Judge releases cellblock video of alleged mistreatment by Ottawa police

July 28, 2011
Steve Rennie, Canadian Press (via Globe and Mail)

A cellblock video has been released that captures the arrest of a woman who claims Ottawa police injured and strip-searched her before leaving her naked in a cell without medical attention.

Roxanne Carr was arrested and charged with assaulting police, obstructing police and damaging property in 2008. Those charges were dropped in April.

She is now suing the police department over their treatment of her during her arrest.

Several media outlets, including The Canadian Press, went to court to have the video released. Last week, an Ontario Court judge agreed to release the footage, but court workers couldn't find the video in the case file. A duplicate copy was released Thursday.

The incident is broken up into 26 video clips showing Ms. Carr's arrest from several different angles.

In the videos, officers drag a handcuffed Ms. Carr, who is wearing a black tank top and dark pants, from a police car through the hallways of the cellblock.

Ms. Carr's arms are cuffed behind her back. She does not appear to resist.

Two officers hold her by the elbows and lead her into a room with a counter. They lower her head-first onto the floor. Her head comes off the floor and falls back onto it as they shift her body.

She is lying face down when the officers remove her handcuffs. Then, they take two objects from her hair or neck and toss them onto a nearby counter. One officer kneels on Ms. Carr's back as the police wrap a strap around her arms. They then hoist her to her feet and walk her to a cell.

The videos do not have any sound.

There is no camera inside Ms. Carr's cell. At one point, a white gown is tossed from one of the cells. Later, an officer leads Ms. Carr, who is now wearing a white gown, from her cell to retrieve her clothes from a bin. She gets changed in another room.

The video shows Ms. Carr, again in the black shirt and pants, standing at a counter signing documents. She leaves the cellblock, stops in a stairwell to put her hair in a ponytail, and leaves the station.

It is not clear from the videos if she is in any pain.

She claims her arm was broken during the arrest and that she was dropped on her head.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

“It's clear from the video that there's not an instance, not a muscle of resistance. And despite that, there's six police officers hog-tying her and then leading her on a leash to the cell, taking her clothes and leaving her naked for at least an hour,” said Lawrence Greenspon, Carr's lawyer.

“It's a very disturbing video. I shudder to think if people treat people like this when they know they're on video, how do they treat people when they know they're not?”

In a statement released this week, Ottawa Police Acting Chief Gilles Larochelle noted the Ontario Special Investigations Unit and the Ottawa Police Service's Professional Standards Unit both probed the incident and did not lay charges or find any misconduct.

“I am satisfied that cellblock officers handled the custody of Roxanne Carr with the utmost professionalism, especially when faced with a crisis in the cell,” Mr. Larochelle's statement says.

The Carr case has similarities to another case in which an Ottawa police officer was charged with sexual assault after a woman's much-publicized arrest.

The Special Investigations Unit was called in after video showed a special constable kneeing Stacy Bonds while she was being booked at police headquarters Sept. 6, 2008.

The video also showed male officers holding Ms. Bonds down while another officer cut off her clothes the night she was arrested for a liquor offence.

Ms. Bonds was subsequently charged with assaulting a police officer, but Ontario Court Justice Richard Lajoie stayed proceedings in her case after seeing the video.

Other elements of the Ms. Bonds video, along with several other videos showing different cases of alleged police brutality, are still under investigation by various agencies.

The disgrace of Ottawa’s Third World police force

July 22, 2011
Chris Selley, National Post

On Tuesday, a judge ordered the release of police video that, according to Roxanne Carr, shows her being roughed up and left naked in a cell by Ottawa police officers. The ruling came over strong protests from both police and the Crown, and with the support of both Ms. Carr and local media outlets, who argued, correctly, that the public needs to see what happened in the lockup — not least because the charges against Ms. Carr have inexplicably been dropped (likely because of what’s on the tape, the judge concluded). It’s especially important to see the video because the local police have gained a reputation for doing to people exactly the sort of thing Ms. Carr alleges was done to her. Indeed, one of the officers she accuses has been charged with sexually assaulting another woman while she was in police custody in 2008.

Unfortunately, in what an Ottawa Citizen editorial called a “weird twist,” the DVD in question has gone missing from the court file. Shucks, don’t you just hate it when that happens? There are other copies, of course, but it’s not like the Crown or the police would just release theirs without a fight. Sure, we pay all their salaries, and for the cellblock and the camera. And Ms. Carr wants the tape released. And there’s no conceivable reason for either party not to release the tape except that it would embarrass or implicate themselves.
But who knows how trustworthy those copies might be? In court, police lawyers argued the missing DVD raised questions as to the video’s “integrity.” Well, sure. A nefarious defence attorney might have somehow gained access to the copies and CGI-ed in a police officer dropping a grand piano on Ms. Carr’s head, for example, or chasing her around the cellblock with a flamethrower. You can do amazing things with a laptop these days.

To be fair, this isn’t necessarily a sad-sack coverup. The video might have been innocently mislaid. Maybe they’ll find it behind a radiator somewhere, its “integrity” hopefully intact. But if you read about, say, the Russian or Indonesian justice system misplacing a video that could implicate a favoured member of society in the mistreatment of a less favoured member, and then the prosecution and the police refused to provide their copies, would you assume everything was on the level? I’d think not.

In the aftermath of the G20, we all know the extraordinary lengths to which police forces and officers will go to spare their fellows even the lenient punishments they usually face for doing wrong. And the recent scandal over police helping Crown prosecutors vet jury members confirms the two are very interested in preserving each other’s reputations. Knowing what we know about the Ottawa police and its recent record, this thing smells to high heaven.

But assume whatever chain of events you want. What’s missing from this story is a sense of panic, of utter mortification. Everyone involved in the chain of custody, and everyone involved in the case (other than the defence and Ms. Carr) should be frantic with worry. None should sleep until an answer is discovered. The judge should be apoplectic. Jobs should be on the line. Canada’s justice system isn’t the same as Russia’s or Indonesia’s. That’s why it’s so awful when it looks the same.

The nonchalance is baffling. As much as people still call police, and rightfully trust them, in a crisis, there is a growing sense among law-and-order types that police really aren’t on their side — that they’re just another self-interested public-sector union, albeit more heavily armed. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who’s as cartoonish a cop-lover as you’ll find, has discovered that cutting police complements, salaries and perquisites might be a pretty easy sell.

If we aren’t in a full-blown crisis of confidence in Canadian policing and justice, we’re heading towards one, and nobody seems intent on stopping it. Police forces should count on politicians not even trying to stop it until it’s far too late, then concluding it’s not worth it and throwing the cops under the bus. Releasing the cellblock video might help the Ottawa police claw back a bit of respect.

National Post
cselley@nationalpost.com

'Bad attitude' led to violence, Ottawa defence lawyers say - Public will be 'shocked,' police chief warns

November 26, 2010
By Andrew Seymour, The Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa police officers displayed a "bad attitude" from the very beginning of a controversial cell block video showing Stacy Bonds being kneed, pinned to the floor and stripped of her shirt and bra, the head of Ottawa's defence lawyers association said Thursday.

