Kom. z Canady: Czy policja powinna uzywac tasers?

[eladaoil]

Soundoff: Should police use tasers?
Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Police say tasers save lives because they save officers from resorting to
deadly force. Others say tasers are dangerous and should be banned.

What do you think?

COMMENTS ON THIS STORY
Add Your Comment
Carol
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:13 PM
How sad....I'd rather be shot in the leg or arm with a bullet than go through
being shot with electicity. The public needs to make a stand and get the
tasers banned. For the RCMP to say no more tasers, would be admitting that
they kill and that they are liable.
Garry Parkinson
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:25 PM
Another fine RCMP blunder, from what I could see there was no attempt at
verbal (obviously could not), and non-verbal communication to try calm an
agitated and distressed man who posed no threat. its nice to see these are
supposed to security proffessionals at there height of ignorance, poor guy is
there to pick up his mom and ends up dead. couldnt possiblty imagine what
these cowboys act like in a real emergency.
david camp
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:29 PM
three or four burly police officers could not control the situation,shame on
all our police and all of us canadians for not speaking up on this matter
before and as for the airport administration for not helping the poor man, at
this i am very sad and appalled david camp delta bc
A Canadian
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:46 PM
The issue of using tasers in a dangerous situation is a topic unto itself. In
this instance it is clear that the actions of the RCMP were highly
inappropriate and aggressive. Furthermore, Vancouver International Airport
security and immigration need to get it "right" in dealing with immigrants and
foreign visitors to Canada. Shame on Canada and the RCMP , and Vancouver, BC.
Daniel
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:48 PM
It is quit obvious that until the complete story is released there will be
speculation and second-guessing about the actions taken by the police
officers. Upon reading the different stories in the news it is appalling that
reporters are stating conclusions without having the complete story. Ian
Mulgrew severally criticizes the police's actions, even comparing their
actions to those in the Rodney King beating. Mulgrew states many conclusions
yet he does not know the complete details of the incident. He states that the
sound on the video is poor and then contradicts himself by saying that it
sounds like the deceased was pleading. Lets wait for the investigation and the
coroner's inquiry to be completed before we start to point fingers. It's
obvious that Mulgrew has never been placed in such a situation, as the police
were that day and which police face on a daily basis. Tasers have
significantly help police to subdue aggressive suspects, thus increasing the
safety of the officers. Tasers have been proven safe. When a death occurs
during the use of a taser a contributing factor is usually present, so once
again lets wait for the investigation to be complete before making judgment.
aslbabo
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:48 PM
After seeing the polish man collapsed and struggled, my tears fell, so I
strongly agree that the tasers should be banned becacause it will be 2010
soon, the winter olympic, and the athletes will come here for compete, but the
way i see it , nobody gets to comptete unless they speak English at the
airport, or they get tesered just because they don't speak English?? I don't
about rest of you, but when I came to canada, it was very friendly, but now
the person who doesn't speak English at the airport, or anywhere, that person
gets tesered?? Ok then, I'd better learn French,or I'd get tesered... I wish
that the polish man could forgive RCMP police officals who attacked, and may
him rest in peace... He will be in my prayer always...
Ben
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:53 PM
That was murder - plain and simple. Politicians keep saying no one is above
the law ...... well?
Suzanne
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 09:57 PM
I'm really sick of reading of one RCMP blunder after another. The four cops
should be charged with manslaughter.
Incredulous
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:08 PM
The taser was the weapon of choice in this case, but I have to seriously
question the root cause of the event: officer training and selection. Namely
why didn't the officers stop to speak with airport security prior to
approaching Robert to get a full understanding of the situation? why not spend
more than 20 seconds to establish communication? why did they behave like the
aggressors? On the video they look like arrogant, ignorant cowboys. nice work
RCMP. and.. wait for the investigation before making a judgment? what a joke,
the RCMP investigates themselves so I know what their investigation will find.
The video shows everything.
Terry
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:13 PM
If you weren't afraid of the police before this - you should be afraid of them
now...
Sean
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:13 PM
I always though a tazer was for use instead of a gun, hence less than lethal
force. Its seems as of late the police are using it in situations where it is
CLEARLY not warranted. Of all the tazer videos on the net i have seen as of
late not once did I say to myself "that was a situation where a gun was
warranted" I cant see cops before the tazers pulling out handguns to solve
riots that's what pepper spray and some maybe some brute force was to be used.
I think because of the quick and easy results the tazers bring law enforcement
may be to trigger happy with it to solve the problem when perhaps more common
sense would have come in handy and this poor man would still be alive today.
student
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:14 PM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bVa6jn4rpE Police everywhere don't seem to
know when it is appropriate to use a taser. This shows a student who is pinned
down by several officers and then tasered, luckily for everyone involved he
didn't die.
jon
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:21 PM
It is very disapointing the very one-sided media coverage on this event, and
as usual, the mostly un-informed, misguided, and anti-police backlash that
follows any unfortunate outcome in a use of force encounter. What the public
does not realize or wholly appreciates is that an officer has to make life or
death choices on a split second decision every day, and then live with the
second guessing that follows, in situations that the general public never want
to be in in the first place. In this brief video, clearly this is a highly
agitated, unstable, unpredictable, combative individual. Whether people like
it or not, the reality of life is that sometimes force is required for the
safety of the individual, officers and the public to bring a resolution to a
situation, and I can guarantee you that none of those officers there wished to
be hit by a table or chair that the male had in his hands. Before you so
clearly state your opionion, which you are entitled to, why don't you stop and
think of the totality of the situation first.
Pandher
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:22 PM
Witnessed Four RCMP cops Killing innocent Person at International airport who
does not Know English .How can these Guys (RCMP) can Handel 2010 Olympic
Traffic!!!! SHAME ON RCMP PLEASE Train your cops How to handle Situation like
this. Looks like if these cops are playing like 15 yr kids playing Video game.
Scott
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 10:24 PM
How did it get to the point that this poor disoriented or unstable man was in
an airport for hours without intervention? In the video he is clearly unstable
and disoriented but not threatening and has no weapon. He might be guilty of
some minor property damage at worst. Why do four physically fit RCMP officers
have to taser one man repeatedly when he could be cuffed and taken away? We
need some really serious answers here from the airport and the police.
Mike
Wed, Nov 14, 07 at 1

