Man dies after Taser shock by police at Vancouver airport

[Ron in Regina]

Lawyer attacks Dziekanski's reputation at inquiry

The biggest flaw in the system that I can see is that (be it Federal,
municipal, or provincial forces) the Police are policing the Police.

A separate body (unbiased in theory) supposedly reviews their
findings before rubber stamping and closing the investigations...
This body is know in most provinces as a "Public Complaints
Commission" in its newest Civilian friendly title...but would have
formerly be titled a "Police Complaints Commission."

Before the Braidwood Commission, back in December of 2008,
the investigation of these four officers by the RCMP, and the
crown prosecutor, RCMP Hierarchy, and a Police Complaints
Commission would have ALL had access to the officers statements
AND the video we've all seen....in order to find that no charges,
(and that would include the falsifying of those reports in a more
or less identical manner) either criminal or disciplinary would be
forthcoming. That system seems to be very broken indeed.

I'm going to wait until the end of this Inquiry and listen very hard
to its conclusions and recommendations. Only two officers where
involved in the Tasering, all four watched this guy die on the floor
of an airport without any attempts at resuscitation, and all four have
involved themselves in a cover-up of the details in this death, and
all four have perjured themselves at this inquiry....BUT....they are
not alone in this....and it goes right up the chain.

It has been demonstrated that all four of these officers are not
reliable witnesses, or are outright fabricators of the truth...so that
any future court appearances they might have to make for any other
cases will be suspect at best. Reasonable doubt for anyone brought
to court by any of these four officers in the future would be to just
point out the Braidwood Inquiry...this would leave their effectiveness
in a court environment, or any situation where their honesty & integrity
may be questioned, in a questionable and dubious position at best.
As effective law enforcement officers, I believe their days are done
as their conviction rate would be somewhere (I'm assuming) around
zero. Let's see where the Braidwood Commission takes this ugly
situation with its suggestions and recommendations...

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

...so continental.

Yet, that's how so many people think, but the system seems to disagree and clings to pettiness.

Could be a good reason to dump the monarchy and rid ourselves of this aloof institution that belongs to another land, people and time. The crown people have always thought they are better than the rest of us and above the law.

In Canada we don't really do revolutions, so the RCMP and their minions will likely die a death of thousand cuts. Slow and bureaucratic, and lacking drama. I guess we have a lot of space in Canada for a lot of crap.

 

[L Gilbert]

I saw this story on The National last night, and all I could think is that our legal system is just heaping shovel loads of further embarrassment upon Canada's shame with the way the RCMP is handling an abuse perpetrated by one it's own... Keep in mind that it's not just a single lawyer that's behaving so despicably... that's an entire team of lawyers that is being paid and acting at the behest of the RCMP. Still, it's a scummy way to practice law, and with the eyes of the world upon us for this one, it's a smear on our reputation at an international level.

For Christ's sake. Man up and take some responsibility, and take note of where things are broken so they can get fixed.

I'll ditto Zan, here. It's bad enough the cops made "mistakes" when confronting Dziekansky, flipflop on their testimonies, etc. and now the freakin lawyers make the issue even worse by attacking the guy's charcter and alleged past. The whole thing has evolved from a stink to a septic stench.

 

[Socrates the Greek]

I'll ditto Zan, here. It's bad enough the cops made "mistakes" when confronting Dziekansky, flipflop on their testimonies, etc. and now the freakin lawyers make the issue even worse by attacking the guy's charcter and alleged past. The whole thing has evolved from a stink to a septic stench.

Good evening Gilbert,
While the one cop has a drunk and driving conviction causing death and caught lying on both testimonies,
(NO CHARACTER ASSASSINATION ON MY CLIENT, WHILE ROBERT THE DEAD MAN HAS NO RIGHT TO SPEAK, BECAUSE HE IS DEAD) HERE IS WHERE WRONG IS INCHING FORWARD.
, and the lawyer is abusive enough to ignore the importance of character assassination, when in fact their cop client on the drunk defense, has killed a person while drunk behind the wheel, steel employed, and asks for his license back, glad it got denied. Hell that is so much worst....... the poor emigrant was aggravated by the bad service Canada had to offer to a new comer, WHO could not speak their language,

I hope before the Olympics here in BC, YVR would correct this problem by providing a 24 / 7 / 365 method of translation so no other innocent new comer get treated like the poor immigrant Robert at YVR.

This is so upsetting that in the Robert incident at YVR NO ONE WILL ADMITT WRONG DOING WHEN IN FACT BOTH THE AIR PORT FIRST AND THE FORCE SECOND WERE ILL EQUIPEDE TO HANDELL A SIMPLE COMMUNICATION THAT COULD HAVE SAVED, as I am sure it would have spared Roberts life if a translator was present as Robert got off the plane. Too bad.

 

[china]

Some things TASER International Inc. would like to keep quiet

Some things TASER International Inc. would like to keep quiet
November 18, 2007 August 16, 2008 update: 60 more people have died since Robert Dziekanski after being Tasered by police, including five Canadians...