"She is the smallest person in the room and the officers losing control of themselves in the situation so quickly is very concerning," said Doug Baum. "Why was there such initial roughness? Why the knee strikes?

"There was a bad attitude here that led to violence and improper procedure," said Baum.

The video was obtained exclusively by the Citizen Thursday following the newspaper's application for access to it.

The video, which shows Bonds treatment in the cells following her arrest on Sept. 26, 2008, was central to Ontario Court Justice Richard Lajoie's decision last month to stay charges against her of assaulting police. The judge halted the case against Bonds, finding Ottawa police arrested her unlawfully and called her subsequent treatment in the cells and the strip search a "travesty" and an "indignity."

Lajoie released the video to the Citizen under conditions the newspaper not publish or put on the Internet any portions of the video which showed Bonds' partially exposed breast or her attempts to cover herself with her arm and what remains of her tattered shirt and bra as she is led into a cell.

One of her lawyers, Natasha Calvinho, said Bonds did not oppose the release of the video, but wanted her integrity and privacy protected by the court. Calvinho said Bonds was a "victim" and feared the release of "humiliating" portions of the video would force her to relive what happened.

"To have it played over and over again on a webpage or on television just furthers the indignity of what these police officers did to her," said Calvinho.

The Crown also didn't oppose the video's release.

The Citizen was the city's only media organization to argue before the judge for a release of the videotape.

"Publication and broadcast of the video is vital for a full accounting and understanding of what happened to Ms. Bonds. It's a very important issue to the Citizen," said Editor-in-Chief Gerry Nott.

In the video, which has no audio and was shot just before 6:30 a.m. on the day of her arrest, Bonds can be seen being led through the police holding-cell area. The 27-year-old theatrical makeup artist with no criminal record does not appear to be resisting or aggressive.

Another camera angle then shows her being brought to a booking desk, where she can be seen turning around and appearing to be speak to the officers.

Bonds, whose hands had been cuffed behind her back, has her right arm come free from the handcuffs, prompting one of the officer's to put her in a wrist lock.

That's when special constable Melanie Morris knees Bonds twice in the back of the leg. Bonds' head is violently jerked backwards by the hair several times before she is forced forward against the counter.

Bonds' shoes are then removed and is searched. During an overhead camera view of that search, one of the officers can be seen sticking their hand down the back of Bonds' pants.

It's at that point Bonds appears to mule-kick Morris in the leg. A frame-by-frame playing of the video appears to show four kicks before two of the three male officers at the counter take Bonds to the floor, one of them grabbing her by the arm while the second tightly holds her neck and trips her with his leg.

That's when Sgt. Steve Desjourdy joins the three male officers. He picks up a plastic riot shield and places it across Bonds' legs. Desjourdy and Morris testified at trial she had been flailing her legs around.

Morris, limping noticeably, leans on a garbage can and then a wall before walking out of the frame.

Desjourdy leaves and goes to another desk, where he appears to put on a pair of goggles. He goes down a hallway and returns with a pair of scissors in his hand.

Desjourdy is then seen cutting away Bonds' shirt and bra as she lies prone on the floor.

Morris returns and at one point removes a black leather glove and appears to indicate an area on her leg.

The riot shield is then moved to cover Bonds' face, possibly to prevent her from spitting on the officers. Bonds does not appear to be resisting at any time.

Her bare back visible, Bonds is eventually lifted by the four male officers, her arm across her chest holding what remained of her tattered clothing in an attempt to prevent herself from being completely exposed.

Another camera angle, which is covered by the publication ban, shows Bonds being led down a hallway to a holding cell with nothing but her arm and the small piece of fabric covering her chest. The side of her breast is briefly exposed at one point.

Morris, the female officer, can be seen tearing away what's left of Bonds' shirt and bra before putting her in a cell with the help of the male officers.

Bonds, who had soiled herself, is then left half-naked and in dirty pants for at least three hours and 15 minutes before eventually being provided a pair of coveralls -- an outcome Lajoie attributed to the vengeance and malice of the officers.

There is no video of Bonds receiving the coveralls, however, and the next available video shows an officer standing outside the cell for several seconds before a now-clothed Bonds emerges just after 11:30 a.m.

Bonds had been walking home on Rideau Street in the early morning hours when she was stopped by police. An officer later claimed she had an open bottle in her hand, although Bonds denied that was the case and no bottle was ever seized by police.

An officer ran her name through a police computer and found nothing, so they told her to keep walking home. When she turned back to question why they had stopped her in the first place, she was arrested for public intoxication -- an arrest Lajoie found unlawful at trial -- and taken to police headquarters.

Her lawyer at trial, Matthew Webber, said the video is "indisputable" evidence of an "egregious" violation of Bonds' Charter rights.

"What it shows is a compliant accused coming into the station, not resisting. She could have posed absolutely no risk to any reasonable thinking person," said Webber. "It's an utterly inexplicable and unjustifiable use of extreme force."

In a statement released Thursday, police Chief Vern White said he understood Ottawa residents "will be shocked" by the video, but couldn't comment further because the matter is under a sexual assault investigation by the province's Special Investigations Unit. White, who asked for the public's "understanding and patience" while that investigation was under way, immediately ordered an internal investigation into the actions of the officers following the judge's decision.

Nathalie DesRosiers, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said that was the right move.

"To the extent that she had no prior criminal record and was not obviously dangerous, the use of force and the way it is presented seems to be unwarranted," DesRosiers said after seeing the video. "Certainly, the cutting of the bra and the way in which it was done appeared to be another misconduct."

DesRosiers said the police reaction appeared excessive, especially when the four male officers appear to be "ganging up" on Bonds.

"You don't expect police violence of that sort unless they are in danger," she said. "They can only use reasonable force if it proportionate and warranted by the circumstances. In this case ... it seemed unreasonable force for the circumstances."

Baum said he was shocked by the initial attitude of the officers.

"She is not being escorted into the cell block, she is being yanked and pulled," said Baum, adding there was no apparent justification for the subsequent knees or strip search that followed.

In an opinion article on the Citizen's Arguments page today, the past president of the Ontario bar association, James Morton, concludes "for the sake of all Canadians a case like that of Stacy Bonds must never be allowed to happen again."

"The Stacy Bonds case shows a Canadian being mistreated by police in the nation's capital. Compounding the wrongful behaviour was the laying of charges for the apparent purpose of covering up misconduct," he writes in the opinion article.

OP-ED - How is it that people whose job it is to see justice done acted so unjustly?

November 26, 2010
James Morton, Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — Stacy Bonds, a young black makeup artist with no criminal history was arrested by Ottawa police, apparently for asking why police had stopped her for questioning. A video of her treatment in police custody is now available on the Citizen’s website, ottawacitizen.com.

