henric
03-23-2012, 12:07 PM
22/03/2012 3:45:00 PM
by Sameer Vasta
A disturbing story of a man killed by police Tasers in Australia reminds us that Tasers might be safer than guns, but still need to be used properly in order to be safe and useful.
One of the big arguments for the use of Tasers by law enforcement officials instead of firearms is their ability to incapacitate a suspect without causing them deadly harm. The recent events in Sydney, Australia, show that when misused, even tasers can be harmful, and even deadly.
Laudisio Curti was shot with a Taser three times by three different officers after police deemed him suspect of a convenience store robbery. He stopped breathing after being tasered and could not be resuscitated by emergency personnel.
Curti was suspected of stealing a package of biscuits from the store before he was tracked down by police. New reports show that he may have not been involved in the robbery at all.
The culpability of Curti notwithstanding, the fact that he was killed by law enforcement in a non-violent standoff is very disturbing. If the goal of a Taser was to allow police to apprehend the suspect without significantly harming them, the misuse — and tasering someone three times repeatedly who was not being violent with police definitely seems to constitute misuse — of a Taser can still be as harmful and lethal as any other kind of firearm.
Should we be encouraging Taser use here in Canada? If used properly, Tasers could be very valuable to law enforcement; there are significant risks of misuse, however (as the Robert Dziekanski incident in Vancouver may reveal). We should not be letting our police resort to using Tasers in any case where apprehension is just difficult — it should be a case of last resort and only used when other methods have failed or there is some kind of violence involved. Police officers need to be properly trained on how to use Tasers, and when; having three separate officers tasing one fleeing suspect is reflective of a lack of education and training.
As is the issue was with guns, the problem with Tasers doesn't seem to be the weapon itself, but the people using them. Let's make sure our law enforcement officials in Canada know what they are doing with Tasers so that we don't see a situation like the one in Sydney happen here.
by Sameer Vasta
A disturbing story of a man killed by police Tasers in Australia reminds us that Tasers might be safer than guns, but still need to be used properly in order to be safe and useful.
One of the big arguments for the use of Tasers by law enforcement officials instead of firearms is their ability to incapacitate a suspect without causing them deadly harm. The recent events in Sydney, Australia, show that when misused, even tasers can be harmful, and even deadly.
Laudisio Curti was shot with a Taser three times by three different officers after police deemed him suspect of a convenience store robbery. He stopped breathing after being tasered and could not be resuscitated by emergency personnel.
Curti was suspected of stealing a package of biscuits from the store before he was tracked down by police. New reports show that he may have not been involved in the robbery at all.
The culpability of Curti notwithstanding, the fact that he was killed by law enforcement in a non-violent standoff is very disturbing. If the goal of a Taser was to allow police to apprehend the suspect without significantly harming them, the misuse — and tasering someone three times repeatedly who was not being violent with police definitely seems to constitute misuse — of a Taser can still be as harmful and lethal as any other kind of firearm.
Should we be encouraging Taser use here in Canada? If used properly, Tasers could be very valuable to law enforcement; there are significant risks of misuse, however (as the Robert Dziekanski incident in Vancouver may reveal). We should not be letting our police resort to using Tasers in any case where apprehension is just difficult — it should be a case of last resort and only used when other methods have failed or there is some kind of violence involved. Police officers need to be properly trained on how to use Tasers, and when; having three separate officers tasing one fleeing suspect is reflective of a lack of education and training.
As is the issue was with guns, the problem with Tasers doesn't seem to be the weapon itself, but the people using them. Let's make sure our law enforcement officials in Canada know what they are doing with Tasers so that we don't see a situation like the one in Sydney happen here.