RCMP Watch

(CanWest News Service) - Elected officials and Quebec activists are calling on the provincial government to put a moratorium on the use of Tasers by police officers. Taser use should be put on hold until a strict protocol is put in place to govern the weapons, supporters of a ban said yesterday at a news conference. The group included NDP Outremont MP Thomas Mulcair, Louise Harel, the Parti Quebecois critic for social services, and Warren Allmand, a former Liberal solicitor-general. Tasers fire 50,000 volts of electricity and are supposed to be used to pacify an aggressive person. However, several speakers said too often the devices are used before any other methods of suppression are attempted. “Tasers make for lazy police officers, not professional police officers,” said Marvin Rotrand, a Montreal city councillor. The group called on Quebec Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis to put together a committee to study the use of Tasers.