The facts of Bonds’s treatment bear repeating. She was walking on Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa. She was neither drunk nor behaving inappropriately. The police stopped her and asked her name; she provided it.

After checking her name and finding nothing, the police told her she could go on her way. Bonds, as is her perfect right, asked why she had been stopped in the first place.

In response, the police arrested her for public intoxication and handcuffed her. As Ontario Court Judge Richard Lajoie later held, Bonds was not drunk. Once Bonds was taken to Ottawa Police headquarters, the judge noted that she was anything but “violent or aggressive.”

As can be clearly seen in the video, Bonds is much smaller than the police who confronted her.

In spite of the lack of violence or aggression, Bonds was assaulted by police. Judge Lajoie found she was the victim of “two extremely violent knee hits in the back ... and has her hair pulled back and her face shoved forward.”

Although it is hard to see exactly what happened afterwards because one police officer is blocking the video camera, it appears that a female police officer hurt her leg; she is seen limping in a later part of the video. Perhaps that injury explains what appears to be increasing hostility as the video continues. Bonds was forced to the ground with a riot shield — though she was “not resisting with hands flailing or feet flailing,” the judge said — and subjected to a strip search. The video shows four male officers and one female officer taking part in, or watching, as Bonds was forced to the ground.

Judge Lajoie severely criticized police actions at the station, saying it was “an indignity toward a human being and should be denounced.”

As a prosecutor and as a defence lawyer I have heard numerous complaints about police misconduct.

I have argued cases where an accused, charged with assaulting police, claims to have been the victim of police violence. Such claims have until now, I am afraid to admit, usually rung hollow with me. To be blunt, I did not believe them. I know that police have a difficult job. Police are often faced with violent, intoxicated individuals who have no regard for the truth and who will say whatever they think will get them out of trouble.

It is all too easy to assume that complaints about police brutality are false claims made to avoid the consequences of criminal wrongdoing. However, the Stacy Bonds case shows a Canadian being mistreated by police in the nation’s capital. Compounding the wrongful behaviour was the laying of charges for the apparent purpose of covering up misconduct.

How many “assault police” charges are merely trumped up for the purpose of concealing official wrongdoing? Put otherwise, absent a video recording, would Bonds have had a fair hearing?

The likely answer is depressing.

There is a malaise in the system. How could five police officers have taken part in the brutalization of Stacy Bonds and then allowed charges for “assault police” to go ahead? How could a Crown Attorney have failed to stay charges on seeing the video? More generally, how is it that people whose job it is to see justice done acted so unjustly? The system as a whole takes a beating when abuse occurs. Trust in the system is eroded.

To fix the problems the Bonds case uncovered will be difficult.

Yes, videotaping all police/citizen interactions will help and should be mandated. More broadly, a new professionalism is required in the justice system.

A free nation does not fear intimidation by police or the state. A free people can ask “why” when stopped by police. An honourable police force is not afraid to explain its actions to the people it is there to protect. Nelson Mandela rightly said, “I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.” For the sake of all Canadians a case like that of Stacy Bonds must never be allowed to happen again.

James Morton is a Toronto lawyer and past president of the Ontario Bar Association. He teaches evidence at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. The opinions expressed here are solely his own.

Ottawa police strip search video released

November 26, 2010
CBC News

A judge has released a portion of surveillance video showing the controversial strip search of a woman by Ottawa police officers in September 2008.

The video shows Stacy Bonds, 27, being forced to the ground and pinned by four police officers before having her bra cut off. Justice Richard Lajoie, of the Ontario Court of Justice, released the video to the Ottawa Citizen after the newspaper filed an application.

Bonds was strip searched after being arrested on Rideau Street for public intoxication — a charge stayed by Lajoie in a verbal ruling issued on Oct. 27.

The video shows four police officers leading Bonds into a cell area at the Elgin Street police headquarters.

When Bonds doesn't immediately turn to face the table-area, a female officer knees her twice in the upper leg, then grabs the woman's hair and forces her into place.

Bonds is held by at least one of her wrists by a male officer as the female officer removes her boots. The video then shows an officer reaching into the pocket of Bonds's pants and pulling out a handful of change, which is thrown onto a table.

At one point, Bonds kicks behind her, catching the female officer in the leg. The officer limps out of the frame, and another male officer can be seen entering the room.

Four male police officers force Bonds to the ground and place a riot shield over her legs.

A male officer leaves the room and returns with a box. He then cuts the back of Bonds's shirt and bra, leaving her back exposed. The female officer stands over Bonds, but does not appear to assist in the search.

The close to seven-minute video posted by the Ottawa Citizen ends with Bonds being lifted to her feet with her cut shirt still around her arms and covering the front part of her body.

In his Oct. 27 ruling, Lajoie said the officers left Bonds alone in a jail cell "half naked and having soiled her pants" after the search.

"That is why videos have become so important," Lajoie said.

"They provide us with these extra details that put meat to simple words that are spoken by witnesses."

Ongoing investigation

"I understand that Ottawa residents will be shocked by the video," said Ottawa police Chief Vern White in a media statement released Thursday.

White said he could not comment further due to an ongoing probe by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit.

White said the police force is "co-operating fully" with the SIU and has launched its own internal investigation.

The SIU is investigating whether Bonds was sexually assaulted while in custody.

"The key points are Justice Lajoie's comments regarding the strip search and the involvement of three male officers and the cutting off of the complainant's shirt and bra," said SIU spokeswoman Jasbir Brar. The SIU investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

Video shows Ottawa police cutting prisoner's bra

November 24, 2010
Andrew Seymour, Postmedia News

OTTAWA — Video of a wrongfully arrested Ottawa woman being kneed, pinned to the floor and her shirt and bra cut off with scissors has been released to the Ottawa Citizen.

The video of Stacy Bonds' treatment in the Ottawa police cells was central to Ontario Court Justice Richard Lajoie's decision on Oct. 27 to stay charges against her of assaulting police. The judge called her arrest and strip-search a "travesty."

In the video, which was recorded just before 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2008 and has no audio, Bonds can be seen being led through the police holding-cell area. The 27-year-old theatrical makeup artist with no criminal record does not appear to be resisting or aggressive.

Another camera angle then shows her being brought to a booking desk.

Bonds, who had been handcuffed, has her right arm come free from the handcuffs.

That's when Special Const. Melanie Morris knees Bonds twice in the leg and Bonds' head is violently jerked backward by the hair several times before she is forced forward against the counter.

Her shoes are then removed and she appears to be searched.

As she's restrained, Bonds appears to mule-kick Morris in her socked feet. Two of the three male officers at the counter then take her to the floor by the arm and the neck.

That's when Sgt. Steve Desjourdy joins the three male officers, picking up a plastic riot shield and placing it across Bonds' legs.

Morris, limping noticeably and appearing to be in obvious pain, leans on a garbage can and then a wall before walking out of the frame.

Desjourdy leaves and goes to another desk, where he appears to put on a pair of goggles. He goes down a hallway and returns with a pair of scissors in his hand.