TASER International, Inc., the Scottsdale, Arizona public company (NASDAQ: TASR) that makes the controversial stun gun of the same name, wages an aggressive and misleading PR campaign to persuade the public that its product is safe. It has enlisted law enforcement members in its promotional efforts, giving many of them cash payments and stock options. TASER International executives dress in funereal black and hold flashy promotions, like the poker and Playboy parties advertised below:

Is there substance behind the glitz? The death of a law-abiding Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport, the sixth man to die in British Columbia after being Tasered, has again raised some public concerns about the weapon's safety. Here are some things that TASER International and its customers would prefer remain unreported:
At least 286 people in North America have died since 2001 after being stunned by the TASER's 50,000 volt discharge. Many of these cases involved multiple applications of electrical energy applied in "drive-stun" mode.
According to a study reported in the peer-reviewed journal NAFE entitled "Forensic Engineering Analysis of Electro-Shock Weapon Safety" (December 2005, p. 19), "we can conclude the Taser M18 M26 can be lethal when used in the drive-stun mode of operation and can kill when contrasted to the reference criteria contained in commercial consensus standards and in other scholarly publications".
There is no way of knowing whether individual Taser weapons meet the manufacturer's specifications. As there are no Canadian safety testing standards of any kind for the devices, it is entirely possible that some weapons discharge much more electrical energy than they are supposed to, and that police officers are unwittingly killing people as a result.
TASER and the law enforcement community often point to other factors that they say actually cause death, such as drug or alcohol use or a phenomenon they have coined "excited delirium", which is not a recognised medical condition. TASER International says so-called "excited delirium" is a potentially fatal condition. Here are some questions: How many people have died of "excited delirium" in the last five years in situations that did not involve law enforcement? Do people only reach potentially lethal levels of excitement or delirium when they are accosted by peace officers?
The proponents of Tasers have not explained why a number of domestic animals, including dogs and pigs, died after being shocked. One such livestock fatality occurred earlier this year in Spokane, Washington, where a loose cow was repeatedly Tasered by sheriffs until it collapsed and died.
Tasers are arguably being overused by police. They have reportedly been used to shock children as young as six (in Florida) and an 82 year old woman was recently shocked in Chicago. Amnesty International studied 271 fatalities and found that the victim was unarmed in all but 22 of the cases. Most of these victims were no risk to anyone.
Clearly, Tasers are involved in taking, not saving, lives.

 

[china]

Dziekanski 'angry and distraught' witness tells inquiry

Dziekanski 'angry and distraught' witness tells inquiry







Thomas Braidwood at Taser use hearing.

Photograph by: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun Files




VANCOUVER - An "angry and distraught" Robert Dziekanski called for police and help in Polish before he was Tasered at Vancouver International Airport, a limousine driver said.
Lorne Meltzer said he swore and shouted at Dziekanski when he wouldn't let him into a secure area, which he had blocked off with his suitcases.
"I was loud and angry," Meltzer said.
He then warned Dziekanski that police would be coming and would Taser him, Meltzer said.
"I don't know where that came from. It just came out of my mouth," Meltzer told the Braidwood inquiry today.
He said he got angry because he couldn't get through to pick up client, who was coming in on a flight from New York. If he missed him, he said it would ruin his reputation and affect his business.
Meltzer said after he shouted at him, Dziekanski appeared to calm down and he remembers him saying police in Polish and another word, which he found out later means help.
Meltzer said he called 911 but hung up when he was put on hold. He then contacted security to deal with Dziekanski, he said.
Meltzer said as the police approached Dziekanski, he saw one officer put his hand to his hip.
At that point, Dziekanski appeared calm and it appeared he was reaching for his passport when he raised what appeared to be a stapler.
Meltzer said he didn't see or hear the Taser being deployed but heard Dziekanski scream "Arrrrgh" and fall behind the desk.
He couldn't see what happened next but said he heard a police officer suggesting they Taser Dziekanski again.
"I specifically remember hearing an officer scream 'Do it again, do it again,'" Meltzer said.
Meltzer said he never felt threatened by Dziekanski, whom he said was just distraught and tired.
He said on any give day he sees 30 to 50 confused passengers at the airport.
"He wasn't outwardly attacking people or was mad at people," he said. "He was distraught...he was sweating and was just upset."
Meltzer said there were no security in the area until he called them. He said at night anyone can go anywhere and said the airport security "is a joke."
Meanwhile, a cleaner at Vancouver International Airport who walked within inches of Dziekanski told the Braidwood inquiry today he never feared for his safety.
James Canzon said Dziekanski was calm as he passed him in the international arrivals area.
He said at one point he heard another man speaking loudly to Dziekanski but he couldn't understand what was being said.
Canzon said after he left the area he heard "a pop" like a gunshot but continued his cleaning. He then saw Dziekanski laying on the carpet.
© Copyright

 

[china]