[eladaoil]

Tasering video hits YouTube three minutes after release
Misty Harris , CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007

Shortly after emitting his final frightened screams, Robert Dziekanski lays
unresponsive on the Vancouver airport's floor. Off camera, a man can be heard
describing the unfolding scene as "hot footage for my home videos."

The nearly nine-minute video of the Tasering and death of Polish national
Dziekanski was released to the public at 9:00 pm ET Wednesday. Not three minutes
later, the disturbing footage found its way to YouTube, where it's expected to
be appraised by untold thousands over the coming week.

In the Internet age, the decision to watch - or not watch - high-profile deaths
captured on camera may be the grisly litmus test for participation in extreme
media culture.
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Those who avert their eyes are spared potentially upsetting imagery but risk
ignorance of a news story that could be talked about for years to come; after
viewing the Dziekanski footage, a veteran B.C. reporter predicted it was
destined to become "Canada's most notorious snuff film, our own Rodney King shame."

Those who decide to watch the controversial videos can make informed judgments
but chance being forever haunted - or perhaps worse, desensitized - by what
they've seen.

Who's right and who's wrong remains frustratingly unclear to experts, who've
been debating this subject since 2002. That was the watershed year in which
journalist Daniel Pearl's videotaped execution was linked online, representing a
shift in power over ethically questionable imagery from the media to individual
citizens.

"The definitions of what constitutes deviance are always changing," says Roy
Peter Clark, vice president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. "If the
line is too low, then you have a really oppressive society. But if the line is
too high, as it probably is right now, you have all kinds of cultural threats to
what were once considered important and enduring values."

In the months since Saddam Hussein was hanged in December 2006, a cellphone
video of the former Iraqi president's death has been viewed more than 2.4
million times on YouTube. And when American businessman Nick Berg was beheaded
in 2004, Internet searches for the execution video topped Yahoo for more than a
week.

"I personally, as a news consumer, pretty much want to see everything - or at
least a little bit of everything - so I can make my own judgments," says Clark,
pointing to the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding as an
example.

"I think that maybe the only way to know (if it's ethical) is to actually see it
happening."

When asked to explain public interest in viewing the Berg execution, Brock
University professor Barry Grant said plainly: "They want to see what it looks
like when somebody's head comes off."

Wendy Josephson, a professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg,
explains the gruesome attraction in more delicate terms.

"We don't like to think about it very much, but death is something we'll
ultimately all face," she says. "I think that's part of the fascination people
have with these videos."

* 1
* 2
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Misty Harris , CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007

Josephson cautions that continued exposure to images of death risks blunting a
person's sensitivity. But at the end of the day, she believes first-hand visual
information helps people make more informed decisions and learn how to better
deal with troubling situations.

She cites the Vietnam War as an example, noting that many academics correlate
diminished public support for the killing with televised images of casualties on
American TV screens.