Desjourdy is then seen cutting away Bonds' shirt and bra as she lies prone on the floor.

The riot shield is then moved to cover Bonds' face. Bonds does not appear to be resisting.

Her bare back exposed, Bonds is eventually lifted by the four male officers, her arm across her chest holding what remained of her clothing in an attempt to prevent herself from being exposed.

Lajoie put a publication ban on the next part of the video itself.

The judge had severely criticized the police officers' actions at the station, saying "there is no reasonable explanation . . . to have cut Ms. Bonds' shirt and bra off, and there is no reason, apart from vengeance and malice, to have left Ms. Bonds in the cell for a period of three hours and 15 minutes half-naked and having soiled her pants, before she received what is called a blue suit.

"That is an indignity toward a human being and should be denounced."

Bonds had been walking home on a downtown Ottawa street in the early morning hours of Sept. 26 when she was stopped by police.

An officer ran her name through a police computer and found nothing, so they told her to keep walking home. When she turned back to question why they had stopped her in the first place, she was arrested for public intoxication — an arrest Lajoie found unlawful — and taken to police headquarters.

In the earliest available video, which shows Bonds being led from a police cruiser to the cell area, she appears to be stumbling and having difficulty walking.

The province's Special Investigations Unit has since launched an investigation into the officers' conduct. Desjourdy is now subject to an internal investigation and has been banned from dealing with the public.

Officer’s unlawful actions revealed in detail

November 24, 2010
Gary Dimmock, The Ottawa Citizen

Days before Sgt. Steve Desjourdy was caught on videotape strip searching Stacy Bonds in the police station booking room, the Ottawa officer lost his temper with another female prisoner who was also kicked in the back, stripped of her clothing and tasered.

Desjourdy, a former spokesman for the Ottawa force, was in charge of the cell blocks on Sept. 2, 2008, when a female panhandler was arrested on Rideau Street for public intoxication and brought into detention.

Desjourdy watched the jailed prisoner from a closed-circuit television monitor and when she took her shirt off and tied it to the cell bars he expressed concern that she was going to hurt herself. He grabbed a Taser and approached the cell.

But according to an agreed statement of facts, harm came to her not from her own hand, rather by Desjourdy’s, who would later plead guilty to unlawful exercise of duty — a Police Services Act charge.

Desjourdy threatened to use the Taser on the woman if she didn’t calm down. So she obeyed, and the topless female prisoner knelt, with her back facing the locked cell door.

Desjourdy then entered the cell and proceeded to kick the kneeling woman in the back, knocking her into the cell’s stainless steel toilet. He kicked her a second time, then took a position on the cell’s bed with his Taser at the ready while a female officer came in and stripped off the rest of the woman’s clothes.

At this point, the female prisoner grabbed at Desjourdy’s leg — that’s when he tasered her twice.

Terence Kelly, a retired York Regional Police deputy chief who presided over the Police Services Act case, said in a report that described the incident that he gave Desjourdy what he termed a lighter sentence — three months demotion to constable — because Desjourdy showed “remorse” and pleaded guilty right away.

“The public must be confident that police officers will strive to set the example for those in the community. Anything short of this will be seen as a contradiction and serve no other purpose but to undermine the efforts of all police officers and the explicit goals of the service. An informed police officer possesses a sense of responsibility to the service of which he is part, and the community, which he serves,” Kelly wrote in the April 9, 2009, decision.

The hearing officer noted that being a police officer can be stressful and “on occasion unfortunately leads to a loss of temper.”

“It is unfortunate that when faced with this situation Sgt. Desjourdey (sic) would not have permitted himself to be guided by his better judgment; he must be understanding of human failings and yet, for the good of the police … he must be tolerant of improper actions of prisoners under his care. It is clear from the evidence presented in this tribunal that he had all the necessary assistance to control this situation,” Kelly wrote. And, after 90 days, Desjourdy was reinstated as a sergeant.

Unbeknownst to the office of Chief Vern White, days after the Sept. 2, 2008, case described by Kelly, Desjourdy would use a pair of scissors and commit what a Ottawa judge last month branded as an unlawful strip search and an “indignity.”

On Sept. 26, 2008, Desjourdy cut the shirt and bra off a 27-year-old theatrical makeup artist named Stacy Bonds in the booking room of the police cell block. Bonds, who has no criminal record, had also been arrested on Rideau Street.

Ontario Court Justice Richard Lajoie said last month that not only was Bonds not drunk, but that he didn’t want to play any part in the case against Bonds, who was charged with assaulting police during her “unlawful” strip search.

Lajoie stayed the assault charge, calling it a travesty. He also described police treatment of Bonds as an “indignity” and condemned the officers involved as malicious.

Desjourdy is now under investigation by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit for alleged sexual assault against Bonds, who is now considering suing the police. She has told the Citizen that she felt as though she had been “mentally and verbally raped.”

She said she was simply walking home from an after-hours party when police stopped her on Rideau Street. They asked her name, ran it and came up with nothing and told her she was free to go. But she turned back and asked why she was stopped. “They wouldn’t even give me their names,” she recalled.

And when she questioned them, they arrested her for public intoxication.

White said last week that his officers have no authority to arrest citizens for public intoxication unless they pose a risk.

Desjourdy joined the Ottawa Police Service 12 years ago. Before joining the Ottawa force, he was a member of the MRC des Collines police force in the Outaouais. White has banned him from dealing with the public while he is under investigation.

Policing police no simple matter

November 24, 2010
Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA-There are 64 cells in the Ottawa police station, monitored by 89 video cameras.

And soon, possibly, an array of microphones.

A senior police officer said Tuesday the force is investigating the option of adding audio recording to the “prisoner processing area” of the cell block.

Supt. Mike Flanagan was careful to point out the initiative began in the summer and is not a reaction to the Stacy Bonds case, which broke last week with a judge’s stinging condemnation.

An outside agency has been called in to investigate how a woman walking down Rideau Street, possibly sipping on a beer, ends up arrested, strip-searched, forcibly restrained, then left for hours in a cell in a dishevelled state, never to be convicted of anything.

The plan for audio recording is not a secret way to gather evidence on suspects or eavesdrop on cell conversations, he said, but should be viewed as an “enhancement” of existing video equipment. It is commonly used in other jurisdictions, he added.

“Our goal is to be as transparent as possible,” said Flanagan.

It is possible that it could be used to monitor the conduct of officers, just as the video is, and should raise the “standard of professionalism” on display.

How to discipline officers, including how to fire them, is much in the news these days. Outside the police services board meeting this week, Chief Vern White was addressing that very topic, just as he was assuring the board there would be accountability in the Bonds case.

It is, clearly, damage-control time. A day after reassuring the board, White was attending a meeting of taxi drivers, many of them upset with the acquittal of an off-duty police officer who was involved in a fight at the airport taxi stand that left the driver with broken bones.

White says he and other chiefs across Ontario would like more authority in the area of discipline, including the right to suspend officers without pay.

