learn and move on from this tragedy.

"A review will not only provide clarity and confidence to the public, it
will also give police the certainty they need about the training and
application of this tool."

In addition to the review and temporary ban, James repeated the NDP's
call for an immediate investigation into this tragedy that is entirely
independent of government and the RCMP.

The Chiefs of Police Association in Canada has also called for a review on Tasers.

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Posted on Friday, November 16, 2007 05:54 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on November 16 2007 6:03 PM

"New Democrat Leader Carole James is calling for a review on .." whatever the flavour of the day is.

Yawn.

Posted by: Raparee on November 16 2007 6:15 PM

... the very definition of "knee-jerk response".

Posted by: owl on November 16 2007 6:21 PM

"The Chiefs of Police Association in Canada has also called for a review on Tasers."

NEWS FLASH!~!! CPAC is going NDP!!!

;-)

Posted by: owl on November 16 2007 6:23 PM

Na ... I doubt that the CPAC position is knee-jerk .... they know when they are being screwed with by being handed an unsafe instrument ....

;-)

Posted by: dgdiggler on November 16 2007 6:28 PM

Yeah, leave it up to those looser NDP'ers. I bet she thinks she'll get more votes by jumping on the bandwagon. NOT.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 16 2007 6:31 PM

Carole James can holler all she wants,but when was the last time anybody actually listened to her?
Once again,I hear the sound of a wounded duck farting in shallow water!

Posted by: RUEZ on November 16 2007 6:49 PM

It may be a knee jerk reaction, but in this case it's fully warranted. How many deaths by taser do we need before we review their indescriminate use?

Posted by: Truth on November 16 2007 6:49 PM

Let's look at the NDP triumvirate. Carol James is married to a cop. Jenny Kwan and Mike Farnworth have criminology backgrounds. Kwan is my MLA, and in correspondence she has proven hostile to police critics. Why? Criminologists study with cops. She is a pathological baton worshipper. Farnworth has blasted federal NDP members who won't jump hoops for Harper. Who the hell is he? Why do elected opposition members bow down before that bully? Did anyone else see his fake crying on the taser issue, on live TV? The NDP needs a populist revolution, to boot out the socred infestation of their party.

Posted by: Chadermando on November 16 2007 7:07 PM

I don't like the NDP, but the tazer issue will be one of the top three issues for me in deciding what local politician I will be voting for in municipal, provincial, and federal elections.

If a politician supports the tazer I will not vote for that person no matter what the other issues they champion that I support. If they all support the tazer I will not vote.

I plan to ask all politicians what their firm position is on this come election time.

I will say that Stockwell Day will not get my support in the future as he did in the past. Its over for him, and his party is now on ever thinner ice unless they are willing to protect Canadian citizens from the tazer.

Posted by: Death to Socialism on November 16 2007 7:16 PM

Why even report the drivel that comes out of these idiots pie-holes. Any moron can pander to the flavor of the week.

Posted by: Raparee on November 16 2007 7:19 PM

"Cincinnati PD reported in July 2004, that in the first six months of that year, that
there have been �over 300 deployments of the TASER�. Arrest related injuries to
officers have dropped 70%. Suspect injuries have dropped 40% and the use of
force by other traditional means has dropped 50%. The number of citizen
complaints arising from the use of force by officers has seen a similar reduction."
(http://www.cprc.org/tr/tr-2006-01.pdf)

The NDP has no problem advocating a policy that might see a 70% increase in officer injuries or a possible 40% increase in suspect injuries? Well then, I refuse to support a party or representative (federal, provincial or local) that shows such disregard for the law enforcement officers that protect our communities, or the people that they arrest.

Posted by: Palopu on November 16 2007 8:07 PM

Ruez Chandermando have it right. Raparee shud consider the source of his information, also this is now 2007.

This Tazer incident is no laughing matter, and anyone who thinks it is not a serious problem that needs addressing is a fool and a knave.

I think it would be a fair statement to say that there are probably thousands of taserings that take place every month in Canada that never get reported, and therefore never get into the statistics.

This issue is now about the Police Forces in Canada, how they are trained, and how capable they are to keep the peace without resorting to the same kind of violence that the criminal element resorts to.

Canadians have to be reassured that they can walk the streets of this Country and be safe from both the Criminal element, and from the Police Force.

Most of you will remember that approx one year ago a 70 year old man was tasered beside the jail below the airport, because he refused to answer questions and raised his fists. This man was a resident of Prince George all his life and was no stranger to the RCMP. With a large number of Police present they could have easily subdued him, however they chose the Taser, and therin lies the problem.

Ever notice that our Mayor and illustrious Council never seem to make any comments on these types of issues. You would think that they are unaware that the RCMP in the City of Prince George are paid by the taxpayers of Prince George, and get direction on Policing matters from the City. Perhaps the Mayor, as Chief Magistrate should approach the RCMP with a view to restrict the use of tasers in the City.

Bad Policing is like bad pollution,if it is having a detrimental effect on Citizens of this City then the Mayor and Council have a duty to deal with it.

Posted by: camoose on November 16 2007 9:30 PM

This issue should not be a political football. A man has lost his life and the RCMP and Canada are getting a black eye. An independant equiry is needed. I haven't heard a whole lot of comments by any politician, be it federal, provincial or municipal. In closing, I have a bunch of carseats paid for by the taxpayers of BC. Would it be possible to set up a photo op for me to present them to the needy.?

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 16 2007 10:54 PM

You are right on camoose,there has been very little from the politicians.
The silence from them is deafening...
But then,this is the kind of scenario they all hate because they do not want to have to take a position that they may have to defend at some point!
A very sad state of affairs!!!

Posted by: Chester on November 17 2007 12:14 AM

We all have to take responsibity for the state of affairs our country is in. Drugs are the biggest threat and concern to our enforcement officers. They are always dealing with unpredictable and potentially dangerous people. I wouldn't want their job. If they didn't have tazers, they would have to resort to guns as their last resort. So, take your pick. It's unfortunate that dying is always a risk with any type of intervention. I know officers who are 20 years old and weigh 165 lbs. Don't tell me they have the courage, the skill, the experience and the strength to take down most of these uncontrollable, unreasonable threats to our safety. I would really like to see all of the vocal critics accompany an officer for a week or two to see if they would come home with the same critical opinions they seem so eager to post here. You really don't know what it's like until you walk in their shoes. Chester

Posted by: Chadermando on November 17 2007 1:20 AM

What happens when a Canadian on holiday gets snuffed out with a tazer in a foreign country and they say tough luck our (foreign country) policies and standards are no different then yours....

Would we then be hypocrites and require a double standard? Or would we just accept nefarious tazer kills as a normal part of police business when misunderstood in a foreign country?

I would hope our government would hold foreign governments to a higher standard then what we saw in Vancouver.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on November 17 2007 10:04 AM

A death by taser in a foreign country would simply be a media frenzy, like sharks in bloody waters.

I don't have much respect for the media reporters I see on TV. Those people seem to have trouble providing unbiased news, probably because of their heavy left foot. Don't know why there aren't any strongly conservative reporters anymore. It's like they all died in the early 1960's.

Posted by: thereasonableman on November 17 2007 2:55 PM

NDP ?

Who are they, a radical political group ?

An academy award for Mike, I haven't seen a performance like that since Campbell got busted for impaired.

Posted by: thereasonableman on November 17 2007 3:29 PM

His fortune teller must have told him that he has already lost the next election.

Highly unprofessional, and does nothing to further the pursuit of the goal to find facts and deal with the situation in an intelligent manner. A real leader would have acted otherwise.