The law enforcement community maintains that their use is a non lethal tool, vital to preventing injury and death. Human rights groups claim that they are dangerous and potentially life threatening. The device is known as a “Taser.”
Yesterday, Arizona based stun gun-maker Taser International Inc., filed a motion to quash a Canadian report which recommended that their use be restricted.
The report titled the Braidwood inquiry, was begun the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski who was shot six times with the device, after a confrontation with police at Vancouver International Airport in 2007. The exact cause of his death has never been determined.
The Braidwood report concluded that the weapon which delivers an electric shock of up to 1 million volts, poses a risk to the human heart. Taser International protested that the findings ignored Taser International’s own evidence that no one has been killed by their use. This assertion has been made even though the company’s own product safety warning admits that the device presents “a degree of risk that someone will get hurt or may even be killed”during its use.
Human rights group Amnesty International maintains that the use of Tasers by law enforcement agencies in the USA has led to the deaths of suspects. The group also has called for a suspension of their use, pending an inquiry into their safety. The group maintains that the use of tasers represents cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture.
The Canadian case carries legal implications for the American company, in that there are several pending lawsuits in the US which surround the improper use of the device. The most recent lawsuit, involves the use of a Taser on an 86 year old bedridden woman, by police in El Reno, Oklahoma.
© 2010 Craig Portwood
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