It is a contentious point.

The president of the Ottawa Police Association said he would oppose such a move, as it represents punishment before the officer has had an independent hearing on the grievance.

“You can’t jump to the conclusion that they’re guilty,” said Steve Boucher.

The Ontario government has legislated the rules for conduct under the Police Services Act and both sides have to live with them, said Boucher.

“Just like anywhere else, the workers need protection. They need protection from arbitrary discipline and arbitrary termination.”

Police, indeed, are in a special category. Unlike much of the private sector, where non-unionized employees are protected by labour laws but little else, police are both unionized and have a separate disciplinary protocol, as spelled out in the Act, for more serious infractions. At hearings, they are represented by lawyers — their bosses, in effect, can’t just up and fire them.

It is, in fact, quite difficult to dismiss a police officer.

In a force with more than 1,300 officers, there might only be one or two dismissals per year, with a handful of suspensions.

Even being charged with a crime — and convicted — is often not enough to get an officer tossed off the payroll.

For example:

A constable is charged with shoplifting, theft and uttering a threat after an incident in a Loblaws in 2004. He is found guilty in criminal court, given a 12-month conditional sentence. The force wanted to fire him. On appeal, he won his job back, but it took more than three years, during which time he was suspended with pay.

An Ottawa police officer admitted to stealing crack cocaine from a motorist he stopped and from the evidence room. He was ordered dismissed, but fought the decision. He was paid roughly $70,000 a year during his three-year suspension. In the end, his appeal failed. A newspaper access request found the force spent $59,000 to pursue the prosecution.

In May 2008, police went to the home of an officer, in response to a call about a possible domestic assault. The officer was a 20-year veteran. He fought police, was stunned by a Taser and later escaped custody. He was sentenced to two years’ probation and given the odd condition that he not possess any firearms, except in the course of his police duties. A disciplinary hearing led to his dismissal from the force. He is now appealing.

In a little over a month this year, two off-duty Ottawa police officers were charged with impaired driving. In one case, a motorist struck a pole and a parked car. It is believed both officers are still on the payroll.

White was visibly irked Monday evening with persistent questions about the Bonds case. It is hardly a leap to think he’d like to hoof a couple of derrieres and maybe take a badge away.

But, in policing the police, it isn’t that simple.

Matt Gurney: Ottawa cop doesn't learn from "learning experience" in brutality

November 18, 2010
Matt Gurney, National Post

On Wednesday, we heard about an Ottawa-woman subjected to an illegal arrest and a beating by Ottawa police officers for no apparent reason at all. After being stopped while walking to a friend’s house, and then let go, Stacy Bonds …

… stopped and asked them why they’d stopped her in the first place.

That got her handcuffed, thrown in the back of a cruiser and spirited off to the police station, where police pulled her hair, kneed her in the back a couple of times, slammed her to the ground with a riot shield, cut off her clothes and bra while a few male officers watched, and strip-searched her.

The Ottawa police are investigating themselves, of course, and we all know how those usually end up: An officer might be sent to bed without any supper. But it turns out that this isn’t the first time one of these officers has been involved in a case like this. Why am I not surprised?

Just four days before Bonds’ arrest, on Sept. 2, 2008, Sgt. Steven Desjourdy, one of the officers involved, used excessive force on an aggressive woman who he kicked and shocked with a Taser while in custody.

The details of the earlier case are somewhat different. In the first case, the woman was drunk and hostile and spat on a police officer. She later pleaded guilty to the charge of assaulting an officer. But still, the facts of the case were disturbing enough that Desjourdy was demoted to constable for 90 days, which the adjudicator called a significant punishment. Then the adjudicator had this to say:

“You’re obviously a very good police officer with an exceptional career. These things are a learning experience for us police officers.”

You know, I’m not an adjudicator, but I get the feeling that if the average citizen did to a cop what this cop has done to two women, the law enforcement community probably wouldn’t deem it an important learning experience. Why a police officer should get special dispensation to treat other people with brutality is a mystery. We entrust these people with law and order, to be enforced on our behalf, if necessary, with state-sanctioned violence. They owe us better than this.

Kelly McParland: Ottawa police brutalize lone, 100-pound female – and aren’t fired?

November 17, 2010
Kelly McParland, National Post

There are so many mind-boggling crimes in the world it’s easy to get immune to surprise. But there is something so mind-bogglingly stupid and commonplace about this particular case that it makes you wonder what home for the congenitally brain-dead Ottawa uses to recruit police.

Two years ago a young woman named Stacy Bonds was walking along an Ottawa sidewalk on her way to a friend’s house. Bonds is 27, just five feet tall, weighs barely 100 pounds. She’s not a trouble-maker, has no criminal history, no record of causing problems for police. She had — horrors — enjoyed a few drinks, though a judge ruled later that she was not drunk. Two police officers stopped her, checked her out, discovered she was harmless and told her to be on her way. She took a few steps, then stopped and asked them why they’d stopped her in the first place.
That got her handcuffed, thrown in the back of a cruiser and spirited off to the police station, where police pulled her hair, kneed her in the back a couple of times, slammed her to the ground with a riot shield, cut off her clothes and bra while a few male officers watched, and strip-searched her.

That done, they threw her in a cell, half-naked, for three hours. They charged her with public drunkenness — though she wasn’t — and with aggressive behaviour, though a video showed that wasn’t true either.

Now, how big a moron do you have to be to pull a stunt like this? These cops are on video — which one assumes they are aware of, it being a police station and all — and they molest an innocent woman, then lay false charges, which can be easily disproved. Did they think Bonds would just go away and not mention the experience to anyone? Did they think no one would notice the video? Did they figure three male cops and one female cop was appropriate force to use against a lone, 100-pound female?

Or, being clearly of limited mental capacity, did they just figure the rest of the world was as stupid as they are?

The judge, rightly, denounced the whole episode, noting there was ”no reason, apart from vengeance and malice, to have left Ms. Bonds in the cell for a period of three hours and 15 minutes half-naked and having soiled her pants, before she received what is called a blue suit. That is an indignity toward a human being and should be denounced.”

The obvious question is: Are these four idiots still employed by the Ottawa police force, and if so, why? Ottawa Police Chief Vern White says the force has launched “an internal investigation.” We know what that usually means: a mild rebuke, maybe some lost pay, but nothing that might upset the union.

Chief, this is an easy one. Fire them all. They don’t deserve the right to demean their uniforms.

Ottawa police Taser off-duty officer near Parliament

August 10, 2010
Vancouver Sun

OTTAWA — A man Tasered near Parliament Hill on Sunday was an off-duty Ottawa police officer who has been disciplined by the force five times.

Ottawa Police Chief Vern White said the incident was "not in any way criminal or disciplinary."

The 42-year-old constable was stopped at a green light near the entrance to Parliament Hill. His two children were in the car, Const. Kathy Larouche said.

Police approached the car and questioned him.

