- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 410
The recent fatal incident at Vancouver Airport has certainly ignited some controversy about the use of the taser by Cdn LEAs, not to mention about the details of the incident itself. We seem to be seeing a division into two camps: those questioning the use of the taser and calling for inquiry, further restrictions, banning, etc; and those (mostly on the LEA side) standing up for continued use.
In the midst of all this, the Chief of the Kingston Police Service has come out with a very interesting public commentary that recently appeared in the Whig-Standard. The KPS has around twenty tasers, but they can only be deployed by the tactical teams or by supervisors. One individual has died after being tasered by the KPS, although the death was eventually attributed to other causes. Be careful not to dismiss the KPS as a "hick-town po-leese dee-part-mint" that has nothing to do: there are seven federal penitentiaries in or near the city, a considerable undesirable and s***t bird population in certain areas, and an active drug world. Kingston is very far from its red brick and limestone tourism image, let me assure you, and its police officers are not chasing stray cows.
Anyway, the Chief strongly suggests that there is disinformation being circulated about the taser. He seems to point the finger at the manufacturers and some LEAs. His points are:
a) there is not much "candidness" (his word) about how often and how tasers are used, so that its use is misunderstood; and
b) the taser is perhaps not being used as a "deescalation" of force at all: instead it is being used unnecessarily, when lesser force such as spray, sticks, or restraining holds might have been used. The Chief suggests that there is a false representation that tasers are used instead of firearms (i.e. as risk reduction) when in fact in many taser incidents firearms normally never would have been drawn, and other lesser methods with much less risks would have been used.
I'd be interested in knowing what our LEA members (Zipperhead Cop, etc) think about this.
Cheers
In the midst of all this, the Chief of the Kingston Police Service has come out with a very interesting public commentary that recently appeared in the Whig-Standard. The KPS has around twenty tasers, but they can only be deployed by the tactical teams or by supervisors. One individual has died after being tasered by the KPS, although the death was eventually attributed to other causes. Be careful not to dismiss the KPS as a "hick-town po-leese dee-part-mint" that has nothing to do: there are seven federal penitentiaries in or near the city, a considerable undesirable and s***t bird population in certain areas, and an active drug world. Kingston is very far from its red brick and limestone tourism image, let me assure you, and its police officers are not chasing stray cows.
Anyway, the Chief strongly suggests that there is disinformation being circulated about the taser. He seems to point the finger at the manufacturers and some LEAs. His points are:
a) there is not much "candidness" (his word) about how often and how tasers are used, so that its use is misunderstood; and
b) the taser is perhaps not being used as a "deescalation" of force at all: instead it is being used unnecessarily, when lesser force such as spray, sticks, or restraining holds might have been used. The Chief suggests that there is a false representation that tasers are used instead of firearms (i.e. as risk reduction) when in fact in many taser incidents firearms normally never would have been drawn, and other lesser methods with much less risks would have been used.
I'd be interested in knowing what our LEA members (Zipperhead Cop, etc) think about this.
Cheers