"I think we'll be surprised at how many people do want to see (the Dziekanski
footage)," says Josephson. "Whenever something really outrageous or awful
happens, people want to know more about it. It's a threat, in a sense, to their
world."
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[e-mail]

[eladaoil]

U.S. experts question RCMP Taser tactics
Doug Ward , CanWest News Service; Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007

VANCOUVER

[eladaoil]

Video of tasered man's death raises questions about RCMP tactics
Ian Mulgrew , CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

VANCOUVER - In the moments before his death, Robert Dziekanski raised his hands
as if pleading with the four Taser-wielding RCMP officers who surrounded him.

You cannot hear what is being said when the first jolt explodes and Dziekanski
begins to scream.

The blood-curdling sound of the 40-year-old's pain as he was shocked - caught on
a video made public Wednesday - will reverberate forever for those who hear it.
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It drowned out the sound of the second Taser blast.

The image of the RCMP officers seconds later jumping atop Dziekanski, one
forcing his knee into the writhing man's head and neck will haunt.

I dare say these images will shock our nation's conscience.

The digital recording of Dziekanski's death in the early morning of Oct. 14 at
Vancouver International Airport is destined to become Canada's Rodney King shame.

Our national police force looks like a gang of thugs.

Within seconds of confronting a distraught, would-be Polish immigrant - without
apparent warning or threat to their life, the officers had killed him.

Vancouver lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, who is acting for Dziekanski's mother, said
he was appalled.

He said mother Zofia Cisowski had seen portions of the video but not all of it.

"She had a son in distress, he was looking for help, he was frightened, and he
didn't get that help," Kosteckyj said after releasing the video to the media.

"I was surprised when I saw it. That's not the right word. I was absolutely
shocked. I expected to see some discussion, some attempt to control the
situation and then things going sideways. What you will see is how quickly
things came about. People should judge for themselves."

Still, Kosteckyj was angry that security guards at the airport were uninterested
and that police made no attempt to defuse or control the situation before using
the Taser.

Cisowski remains distraught - having learned much about the event from the
media, Kosteckyj said.

He thought perhaps the film could be used to train police and others how not to
subdue agitated individuals.

I believe it is too painful.

Dziekanski arrived at Vancouver International Airport as a would-be immigrant
about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 - a Saturday. Between the primary customs post and
the secondary checkpoint, he went missing.

He apparently sat forlornly near the baggage carousel not understanding what he
should do or where he should go until about 10:30 when he finally found his way
to the second customs post.

After this second interview with border officers he was cleared to enter Canada,
but remained in the secure arrivals area until about 1:15 a.m. when he became
agitated.

Paul Pritchard, a 25-year-old teacher returning to Victoria from a stint in
Asia, began recording the scene.

His video, which was made public Wednesday, is in three short segments.

The first is a few minutes in length and shows Dziekanski pacing and distraught.
He stands by an automatic door in the airport, sweating, and holding up a small
folding table. He is causing a scene.

A woman approaches him and they talk. He is obviously confused, not threatening
- more afraid looking than angry.

The second segment continues with Dziekanski and the woman talking. She walks away.

He appears to become more agitated and throws a computer and the folding table.

About three and a half minutes into the second segment of the video, four RCMP
officers arrive and move in to confront Dziekanski.

They appear to speak with him, he gestures, raising his hands while they move to
surround him.

The audio is difficult to distinguish, but Dziekanski sounds as if he's
pleading, his hands raised defensively.

That's when the Mounties jolt him the first time - roughly 20 seconds after
their arrival.

Dziekanski howled like a wounded animal. He buckled and staggered to his right
clutching his chest.

He fell to the floor, his feet kicking, face contorted in pain, his chilling
screams filling the air. Within a dozen seconds all four Mounties were atop him.

Less than a minute later, they realize Dziekanski is no longer moving.

The segment ends with the officers summoning help.

The third piece of recording briefly shows the police officers and the lifeless
body.

After the confrontation between the RCMP and Dziekanski, Pritchard turned his
video over to investigators.

They kept it and only returned it last week after he launched a civil suit to
retrieve it.

Pritchard turned the video over to Dziekanski's mother a few days ago so she
could decide whether to release it.

It is a horrendous indictment of the police who barely 20 seconds after their
arrival zapped Dziekanski with two 50,000-volt charges from a Taser.

The four officers do not appear to consider other options, nor do they attempt
to calm him down before jolting the burly middle-aged man.

Moments later he is dead.

Even Pritchard described the video as monstrous.

After releasing it, Pritchard said he never wanted to see it again.

I can understand why.

"The audio's sickening," he said. "His scream is brutal. You hear a man die,
obviously."

And everything was so needless.

Cisowski had waited in the arrivals terminal for several hours expecting
Dziekanski to emerge.

