RCMP Watch

Ottawa (Canadian Press) - The head of the RCMP has been stung lately by criticism about Tasers and now Commissioner William Elliott has been zapped by one of the electronic guns.

Elliott was willingly Tasered during a visit to Alberta, along with the province’s solicitor-general, Fred Lindsay, and an assistant.

Lindsay said it was Elliott’s idea to be shocked with the electronic gun after they watched a demonstration by an RCMP emergency response team on Thursday.

“I think it started with the commissioner, just in conversation, so it just proceeded from there,” Lindsay said Friday.

Elliott was the first to get the jolt, which burned a tiny hole in his shirt from the electric charge, said

Lindsay, who added he put a T-shirt on over his own shirt before he was zapped.

“My shirt survived and so did I.”

It wasn’t clear exactly where in the torso either man was hit.

A spokesman for the RCMP in Ottawa said Elliott would not be commenting on the experience. But Lindsay described his shock as one of the most painful experiences in his life.

“I remained standing up, but certainly was unable to do anything as far as moving. It freezes you to the spot,” he said.

“I couldn’t describe any experience that would be more painful than that. It’s pretty much over the whole body. Certainly afterwards, it’s a little bit warm in those two entry points.”

Lindsay said he was fine moments later, however.

“Within seconds, the pain is gone and you’re back to normal.”

Elliott told Liberal public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh during a Commons committee meeting in February that he had never been hit with a Taser - voluntarily or otherwise.

Neither had Dosanjh, who served as British Columbia attorney general when Tasers were introduced there.
On Friday, Dosanjh praised Elliott’s “courage” in taking a jolt from the weapon, but added that being Tasered when you’re being held up by two officers, relaxed and prepared for the jolt is very different from being zapped when you’re not expecting it, in an agitated state or on prescription or street drugs.

“The two situations aren’t comparable at all,” he said.

In April 2003, the RCMP issued an operational bulletin prohibiting use of the Taser on civilian volunteers for demonstration purposes.

However, the force has frequently turned the weapon on officers in training sessions.

At least one Mountie and several U.S. police officers have sued over injuries allegedly sustained during such instruction.

More than 300 people in North America, including 20 in Canada, have died after being Tasered.

Arizona-based manufacturer Taser International has vigorously defended its devices in several lawsuits and it stresses that the weapon has never been directly blamed for a death. It has, however, been cited repeatedly as a contributing factor.

The electronic guns are highly popular with police, who say they avoid injuries to suspects and officers and are certainly a better option than firearms.

Lindsay said the experience has not changed his belief that Tasers are an effective alternative to physical force to subdue someone behaving aggressively.

“Twenty years ago it was either brute force by the police officer or it would escalate to lethal force. So this is just a great alternative in my mind from my experience.”

Tasers are now the subject of several inquiries. The weapons came under intense scrutiny last fall with the public outrage that followed the release of amateur video of the death of Robert Dziekanski. The RCMP blasted the Polish immigrant with a Taser as he tried to find his mother last October at Vancouver International Airport.

An analysis by The Canadian Press of 563 Taser incidents reported by the RCMP between 2002 and 2005 revealed that more than three-quarters of suspects were unarmed.

The reports also suggested a pattern of use by the Mounties as a quick means to keep relatively low-risk prisoners, drunks and rowdy people in line. More recent reports released by the RCMP have been heavily censored to remove key details such as exact dates and injuries linked to the stun guns.
The deletions sparked an outcry from opposition MPs including Dosanjh, who called for disclosure of more information to better assess how the guns are used.

The latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal calls for more independent study of possible Taser health risks.