Calgary officers told not to aim Taser at suspects' chests

CALGARY - Calgary police officers will no longer aim their Tasers at a suspect's chest when possible, following new guidelines issued by the weapons manufacturer.

In a Sept. 30 bulletin, Taser International called on users to avoid "chest shots when possible" and instead aim for the abdomen or lower when deploying the weapon to avoid "the controversy about whether(Tasers) do or do not affect the human heart."

The manufacturer says the risk of a heart attack in connection with a Taser discharge is low, but if it happened after the weapon hit the chest area, it would place police and the company in the "difficult situation" of trying to determine what role, if any, the weapon had on the cardiac arrest.

In the bulletin, Taser International instructed users to aim for the abdomen, back or legs.

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson sent a memo to the rank-and-file Wednesday, announcing the change to targeting.

"Clearly there has been more and more medical research that has been conducted that has caused a change in this target," he said.

There are no plans to stop the use of the energy weapon, he said.

"Absolutely, we will continue to use it as a tool because it's incredibly effective when dealing with highly combative or disturbed individuals."

The president of the Alberta Civil Liberties Association said Taser's bulletin acknowledges the weapons may cause serious injuries.

"We have to recognize these are dangerous weapons," Stephen Jenuth said. "We know electrical currents can stop hearts. Medical opinion is pretty unanimous on that."

Jenuth said he believes police should not be armed with Tasers, saying they should only be used in circumstances where a life is at risk.

Last year, Calgary officers used their Tasers 87 times--deploying the weapon 73 times and using only the laser illumination to gain compliance 14 times.

So far this year, the weapons have been used 69 times, 45 of those were deployments, said field training coordinator Staff Sgt. Chris Butler.

Butler said officers will aim for the diaphragm or lower whenever possible from this point forward.

"In circumstances where members have discretionary time and they have time to intentionally target . . . they should take all possible measures they can to avoid intentionally targeting the chest area,"

However, Butler said, where the probes land--even if carefully aimed -- is often beyond the control of the officer considering offenders are moving at the time a Taser is deployed.

"Even if the officer's intent is to put the laser dot on the abdomen and fire the Taser, by the time the darts actually impact the subject's body, it could be in a different position," Butler said.

Meanwhile, the province has completed testing on all of the Tasers used by municipal forces in Alberta.

In the second round of tests, 970 of the weapons were examined to see if they were meeting manufacturer's specifications. Of those, 88 -- about nine per cent--were operating outside of specifications, said Solicitor General spokeswoman Michelle Davio.

In the first round of testing, about 12 per cent of the weapons failed to operate as specified.

Those found not to comply have been returned to police departments who will decide to get rid of the weapons or fix them.

If they choose to repair the Tasers, they will have to be retested before being put back into use, Davio said.

The province is continuing to work on ongoing testing protocols for the weapons.

Rules announced in July stipulate all Tasers used by police in the province, including RCMP, will have to be tested yearly.

The regulations also restrict police in Alberta to using Tasers only when there is a "real likelihood of injury" to a person being arrested, a bystander or an officer.

Alberta Taser probe reaches no findings

May 14, 2009
By Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald

The judge presiding over a fatality inquiry into the death of a Red Deer man who was Tasered by Mounties has made no recommendations, saying the manner of death is inconclusive.

The lack of recommendations has frustrated the family of Jason Wayne Doan, 28. They were hoping the judge would at least make directions on officer training when it comes to Taser use.

"We were disappointed there were no recommendations for further training and procedures,"said Doan's aunt, Lorraine Macleod.

During testimony in December, the inquiry heard Doan was under stress -- unemployed and having custody issues over his three-year-old daughter--leading up to the incident on Aug. 10, 2006.

He was acting in a bizarre manner that day, shouting profanities and damaging vehicles, prompting people to make complaints to the RCMP.

Doan was punched, kicked and struck with a baton before he was Tasered three times by police officers.

In her report released Wednesday, provincial court Judge Monica Bast said that after Doan was handcuffed, he went into cardiac arrest. A doctor testified they were able to get a heartbeat again, but Doan never showed any neurological response. He died in hospital three weeks later.

Bast wrote that the question of what caused the cardiac arrest could not be concluded, but said the most likely cause was excited delirium.

Excited delirium is not a recognized medical diagnosis, but a condition or state a person is found in, an expert testified during the hearing.

Dr. Christine Hall testified underlying causes can include drugs, psychiatric illnesses or alcohol withdrawal.

Bast said "no underlying medical diagnosis could be identified as being the actual trigger that put Doan into a state of excited delirium."

But, because it could not be concluded Doan's death was a result of excited delirium, Bast said she could not make any recommendations.

