Alberta Taser guidelines softer than RCMP recommendations
Alberta has issued new police guidelines on Tasers, but the changes appear timid compared to what's being recommended by a national agency that oversees the RCMP.
The RCMP public complaints commission issued a report this week that says the Mounties should curb the use of Tasers to the point where they're used only if there's a threat of death or serious injury.
But Alberta's new Taser policy, which takes effect immediately, allows police to usethe stun deviceswhen suspects resist being arrested or even threaten to resist arrest.
Lawyer Tom Engel, who has several clients who were zapped by police Tasers, says Alberta is sending the wrong message to police about the use of Tasers.
"I think the public is getting the impression, and rightly so, that officers are resorting to the use of Tasers in circumstances where it's not justified," Engel said.
Engel points to the case of Randy Fryingpan, who washit by a Tasersix times by Edmonton police in 2002. The judge in the case later stayed a minor charge against Fryingpan and accused police of cruel and unusual treatment.
Solicitor General Fred Lindsay is aware of the Fryingpan case and other public complaints about Taser use, but says he doesn't think police in Alberta are usingthedevicestoo often.
"Without a hard policy, then that's when you start getting these incidents where someone is Tasered 13 times and perhaps they should only have been Tasered four times," Lindsay said Thursday.
Lindsay says up until now, police forces across Alberta had a myriad of Taser policies. But he says all police in the province will now follow the new policy, including the RCMP.
Taser use has become a controversial topic across Canada in recent weeks after a deadly incident at the Vancouver airport.
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died Oct. 14 after he was stunned by a Taserand pinned to the floor by RCMP officers at the airport.
Dziekanski is recorded as the 18th person in Canada to die in recent years after being hit by a Taser. Amnesty International says at least 280 people have died since July 2001 in the United States.
But Taser International, makers of the device, stress that the devices have never been directly blamed for a death.