"He became aggressive due to symptoms of his medical condition," Larouche said. To gain control of the situation, the officers Tasered the man, Larouche said.

He was taken to hospital to be "assessed."

The officer will not be charged criminally or under the Police Services Act.

The Ontario Civilian Police Commission, an independent oversight agency, said the officer faced several disciplinary matters in his 15-year-career. The incidents include firing his gun in a police station locker-room, being "uncivil to a member of the service during an incident at a restaurant," and fleeing the scene of a car accident.

Ottawa police use of force ‘softer’: report

March 23, 2009
By Neco Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — The city's police used batons and “hard” physical control techniques such as punching or kicking much less often last year than in 2007, statistics show, and the overall crime rate dropped 7.5 per cent.

The statistics are contained in the 2008 use-of-force annual report and a 2008 activity report, which will be presented at an Ottawa Police Services Board meeting Monday, along with the results of a public survey on policing.

According the use-of-force report, officers used batons 16 times last year, compared to 66 times in 2007, while hard techniques were used seven times in 2008, down from 37 the year before.

Use of Tasers and “soft” physical techniques, such as restraining manoeuvres and joint locks, increased among officers last year.

Tasers were used 27 times in 2008, up from 12 times in 2007. Soft techniques were used 37 times in 2008, compared to eight times the year before.

The use-of-force report states that the rise in Taser use is likely a result of the additional number of officers using the devices since November 2007, when front-line supervisors were authorized to use them. Previously, only tactical officers were allowed to use the stun devices.

A summary of the activity report indicates that the overall crime rate dropped 7.5 per cent between 2007 and 2008, although a breakdown of figures was not immediately available. Ottawa police officers received more than 364,000 calls last year.

Initial statistics show a decrease in reported crimes against people and property. The summary also indicates a slight increase in the number of Highway Traffic Act violations last year, but that traffic fatalities fell from 36 in 2007 to 23 last year.

Despite the more promising numbers, the public survey on policing services found that 43 per cent of 2,508 respondents perceived crime in Ottawa has risen over the past three years, although that was down from 54 per cent in 2006.

Top neighbourhood concerns include:

- speeding cars;
- aggressive driving;
- break and enters;
- thefts from vehicles;
- vandalism; and
- identity theft.

Top concerns at the city level include:

- presence of drugs and drug dealers;
- youth crime and violence;
- speeding;
- aggressive driving;
- robbery; and
- homelessness.

The survey also found that 86 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the quality of police service, while 68 per cent said police are doing a good or very good job.

As for use of force, 482 incidents involving force were reported last year, down from 511 in 2007. The decrease could be partially due to an overall decrease in calls for service in 2008, the report says.

Police officers are required to submit a report when they draw a gun in public, discharge a gun or use an intermediate weapon such as pepper spray, or if any physical force they use results in an injury.

Police used pepper spray 59 times last year, up from 54 times in 2007.

Officers drew guns 151 times and pointed guns at people 214 times last year (guns without holsters, such as tactical weapons, are not considered to be drawn). In 2007, officers drew guns 157 times and pointed them at people 212 times.

Officers fired their guns 62 times last year, all but once to kill dangerous or injured animals. At the end of December, an officer injured two people with one bullet when confronted by a knife-wielding woman in a Pinecrest Road apartment. The officer was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the province’s Special Investigations Unit.

Kingston - taser testing not done

January 22, 2009
ROB TRIPP, WHIG-STANDARD POLICE REPORTER

Kingston police have not had any of their 34 Taser tested, seven weeks after an investigative report raised concern that some older models of the weapon could deliver much larger shocks than the manufacturer says is possible.

Last month, Kingston Chief Stephen Tanner said the weapons would be tested.

"It's not stalled, we're just trying to work through the logistics," said Insp. Brian Coachman, of Kingston Police. "There's only one company right now that has been used."

That firm, MPB Electronics in Quanta [Reality Chick here: I think they mean Kanata], has tested Tasers used by Ottawa officers and York Regional Police officers.

"Every unit that we sent successfully completed the testing from the perspective that it was operating within the specifications as established by Taser International," Armanda La Barge, York's police chief, told the Whig-Standard in an interview yesterday.

Last month, Ottawa police said their Tasers that were tested were found to be operating within specifications.

MPB tested 21 York Tasers. The department of more than 1,300 officers has 30 Tasers that are used only by tactical officers.

The remaining units also will be tested, La Barge said. He said he was happy to see that the weapons are operating within specs. "I was relatively confident that would be the case," he said. "I have a responsibility to the citizens and I have a responsibility to the officers that we put these tools in the hands of."

Many police agencies are scrambling to find independent labs to test their Tasers after a CBC television report in early December. It found that some older model Tasers, units manufactured before 2005, delivered far greater electrical shocks than the manufacturer said was possible. In some cases, the current was up to 50% stronger than specifications.

Taser International, the U. S. maker of the guns, disputed the findings. It said the tests didn't follow the right procedure.

Tasers used by Kingston Police are all pre-2005 X26 models that were part of the CBC testing.

All of the York Tasers tested were X26 models, but only two were manufactured before 2005.

Tasers are supposed to deliver a jolt of 50,000 volts of electricity, enough to briefly incapacitate a person, but a growing number of deaths in Canada and the U. S. of people who have been shocked has raised concern about the safety of the weapons.

The CBC report, based on independent scientific testing of 41 Tasers, prompted some police agencies across Canada to pull the stun guns out of use until they could be examined.

"There had been enough doubt raised in my mind that I just felt that I had to do this," La Barge said.

Kingston's chief initially balked at testing but changed his mind, saying that he felt it was important to address a "public perception" issue.

MPB Electronics won't talk about its test results. "We just do measurements for clients, whoever that client may be," said Dan Zanette, the private firm's technical director. "We perform the measurements for them and it's up to them to do what they feel is appropriate." Zanette would not explain, except in general terms, the firm's expertise in testing Tasers.

"All we can say is that the type of testing we perform here is related to lightning- induced transients on various types of equipment that [range] from aircraft to nuclear stations and their instrumentation, commercial equipment that would be susceptible to high voltage, high current transients," he said. Zanette wouldn't say if the firm has experience with Taser testing. "We're sort of uncomfortable with even talking about it,"he said. "Measurements of that kind on those kinds of transients are not new to us, it's just the specific topic of Tasers, which seems to be very sensitive these days."

Kingston Police discovered that the testing may be more costly than expected. MPB isn't licensed to handle Tasers, which are classified as restricted weapons. It could mean an extra expense because a police officer would have to accompany the weapons to the Kanata offices of the lab and then remain with them throughout the testing process. "We have to attach an [officer] to it," Cookman noted.

Two York officers took their Tasers to Kanata and oversaw the tests. "Essentially we do have somebody babysitting any devices or any equipment that's deemed to be like an illegal firearm," Zanette said.

The lab has considered seeking special licensing that would permit staff to handle prohibited weapons without a police officer being present.