When she went looking for help, no one in the airport was able to connect her
with her son - who was sitting disconsolately a hundred meters or so away behind
the security glass.

The incident now is the subject of reviews by the RCMP's Integrated Homicide
Investigation Team, the independent commission that looks into complaints
against the Mounties, and the airport authority.

The coroner has also promised an inquiry.


© Vancouver Sun 2007

[eladaoil]

Ban Tasers, says civil liberties group
Ian Austin , The Province
Published: Thursday, November 01, 2007

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling for an immediate moratorium on
the use of Taser guns in the wake of the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver
International Airport, the 16th victim of Tasers in Canada.

Group president Jason Gratl said yesterday that B.C. Solicitor-General John Les
must stop the use of Tasers, or bear the responsibility for any future deaths.

"Policing will not grind to a halt without the Taser," said Gratl. "It is only
one among a wide array of intermediate-force options available to police.
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"I don't understand how Minister Les could fail to be moved by these plainly
undeserved deaths."

Gratl urged that uniform standards for Taser training, use and accountability be
enshrined and enforced in law. He said research confirms that deaths associated
with Taser can be significantly reduced.

The use of Tasers is in the public eye after the Oct.14 death of Dziekanski, a
40-year-old Polish man who spoke no English and had flown to Vancouver to
immigrate to Canada and join his mother in Kamloops.

Dziekanski became agitated after spending nine hours in the secure area of the
airport.

Police were called in to quell the disturbance. Dziekanski died after a Taser
was used on him.

Les told The Province he's concerned about Dziekanski's death but isn't prepared
to ban the use of Tasers as a result.

"Obviously, any time there's a fatality I'm concerned," he said. "I'm also
concerned that police have the ability to enforce the law."

Tasers are considered to be a sub-lethal weapon, he said, and, in the vast
majority of cases, those who are Tasered recover.

[e-mail]


© The Vancouver Province 2007

One man's view of another man's death

[eladaoil]

One man's view of another man's death
Paul Pritchard's footage of the Oct. 14 Taser incident at Vancouver
International Airport shows Robert Dziekanski throwing objects. After a takedown
by police, he rolls moaning before going silent
Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007

0:00

RCMP ARRIVE: The four RCMP officers are seen arriving at the scene.

19 seconds
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RCMP APPROACH: "How are you doing sir?" asked one of the officers, when they
first approach Dziekanski.

37 seconds

A MOMENT: When they first meet, there is a brief instant when the four officers
and Dziekanski stand facing one another.

39 seconds

HANDS UP: Dziekanski raises his arms overhead and walks away.

46 seconds

SURROUNDED: The four officers surround Dziekanski, moments before they shoot him
with a Taser. He can be heard speaking to them in Polish.

57 seconds

SCREAMING: After being shot with the Taser, Dziekanski falls to the ground and
begins to scream.

1 minute, 8 seconds

DOWN: Several officers restrain Dziekanski, who is on the ground gasping and
moaning before going silent.

ONLINE EXTRA

To see a video connected to this story visit: www.vancouversun.com


© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Robert Dziekanski's final seconds

[eladaoil]

Robert Dziekanski's final seconds
Paul Pritchard's Oct. 14th footage at Vancouver International Airport shows the
Polish man expressing frustration. After a Taser takedown by police, he rolls
yelling before going silent.
Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007

0:00

RCMP ARRIVE: Four RCMP officers are seen arriving at the scene in Paul
Pritchard's video footage.

19 seconds
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RCMP APPROACH: "How are you doing, sir?" asked one of the officers, when they
first approach Dziekanski.

37 seconds

A MOMENT: When they first meet, there is a brief instant when the four officers
and Dziekanski (right) stand facing one another in the secure arrivals area.

39 seconds

HANDS UP: A frustrated Dziekanski raises his arms overhead and walks away.

46 seconds

SURROUNDED: The four officers surround Dziekanski, who can be heard speaking to
them in Polish, three seconds before they shoot him with a Taser (main photo).

57 seconds

SCREAMING: After being shot twice with the Taser, Dziekanski falls to the ground
and begins to scream.

1 minute, 8 seconds

SILENCE: Several officers restrain Dziekanski, who is on the ground gasping and
moaning before going silent.

ONLINE EXTRA

To see a video connected to this story visit: www.vancouversun.com


© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Video of Polish man being Tasered shocks, 'terrifi

[eladaoil]

Video of Polish man being Tasered shocks, 'terrifies' Consul-General
Diplomat has asked Poland's prosecutors' office to contact Federal Attorney-General
Jonathan Fowlie, with a file from Chantal Eustace, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 15, 2007

VICTORIA