RCMP Watch

Andrew Mayeda (Ottawa Citizen) - The chairman of Taser International assured a parliamentary committee Wednesday Tasers are not lethal, but opposition MPs questioned whether the electronic devices are as safe as advertised.

Since 2001, nearly 300 people in North America have died after being Tasered, including at least 16 in Canada, according to human-rights group Amnesty International.

But in testimony before the Commons public-safety committee, Taser chairman Tom Smith said there was no conclusive evidence any of those deaths have been caused by the use of a Taser.

“In terms of the studies that have been done, we have not seen anything conclusive that has come back, scientifically, that has said a Taser has killed,” said Smith, who co-founded the Arizona-based company in 1993.

Smith conceded there were fewer than 30 cases in which the use of a Taser was deemed a “contributing factor” in a death, but added “that is completely different from saying the Taser caused a certain outcome.”

However, that claim appeared to mystify Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, the party’s public-safety critic. Dosanjh said he was given similar assurances while attorney general of British Columbia during the 1990s.

“I was assured that this is absolutely non-lethal and that it would be used sparingly by the police, and I have now come to believe that it is riskier than I was led to believe and that in fact it is not been used as sparingly.”

The use of Tasers has been in the spotlight since the October death of Robert Dziekanski, who was Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport.

The incident prompted several law-enforcement agencies and levels of government to review their Taser policies. Last month, the RCMP announced it would restrict its use of Tasers, but not to the degree the force’s watchdog had recommended.

In addition to the RCMP, numerous provincial and municipal police forces across the country arm their officers with the device.

Smith came armed with a binder with roughly 13,000 pages of studies he said proved Tasers are safe. But under questioning by MPs, he admitted approximately 20 per cent of the studies were funded by the company itself.

Smith also admitted in two cases, the company has paid Canadian police officers - once to design a Taser holster, and once to provide training.

The Canadian Police Research Centre conducted a review of Taser studies in 2005 and concluded Tasers “are effective law-enforcement tools with a low risk of harm to the subject when used appropriately,” said the centre’s executive director, Steve Palmer.

But some recent studies have reached different findings. Reports say a 2006 study by Chicago’s Cook County hospital found that pigs zapped with Tasers developed heart problems.

Smith said the overwhelming majority of police agencies use the device when suspects are resisting and there is a “physical threat of violence or injury.” But he conceded law-enforcement agencies must decide themselves when to use Tasers.

“This is one tool in the tool box. There is no the perfect solution,” he said.