TASER USE PUT UNDER MICROSCOPE

Powell River officers have used electrical weapons several times without
incident, but deaths in other areas of BC prompt review of their use

Four Taser-related deaths in British Columbia in the last two years have
prompted calls from human rights group Amnesty International for police to
suspend their use of the device.

Amnesty spokesman John Tackaberry said police forces should refrain from
using the device "until there is an independent and rigorous examination of
their impact."

"We're not saying that Tasers kill," he said. "What we are saying is that
the interaction between certain factors lead Tasers to be lethal or at
least appear to be lethal in certain circumstances."

A Kingston, Ontario man died August 8 after being shot with a Taser,
although a police coroner told the Canadian Press the man's death was
caused by a cocaine overdose. Robert Bagnell, 54, died in June after
Vancouver police used the device on him. A toxicology report showed high
levels of cocaine and other drugs in Bagnell's system.

Taser is the brand name for an electrical weapon used by more than 2,000
police forces as an alternative to guns. It delivers a current of 50,000
volts via two probes attached to the gun by insulated wire. The five-second
cycle overrides muscle coordination and brings its target to the ground.

Most of those who have died after being hit by a Taser had cocaine in their
system at the time.

Tackaberry claimed Taser International's own research says there is no
clear evidence either way whether its product is safe to use on people with
pacemakers. However, the company's website claims pacemakers are designed
to withstand defibrillator pulses hundreds of times stronger than that of a
Taser.

Powell River RCMP has four Tasers, in service since last fall, which have
only been used half a dozen times.

"Most of the situations where we've had to use it so far is on people who
were mentally imbalanced . . . out of control," said RCMP Constable Rob Foster.

Foster, who trains fellow officers in Taser use, said every officer must
receive eight hours of training before being allowed to use one in the
field. They must also be shot with the device to know what they may have to
dish out to suspects before using them in the field.

When Foster was hit with the Taser he thought, "Turn it off, I've had
enough," but said the pain stopped as soon as the current finished its
five-second cycle.

More than 70,000 police have been exposed to Tasers without a fatality, the
company claims.

But that figure isn't representative of the people the device is usually
used on, said Tackaberry.

"A lot of these tests have been done on police officers who are some of the
most healthy people in the world," he said.

BC Schizophrenia Society supports the use of Tasers when people suffering
from mental illnesses are acting violently and police need to arrest them,
said society president Fred Dawe.

"We'd prefer that the person be subdued by a Taser, which is a less lethal
means of subduing a person," he said.

Foster agrees. "If somebody is suffering a mental meltdown, [using the
Taser is] defending the defenceless, taking care of that individual so they
don't hurt themselves."

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police announced August 10 it would
launch a review of existing reports and research on Tasers in conjunction
with the Canadian Police Research Centre, the RCMP and the National
Research Council.