Alberta's Civil Liberties Association president Stephen Jenuth blasted the judge's decision not to offer any directions, calling it a wasted opportunity.

Having gone to the trouble to hold the inquiry, Jenuth said even if there is a hint a Taser is related to the death, that is enough to lead to recommendations.

"If there's a possibility a Taser caused a death, then there ought to be recommendations to deal with it," he said.

Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear said it is open to each judge whether to make recommendations or not, but it is easy to see why a judge would be reluctant to when the cause of death is not clear.

"When the goal is to prevent a similar event, they may find it difficult (to make recommendations) when it is not clear what caused the event in the first place," he said.

Doan's family had hoped for recommendations around training, saying the Taser was deployed before the situation had been assessed.

"We feel that training would have prevented this from happening," Macleod said. "In the old days, the RCMP used their skills to talk to people who were upset or emotion-ally out of control. We feel the Taser was used too quickly."

But they also wanted the public to know that Doan was not on drugs, had not been drinking and was not "crazy."

"We do know who Jason was," Macleod said.

"We would just like the world to know Jason was not the person the RCMP tried to portray."

The family has filed a wrongful-death suit against a number of individuals and organizations.

Their claim has not been proven in court.

Alberta to test all 700 Tasers - Study finds about 12% malfunctioned

"In all, more than 400 from Alberta were tested and results showed 50 were not operating as they should."

April 23, 2009
By Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald

The Alberta government has ordered the testing of all municipal police Tasers after a preliminary investigation found more than one in 10 were malfunctioning, a source tells the Herald.

Initial testing on roughly 400 stun guns was completed at the end of March and results showed about 12 per cent of the Tasers were functioning outside of the manufacturer's specifications.

About 60 per cent of those tested were performing below specifications. The province will now test the remaining Tasers -- about 700 more -- the source said.

How concerned Albertans should be about the safety of the weapons will become clear today when the province details how the Tasers are malfunctioning.

Mount Royal College criminologist Doug King said if the malfunctions are minor and don't have the potential to harm either the officer or the person being Tasered, then the rate of malfunction is irrelevant.

"Not all malfunctioning is bad or will lead to people Tasered being inappropriately harmed," he said.

But the president of the Alberta Civil Liberties Association said the results do raise the question about whether Tasers are safe, particularly in light of the fact that even newer models were found to not be operating properly.

"I don't know which is more frightening:that they're buying Tasers that didn't work from the beginning or Tasers sit on a shelf, get old and break down," Stephen Jenuth said.

The province announced in December it would be joining other provinces and the RCMP in having an independent company test model X-26 Tasers acquired prior to Jan. 1,2006,over concerns their voltage could be exceeding the manufacturer's specifications.

The government also sent more than 70 newer models to be examined.

In all, more than 400 from Alberta were tested and results showed 50 were not operating as they should.

Of those, 42 were older models and eight were newer.

The safety of Tasers has been under the microscope, especially following the high-profile case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski who died at the Vancouver airport on Oct. 14, 2007, after he was hit by a stun gun five times. An inquiry is underway in Vancouver examining the incident.

In Alberta, a fatality inquiry has already been held into the death of Red Deer's Jason Doan, who was jolted three times by a Taser as RCMP officers tried to subdue him in Au-gust 2006. He died three weeks later in hospital after going into cardiac arrest following the Taser deployments.

The judge has yet to release his findings in the case.

Across the country, more than 25 people have died after they were Tasered.

Jenuth said it is essential the province implements ongoing testing for the stun guns--a move the Alberta government has already said it is examining-- to ensure Tasers remain working properly.

"If you're going to use them, you'd better test them,"he said, "especially with a better than one in 10 malfunction rate."

However, he commended the province for taking the additional step of having all the remaining Tasers tested.

Compared to other provinces, the percentage of malfunctioning Tasers from Alberta is about the same.

In B. C., eight Tasers used by police forces and corrections workers were found to be malfunctioning and will be destroyed or repaired.

A total of 82 stun guns were tested for a 10 per cent failure rate.

A similar rate was seen in Quebec where 52 model X-26 Tasers were tested and five were expected to be destroyed after malfunctioning.

Alberta had more of the devices tested than any other jurisdiction.

Those found not to be functioning properly will be returned and individual police services will decide whether to destroy the stun guns or return them to the manufacturer for repairs. If they are repaired, they will have to be retested before they can go back into service.

Taser victims stunned multiple times, says report

November 26, 2008
Tanya Foubert, For The Calgary Herald

RCMP Officers in Canmore and Banff are stunning people with Tasers multiple times to gain compliance, according to an investigation by the Rocky Mountain Outlook.

Documents obtained through the Access to Information Act reveal that since 2005, when reporting all uses of the weapon was mandated for officers, RCMP in both Banff and Canmore have used Tasers on stun mode multiple times, on average 40 per cent of the time.

Records indicate Lake Louise RCMP, on the other hand, since 2005 have drawn the weapon eight times but have never deployed it.

In light of the deaths of two men in Alberta after being Tasered, Alberta's Civil Liberties Association president Stephen Jenuth says use of the weapons should cease. "I do not think Tasers are needed," Jenuth said. "The idea is to use an electrical device to mess up body chemistry to gain compliance. Sometimes what is really required is good policing, but the Taser is often used."

The Calgary-based lawyer said his concern about the Taser is that instead of being used only in extreme situations when an officer's life is in danger, it is also commonly used by officers to gain compliance, much like a cattle prod. "It is the first line of response (for police) and it takes away the necessity to use any other training we give officers," Jenuth said.

Staff Sgt. Shannon Johnson in Canmore and Wayne Wiebe in Banff said they could not comment on the data because of RCMP policy. RCMP use of force co-ordinator Cpl. Greg Gillis said Tasers in stun mode are specifically designed to gain compliance from aggressive or combative people and officers are permitted to use them multiple times.

Last year, the weapon was drawn by Alberta RCMP officers a total of 379 times. It was used only 283 times and in 129 of those incidents it was used multiple times.

Team called in to probe Taser use

November 3, 2008
Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald

A provincial team of investigators is now examining a city Taser incident that left a break-in suspect in critical condition, as the head of Alberta's civil liberties organization calls for police to stop using the weapons.

Members of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team were out Sunday morning at a duplex in the 500 block of 42nd Street S.E. as part of their investigation into the incident that unfolded Saturday night.

Around 8:15 that evening, a neighbour, who did not want her name published, said she noticed a stranger across the street. He ran toward the duplex, stopped and leaned on her husband's car to catch his breath.

He was incoherent when he tried to say something to her husband, who was outside their home, she said, adding she believed the stranger was high on drugs.

Her husband came inside, locked the door and called police, while the suspect went into the yard and tried to break into the family's shed.

"He was stuck in our backyard. He was trying to hide between our shed and fence," the woman said. "He wasn't interested in stealing, he was more interested in hiding away." As her husband was on the phone with police, she heard the sound of glass shattering. "He went busting through the basement window (of the other half of the duplex)," she said.

Officers found the man in the basement of the vacant home. He was reportedly agitated and not following commands, so a Taser was used. He was arrested, but then went into medical distress, said duty inspector Vic Trickett.

The man was last reported in critical condition after he was taken to hospital.

The witness said the suspect appeared to have been badly cut by the glass.

Neighbours said the family living there previously had sold the home and were preparing it for the new owners. No one was occupying the south half of the duplex at the time of the incident.

Robin Crane, who lives next door to the duplex, said she heard the sound of something dragging Saturday night, but didn't investigate.

She said the previous owners moved out at the end of August.

The Serious Incident Response Team is also investigating a Taser fatality in Edmonton last week. The team, which was launched by the province on Jan. 1, investigates incidents when the actions of officers may have seriously injured or killed a person.

On Wednesday, a 38-year-old Edmonton man died after police used a Taser on him to stop his rampage.

A Taser was fired twice, but Trevor Grimolfson continued to resist arrest before he was handcuffed and then lost consciousness, officials said. He was pronounced dead at hospital.

Calgary police officers have used Tasers since September 2005.

A report released this summer examining use-of-force showed batons cause the greatest injury, while Tasers "scored high" in safety for both officers and suspects.

The Canadian Police Research Centre report -- which examined 562 cases where Calgary police used pepper spray, batons, Tasers or other techniques against those resisting arrest -- found Tasers were used in nearly half of all resisting-arrest cases. However, only one per cent of suspects were hospitalized.

Some 87 per cent of suspects sustained minor injuries or were not injured at all.

Duty inspector Keith Cain said Taser usage is not unusual and there is a policy governing their use.

"If we have an assaultive person --they're either violent towards somebody or something, verbally indicate they're violent or do physically assault (someone) -- that's when this level of force is authorized."

The president of the Alberta Civil Liberties Association said officers should not be equipped with Tasers. "They're used as a shortcut," Stephen Jenuth said. "Too often, a Taser -- a weapon associated with serious injury or death -- is used in cases where someone is not obeying commands and co-operating."

Next month, a fatality inquiry will examine the events around the death of a Red Deer man who was shocked with a Taser in August 2006. Jason Doan, 28, died three weeks later of heart failure. The Doan family's lawyer will make submissions on how similar incidents can be prevented in the future.