The mother of aPolish immigrant demends a new investigation

VANCOUVER — The mother of the Polish immigrant who was Tasered at the Vancouver International Airport demanded Thursday that the B.C. government appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her son's death.
"I have lost faith in Canadian justice," Robert Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski told the inquiry probing her son's October 2007 death.
"So far the inquiry revealed that the RCMP investigation and the criminal justice report had only one thing in mind, which is to blame my son for his death," Cisowski said in her first prepared statement.
The inquiry, headed by retired judge Thomas Braidwood, previously heard that Dziekanski became agitated after spending more than 24 hours travelling, and 10 hours stranded at the airport, when he and his mother failed to meet up.
He died after being hit five times with a Taser by one of the four RCMP officers called to the scene, while a bystander filmed the encounter with his cellphone.
None of the four Mounties involved in Dziekanski's death have been charged.
"It just broke my heart again and again by watching and listening to witnesses who confirmed the ignorance and negligence of the authorities," said Cisowski, speaking outside the inquiry to media.
The inquiry previously heard that Dziekanski spent a critical 10 minutes handcuffed facedown and unconscious, without oxygen or first aid, and that he was lifeless and couldn't be revived by the time paramedics arrived on the scene.
The inquiry also heard Thursday morning that Dziekanski, who was afraid of flying, suffered a "panic attack" before he left for the airport in Poland.
The testimony from Robert Dylski, the man who drove Dziekanski to the airport, was broadcast from Poland via video link.
Dylski said Cisowski spoke to her son by speakerphone and tried to calm him down and reassure him.
"Everything was arranged for his arrival . . . an apartment was waiting for him . . . his future was laid out for him, that's what they'd discussed, what his mom had arranged," said Dylski, who said he'd known Dziekanski for eight years.
Due to a growing gap between the RCMP version of events and video evidence, the Polish-Canadian community is also demanding an independent investigation into Dziekanski's death.
The inquiry heard last week that the lead Mountie, Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, admitted he asked to "change" his evidence after viewing the bystander's video of the death.
In his initial report, Robinson claimed 12 times that the Polish immigrant swung a stapler at the officers, the inquiry heard.
This report, along with those of his fellow officers, was proved wrong by the video of Dziekanski's death.
"I was mistaken, but I was telling the truth. I sort of blended the whole interaction with him," Robinson told the inquiry last week.

 

[china]

Poor mother , democratic country.

 

[captain morgan]

Poor mother , democratic country.

... But only in a democracy can one 'demand' a new investigation.

 

[tracy]

What would a new investigation possibly tell us? Are the facts in dispute?

 

[EagleSmack]

What would a new investigation possibly tell us? Are the facts in dispute?

She does not like the results of the investigation. Therefore a new investigation must be held until it says what she wants it to say.

Once the results say that the police were wrong she will be happy.

Until then...keep investigating.

 

[Ron in Regina]

The mother of aPolish immigrant demends a new investigation

The Braidwood Inquiry hasn't ended yet, so the results and
conclusions and recommendations of the Inquiry haven't been
released yet.

One of the recommendations might very well be that in light
of the findings in the Inquiry, the investigation be reopened,
but it's premature to demand this before the Inquiry concludes.

A Mothers Love for her child, and frustration of his death at
the hands of others is something I hope none of us here ever
has to experience (the death of the child part). I can understand
where she is coming from, but the Inquiry should conclude
before any other action takes place, based on the results of
the Inquiry.

 

[lone wolf]

I am as against self-investigation as a means of getting to the bottom of things as I would be in having Hells Angels or the Mafia looking into it. If cops wonder why they're losing respect, here's a good reason.

 

[EagleSmack]

I agree with that. If they are investigating themselves then it really isn;t an investigation. However if this is an independent investigation and they feel the cops are innocent then that should be that.

 

[Risus]

Poor mother , democratic country.

I guess she can always go back to Poland...

 

[Nuggler]

Poor mother , democratic country.

At least here one can request diligent, independent, investigation, and not receive a bullet in the brain.

Only when your adopted country stops running people over with tanks, can you: criticize the country you chose to leave.

Enjoy your "freedom", shmuck!!



Aw, sh@t, this is too easy..........It's DEMANDS . !!!

 

[china]

Risus

I guess she can always go back to Poland...

Why should she go to Pland? She is a citizen of Canada and as a citizen she is practicing her rights. You, as a Canadian Citizen, should know better .

 

[lone wolf]

Risus
Why should she go to Pland? She is a citizen of Canada and as a citizen she is practicing her rights. You, as a Canadian Citizen, should know better .

If only I still had faith enough to believe that....

 

[tracy]

I am as against self-investigation as a means of getting to the bottom of things as I would be in having Hells Angels or the Mafia looking into it. If cops wonder why they're losing respect, here's a good reason.

The inquiry is being run by a judge. That's not the RCMP investigating the RCMP.

 

[JLM]

I sure sympathize with the Mother, but I don't think we need a new investigation just to have someone else tell us or not what we already know.