RCMP Watch

(Canadian Press) Vancouver, B.C. - Robert Dziekanski’s medical history, not potential skeletons in his past, was the focus of investigators who travelled to Poland to examine the background of the man who died after being jolted by an RCMP Taser, says the senior officer who led the overseas probe.

Dziekanski came to national attention last October when he was hit twice by a Taser after four police officers found him agitated and throwing computer equipment in the arrivals area of Vancouver airport.

Dziekanski’s mother, Zofia Cisowski, has said she’s outraged that a team of officers went to Poland to investigate her son.

Though he sympathizes with the grieving mother, RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout said the trip was not carried out to dig up dirt on her son.

“It’s in no way, as has been suggested, trying to point fingers at Robert Dziekanski,” said Rideout, who leads the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team, a unit which works jointly with both Vancouver police and RCMP in Metro Vancouver.

“As part of a complete and comprehensive investigation, we always look into the health and habits and days that preceded somebody’s departure to Canada. It’s a routine investigative process.”

On Friday, a Vancouver inquiry into the use of the Taser heard from the head of a company that plans to market a device to compete with the weapon.

Ken Stethem, founder and chairman of Ageis Industries, told the public inquiry that Taser International’s methodology was flawed in designing, developing and deploying the conducted energy weapons.

The chairman of Taser International, Tom Smith, will have a chance to respond to the accusations when he speaks to the inquiry on Monday.