Insp. Tony Cooper, deputy chief firearms officer for Ontario, said no private labs in the province have sought a special licence that would allow them to possess Tasers for testing.

Cookman said it's his understanding that discussions about how the tests should be done also is holding up further tests. "They're tweaking their methodologies as they progress through this," he said. "They left me with the impression that they wanted to upgrade or finesse what they have."

Zanette wouldn't say if anything is delaying more testing of police Tasers. "Generally there's a desire for some consensus on what should be measured regarding devices of that kind and so there's a lot of discussions going on now," he said. "It's just being discussed on a ... broad sense as to what are the important things to measure about these types of devices."

Kingston's chief has said that he will release the results of tests once they are completed.

Taser use-of-force details crucial to setting standards: experts

July 15, 2008
Neco Cockburn, Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA - An Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services working group that is reviewing Tasers has identified use-of-force reporting forms "as an issue," a spokesman said Tuesday.

The group's review is expected to be completed in the winter, said ministry spokesman Tony Brown.

According to some police procedure experts, details missing from the current provincially regulated forms - which are used for training purposes and to compile information about Taser use by police departments - are crucial to understanding when, how and why police officers use the controversial devices, which deliver a pulsating electrical current that overpowers a target's nervous system.

The province's use-of-force forms have not been updated since they were introduced in 1990 and lack mandatory spaces for details such as the number of times a person was Tasered or whether the device was deployed in probe mode or "push-stun" mode, when the device is pressed against the body as more of a pain compliance tool.

"The reports feed directly into policy making," said Michael Lyman, a criminal justice professor at Columbia College of Missouri.

"We want to know who specifically is using the weapon and how often and under what circumstances," said Mr. Lyman, who is not a member of the working group.

Donald Van Blaricom, a former police chief in Bellevue, Washington, said agencies have been tightening up policies to try to eliminate misuse of the Taser.

"Of course, if you're going to tighten up your policy, you have to have detailed information on what's being done," said Mr. Van Blaricom, adding that a computer chip contained in each Taser records details about its use.

"That should be downloaded on each one of these use-of-force reports," he said.

Mr. Van Blaricom, who is often retained as a police practices expert, said he once dealt with a case in which a police officer in Mississippi used a Taser in push-stun mode on a woman 18 times, but only reported using the device twice.

"The more detailed the reporting form is, the better it can be reviewed."

Meanwhile, Frank Addario, president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association, which has called for a moratorium on the use of Tasers pending further study, characterized the device as "a contact weapon that has the potential to be deadly.

"Therefore, the circumstances under which it is being used and the justification for its use as opposed to some other manner of controlling the threat needs to be set out and there need to be standards," he said Tuesday.

Last month, the Citizen received 115 Taser-related use-of-force reports from Ottawa police under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The reports show that more than half the people involved in such incidents in the city are suicidal, mentally ill or emotionally disturbed.

Lorne Zon, chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario, said Tuesday that the findings highlight the need for police forces to have training in responding to mental health situations and knowledge of crisis teams that can be available when a mental health issue is identified.

Mr. Zon also said that "more uniform collection of information and public reporting of the findings" would help set standards and help the public and police to assess Taser use.

Since October, Ottawa police have used an extra form to capture additional details regarding Taser use, such as how many times it was deployed and under what circumstances. However, those forms are not provincially regulated.

Ontario has no mandatory section for police to explain stun-gun incidents

July 15, 2008
Neco Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen

Several details about Taser use are missing from provincially regulated reports used to collect information about the use of force by police departments.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services' use-of-force forms have not changed since being introduced in 1990 and do not contain mandatory areas for officers to explain how and why a Taser was used.

According to staff at the ministry, which provided an e-mail response to a written question about oversight of Taser use, the forms are used for training and analysis purposes and can be used to compile information about the devices, which were introduced in the province after a pilot project in 2000.

However, many of 115 use-of-force reports involving Taser use by Ottawa police officers obtained by the Citizen under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act contain little information that helps to give context to each use of the device, which delivers a pulsating electrical current that overpowers the target's nervous system.

The reports, one of the few policing forms that remain on paper rather than being electronic, contain areas where officers can check off various descriptions of the circumstances surrounding an incident, such as location, weather conditions, weapon carried by subject, number of officers involved and distance between the officer and subject at the time the decision was made to use force.

They have not been updated to include Tasers among the use-of-force options. Instead, officers must write the device into a category marked "other" on the form.

An officer could indicate the number of times a person was Tasered or whether the device was used in probe mode or "push stun" mode, when the device is pressed against the body, in a section marked "narrative."

However, the narrative section is not required to be filled out if an occurrence report has been filed as part of the police investigation. And it can be difficult to track down the detailed occurrence report from a use-of-force report, which contains no personal information.

"If the province wanted to come in and look at any type of stats, we would be able to give them certain numbers," said Const. Greg Borger, use of force analyst with Ottawa police.

But if officials wanted to determine how many times a device was used and whether it was effective, for example, "they'd have to literally go and pull the hard copies and review and take a look at them," Const. Borger said.

Since many of the narrative sections are not required to be filled out -- and are not entered into a database -- officials would have to go back to the occurrence reports for contextual details and "that might be very difficult to do," said Const. Borger.

Some narratives on reports completed by Ottawa police contain only sparse descriptions such as "tactical team dealing with EDP (emotionally disturbed person)" or "male Tasered to effect arrest," without detailing or explaining the events that occurred leading up to the decision to use the device.

One of the biggest controversies Ottawa has seen over police use of the device happened in 2003, when Ottawa police and RCMP Tasered several Algerians during a sit-in at the immigration minister's office. Five threatened to sue, but no officers were disciplined.

At that protest, Ottawa police also used a Taser on Paul Smith, a self-described expert in civil disobedience, while struggling to get him into a cruiser. Mr. Smith, who was handcuffed at the time and had "gone limp," was Tasered twice in the leg by Const. Paulo Batista, who was cleared in an internal investigation, but later found guilty of misconduct by the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services.

Two use-of-force reports in 2003 refer to a protest; both involve the same number of subjects and ended at the same time. All that is written into the narrative on one report is that a "tactical unit attended protest to effect arrests. Twelve protesters arrested. Several were uncooperative. Officer used Taser to effect arrest."

The other report simply says, "extracting protesters from a room after they were asked to leave. Arrested for mischief."

Other narratives contain similarly sparse details:

? About five years ago, officers used a Taser three times when a man reportedly resisted arrest. The narrative only states that "patrol requested tactical unit attend and assist with the arrest of a subject who was resisting arrest -- Taser was used three times and was effective."

? In 2004, the tactical unit searched an apartment while executing a drug warrant. "One officer implemented the Taser on an uncooperative occupant resisting being handcuffed," is all the narrative states.

In an e-mail response to a question about oversight of the Taser in Ontario, ministry staff wrote that police services are not required to submit use-of-force reports to the ministry, but the minister can ask for a report at any time.

"It is in this manner that information on Tasers is compiled," the e-mail said.

The ministry also has a guideline that recommends Ontario police services review the reports for training purposes and analyse trends.

But it remains unclear how much useful information can be collected from the forms for oversight purposes. And a section of the form that includes details about the officer involved is destroyed within 30 days.

Among findings released in a report last month, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP urged the force to change its reporting forms to maintain better descriptions of the events that led to the use of the device and better means of analysing what is compiled.

The report found it was often difficult to determine the "situational context" of deployments based on information contained in RCMP reports.

"For oversight and analysis purposes, the narrative portion of (the reporting form) needs to be properly filled out and an effective way of analysing that data must be identified and implemented," the report said.

It recommended that reporting includes "clear and concise" descriptions of the deployment, including the circumstances of use, the subject's behaviour and how that may have changed over the course of interaction, as well as situational factors that led to the officer choosing the Taser over other options.

The report also touched in the necessity to keep better records of how the Taser is deployed.

It found that among RCMP officers, the device is more commonly used in push-stun mode than probe mode. Push-stun mode will generally cause muscular incapacitation and is considered to be a pain-compliance tool, the report said. When deployed in push-stun mode alone, the device was used twice or more in 40 per cent of cases, according to the report.

"Given the propensity for 'usage creep,' the RCMP must have a clearer means of monitoring this type of deployment."

In Ottawa, police contend they use the forms as directed by the ministry, saying they are analysed and maintained for training and statistical purposes. A use-of-force analyst looks at each report and may consult with the officer involved if details are lacking or if clarification is needed, or if additional training is determined to be necessary.

Police Chief Vern White said his department uses the information to ensure appropriate use of the tool, but not oversight.

"We're not trying to justify the use of OC (pepper) spray, baton or Tasers. That's not our goal, to try and justify it," said Chief White, who has also asked to receive an e-mail summary of each Taser incident after the force expanded its use in October to provide supervisors with the device. Previously, only the force's tactical team had used the devices.

"What we're trying to do is make sure that they used the appropriate tool when they had to," Chief White said.

Since his time with the force, the police chief said he has had "no concerns about the use of Tasers in this city."

Ottawa police have also started using an internal form to provide additional details regarding Taser use, such as the number of times the device was used on a person and how it was deployed, since the number of users was expanded. That form, however, is not regulated by the province.

There are no plans to change policies or procedures in Ontario following the RCMP report, but "the ministry, along with our police stakeholders, has begun a review of conducted energy weapons" that is expected to be completed in the winter, ministry staff said in an e-mail.

The ministry will consider the RCMP report's findings and recommendations, staff said.

Last August, the Citizen filed a request with Ottawa police for information regarding Taser use.

The use-of-force reports were only released last month. The force's freedom-of-information office said for months that it was too difficult to find the requested information.

Tallying tasers (in the nation's capital)

The Ottawa Citizen has uncovered a fatality from January 2007 that was never widely reported. The 25 year old man's name was James Barber (thanks Kate!). This brings to 22 the total number of deaths in Canada proximal to taser use.

July 13, 2008
Neco Cockburn, Ottawa Citizen

Reports show more than half of stun-gun incidents in Ottawa involve suicidal, disturbed individuals

OTTAWA - Ottawa police officers arrived at an apartment one night about five years ago to find a suicidal male with four steak knives embedded in his stomach. He did not follow their commands, so officers drew a gun, but used a Taser instead, and took him into custody within about 20 minutes.

The case is indicative of most incidents in which the city's police officers have used their Tasers over the past eight years. More than half the people Tasered by Ottawa police are suicidal, mentally ill or emotionally disturbed, reports obtained by the Citizen show.

Through a request made under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Citizen received use of force reports regarding 115 Taser-related incidents between Oct. 15, 2000, a few months after the Taser was introduced as part of a pilot project, and March of this year.

The reports are regulated by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and are to be filled out and reviewed by the police service. They do not record personal information, such as the ages of people involved, and often provide only brief narrative descriptions of incidents, but they offer a glimpse into the nature of calls in which Ottawa police have relied on the devices.

The reports show:

. Although most incidents occurred in houses or apartments, at least three people were Tasered in hospitals and four others in police cellblocks. In 2003, a "combative drunk" male allegedly refused to get into his cell, struggled with an officer and grabbed the cell door and would not allow it to be closed. A Taser was used to "touch Tase" the male's hand, forcing him to let go of the door.

. The person involved in a Taser-related incident had a weapon - usually a knife or other edged weapon - in at least 44 cases. The presence of a weapon was "unknown" in at least 25 cases. In one incident, a person allegedly injecting cocaine refused to drop a needle and officers used pepper spray and a Taser. In another incident, a male armed with a Taser was found in a public bathroom and was Tasered by police after allegedly being unco-operative. One male told security guards that he had a gun and pointed a black object at police officers. The object was later found to be a phone.

. Several cases involved people who were allegedly actively resisting arrest or threatening and assaulting police officers or other people at a scene. In 2000, a male threatened to shoot a paramedic crew that arrived at an apartment. Last year, a "very aggressive, very large six-foot-four, 250-pound male" was "not interested in verbal communications" and threatened three officers at the scene with "I'm going to punch your f--king lights out."

. Sixty-five males and 13 females were involved in Taser incidents. Gender was not indicated in 37 reports.

The high-profile deaths of several people in Canada who had been Tasered have made the use of the device highly controversial. Some say the stun-guns should be banned pending futher investigation into their safety, while others argue they save lives.

After 35-year-old David Leclair of Aylmer was shot and killed by a Gatineau police officer at the end of last month, his family said a Taser could have prevented his death. Others say the device is too dangerous, and point to the death of Robert Dziekanski, who died in October after RCMP officers used the device on him at Vancouver International Airport.

Last month, the RCMP's watchdog agency issued a report probing the force's use of Tasers, and recommended that no officer with less than five years' experience be allowed to use the device. The RCMP public complaints commission also recommended that the force instruct its members to immediately seek medical attention for the target of a Taser and make changes to its reporting form in order to include more information.

Ottawa, the first municipality in Ontario to receive Tasers, has largely avoided controversy, and officers here use the device less than those in other Canadian police departments who provide Tasers to all front-line officers.

Until last fall, Tasers were used only by the Ottawa department's 32-member tactical team. But in October, front-line supervisors were issued the devices, which can subdue a person with a pulsating electrical current that overpowers the nervous system.

Since Tasers were introduced, the number of incidents involving Ottawa police has fluctuated between eight and 19 per year. Last year, there were 11 incidents.

In cities such as Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg, where front-line patrol officers are authorized to deploy Tasers, use of the device is considerably more frequent.

Police in Edmonton used Tasers 88 times between January and October of 2007.

Ottawa police, who believe the device is an important tool, say the use of force reports show the range of incidents that have led to Taser use.

"People who are under the influence of alcohol and drugs, emotionally disturbed and (have) mental illness don't respond to pain compliance," said Staff Sgt. