Man dies after Taser shock by police at Vancouver airport

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
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How the heck did someone break his neck? That's crazy.


In the video, after the man went down from the shock and was writhing on the floor, one cop straddled him and kneeled on both his neck and back.
 

cdn_bc_ca

Electoral Member
May 5, 2005
389
1
18
Vancouver
I'm not sure whether the use of the tazer was necessary or not, but using it more than once on the same victim was totally unnecessary. Perhaps the police should have warned the poor guy that he would get another zap if he didn't cooperate.

I think that for police training purposes, each and every one of the trainees should get tazered and pepper sprayed just to see what it feels like. Maybe after that experience they won't use it so recklessly on other people.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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The use of the taser might be indicated if the potential perp was attacking or threatening the police or other citizens. I saw no threat in the video. I don't think the RCMP taser policy can be stretched to include those who might be a threat in the future.
 

shadowshiv

Dark Overlord
May 29, 2007
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I think that for police training purposes, each and every one of the trainees should get tazered and pepper sprayed just to see what it feels like. Maybe after that experience they won't use it so recklessly on other people.

I believe they are tazered if they are going to be using one in the future, and they are sprayed in the face with pepper spray.
 

dirtylinder

get dirty
Apr 24, 2007
301
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18
vancouver island
I felt sick after watching this clip....I am sorry for the Mother that someone who gets paid from public funds did this....and to think that this is not an isolated case...they have killed many people, some of which were only guilty of drinking too much legal booze..
 

vice

New Member
Apr 14, 2007
15
0
1
Edmonton
It was definitely murder. In the footage it seemed as if the RCMP asked him to move over to the desk so they could taser him - as if they'd already made up their minds. The RCMP officers need to be permanently dismissed from the force and face criminal charges. YVR and customs also need to shoulder the blame. There's no excuse for detaining a person and then forgetting all about him for 10 hours. They have also demonstrated that their supposed security isn't really secure if a person in question can be left alone for that long, entering and exiting a secure zone almost at will. The poor guy was agitated and was obviously wrecking things just so that someone in charge would pay attention to him.

Some heads definitely need to roll for this tragedy.
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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I believe they are tazered if they are going to be using one in the future, and they are sprayed in the face with pepper spray.

Perhaps they should be kicked in the nuts after using it on someone. That would make them think twice.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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Perhaps they should be kicked in the nuts after using it on someone. That would make them think twice.

They spend hours filling out paper work and going through reviews every time they fire off any sort of weapon, be it pepper spray, a tazer, or an actual gun.

I'm not defending these guys..... they apparently had some major problems..... but officers in general carry a huge weight of responsibility along with their weapons, and they assume that responsibility well.
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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They spend hours filling out paper work and going through reviews every time they fire off any sort of weapon, be it pepper spray, a tazer, or an actual gun.

I'm not defending these guys..... they apparently had some major problems..... but officers in general carry a huge weight of responsibility along with their weapons, and they assume that responsibility well.
This video shows officers who will exceed reasonable force at the drop of a hat. There were four of them. They should be able to take the guy down with an arm tied behind their backs. It's inexcusable, yet I doubt the action was out of the norm.
 

Jersay

House Member
Dec 1, 2005
4,837
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In the video, after the man went down from the shock and was writhing on the floor, one cop straddled him and kneeled on both his neck and back.

That is what you do when you are restraining someone in a security police business. You put there hands behind their backs and place your knee into the back of their neck or just on the back to ensure they do not move. Standard procedure.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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That is what you do when you are restraining someone in a security police business. You put there hands behind their backs and place your knee into the back of their neck or just on the back to ensure they do not move. Standard procedure.

One knee. You don't put all your weight, both knees, on the guy as is said to have happened in the vid.
 

TomG

Electoral Member
Oct 27, 2006
135
10
18
Amnesty International’s information page for Tasers is here:

http://www.amnesty.ca/themes/tasers_backgrounder.php

Amnesty has not yet initiated an action regarding what happened to Robert Dziekanski , his mother Zofia Cisowski and the officers on the scene. I imagine there will be an action, but Amnesty does not over-react and neither should we. Perhaps the public relations spin doctors should cease their kneejerk defenses and deflections for their bureaucracies as well. Take a moment in silence to try and grasp what has happened and how it fits with our lives.

In our social traditions, we have government by the people. We all share some responsibility for everything done by our governments. I expect to take more than a moment or two myself of silence myself, and I expect that I will join what ever action is initiated by Amnesty.

The Amnesty Taser page was published in February of this year. Perhaps somebody should have been paying attention. Tasers, after all, are a form of deadly force. Perhaps placing a knee on the neck of an unconscious person also is a form of deadly force
 

Colpy

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 5, 2005
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I don't think the guy died from a broken neck.....the article says

An autopsy later found no sign of drugs or alcohol in Mr. Dziekanski's system, but failed to come up with any specific cause of death.

A broken neck would be very obvious .....

The damn TASER killed him.....stopped his heart, at least that is what the lack of any other cause would indicate.....

These guys (the RCMP) were aching to zap him.....had he struggled or fought, I would say this was an unfortunate accident......but he did NOT!
 

MikeyDB

House Member
Jun 9, 2006
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Colpy

I agree, there are circumstances when marial force is demanded but this isn't one of them. It is a terrible condemnation of either the training and skill levels of the officers involved or it's evidence of failed leadership.

Welcome to Canada....prepare to die......
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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I don't think the guy died from a broken neck.....

Ah, Durgan's personal commentary kind of blended in and I mistook it for the article stating that was the cause. Amazing how it can all blend together in a coffee deprived brain.
 

vice

New Member
Apr 14, 2007
15
0
1
Edmonton
He didn't die from a broken neck. He did, however, die from unnecessary procedures used by the RCMP. Tazers are used when targets are aggressive or threatening and fail to comply, not when they are confused and non-threatening. The excessive force these four officers used to subdue the man were icing on the cake.

And speaking of tazers being used on officers who will be using one in the future, I watched CBC Newsworld today. An Edmonton RCMP officer was being interviewed. He stated that the procedure of officers being tazered before they carry a tazer is only voluntary in Canada, NOT mandatory.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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He stated that the procedure of officers being tazered before they carry a tazer is only voluntary in Canada, NOT mandatory.

Shooting any subject with any weapon (pepper spray, tazers, or guns) is dangerous and could cause death. It seems to me that making it mandatory that all officers get shot with the less lethal ones might help to create the false impression that they are 'safe' (and potentially kill new recruits). I can see why they'd make it voluntary.