I'm new here and I didn't have a chance to read the many pages, but let me chime in.
If there are any pro-police supporters here, then you must be a hypocrite. If a cop catches you perbing, your toast. Does anyone but me see the irony here? What's this forum all about?
Comments were made about officer safety. This is complete rubbish. The police virtually always have the advantage. Yet, why is that not one of the four cops in Kamloops would even try to remove the tiny pocket knife from an 82 year old man who was lying in a hospital bed sedated and delirious from open heart surgery, needing oxygen just to walk? Why did it even become a police matter? Or why four cops wouldn’t calm down a distraught man who spoke no english at Vancouver airport and within a matter of a seconds, taser him to death upon their arrival without making any effort in calming him down?
Thank goodness we have an inquiry that will at least bring to light how the taser is being used these days, if nothing more. The taser is a real weapon. Make no mistake about it. The fact is tasers are not being deployed in situations where lethal force would normally be used, which is what it was originally intended to be used for, not for anything and everything else that the cop wants to use use it for, despite tasering someone multiple times which is against police policy. There was something on this today on CBC's website.
As mentioned above, police forces sold the taser technology to its political masters and the general public as a weapon that would be used as a substitute for the use of firearms, thus saving lives. In other words, they were to be only used in combative behaviour where the use of a firearm would normally be used: an alternative to deadly force.
Nowadays, a cop has been given complete discretion when the taser can be deployed. If he doesn’t like you, he can taser you; if you’re lying in a hospital bed, recovering from open heart surgery, he can taser you; sit in a car waiting for the cop to write you a ticket, he can taser you; call a cop a Nazis, he can taser you; not obey or be slow to respond to a peace officer’s command, he can taser you; walk away from a peace officer, he can taser you. Does anyone remember Stalin or reading about him?
Incidently, the majority of old school and ex-cops all cringe at the “new training” of modern day police forces across North America. A psychologist and former RCMP member who now works as a consultant to police forces on crisis management, Mike Webster told the Taser commission that he was embarrassed to be associated with police who use taser on sick old men and confused immigrants. Webster also tore a strip off Taser International, the weapon maker, for what he suggested was the "brainwashing" of police organizations.
Police with proper training have non-verbal and verbal techniques to use so they can use to calm people down without the use of force. But, no-sir. Cops are too “busy” or in a hurry to get to their next call, take a break at Timmy’s, or rush over to fuck their girlfriend while they’re wife is at home or working. Cops these days forget how to think, they don’t apply what they have been taught or trained, they lack common-sense, and expect their computer to solve their cases and problems. Ever wonder why we have such a huge issue with gangs and unsolved murders?
Gone are the days when a peace officer used his tact, physical and mental training, communication, and social skills to handle people and to diffuse or to de-escalate a situation. The modern day solution is to simply and quickly taser someone without a second thought.
Years ago, a single handed cop would have the training to subdue a violent man, say, holding a large axe all by himself without the use of lethal force. In contrast, police now seem to deliberately do what they can to provoke the worst in people so force can be deployed. This really is not surprising since most of today’s cops tend to be generally ego maniacs, arrogant, bullies, and control freaks. This type of person is what the police universe is now attracting. Those that do not exhibit these traits tend not to work as a cop for very long. They use their police training and status to advance into some other speciality, say, Insurance Investigation, or Fraud. These "good cops" are not the norm, yet they used to be many decades ago. The police “rejects” seem to find employment at Canada Border Services, VPD, or BC Transit. Any place where they can abuse their authority. Perhaps this is why Transit is in favor of tasering fare evaders.
At present, most police forces, particularly the RCMP are in dire straits and they’ll hire almost anyone. It’s a tragedy. The organization is in complete chaos. Independent Parliament ordered investigations have shown this. Mayorthorpe Alberta is just one example, as is the Pension Scandal, and various other incidents including those involving taser use which the media has brought attention. However, these are only a few situations that have captured the media limelight yet are symptomatic of how poorly mismanaged and dysfunctional the RCMP is.
If anyone is so delusional or brainwashed into thinking only criminals or those that do something illegal get tasered, you’re in need of some serious psychiatry. One day you may become a taser victim. Remember, karma can be a real bitch.
The bottom line on taser use: There is a place for tasers and it is the last thing before you have to shoot somebody. End of story.
Peace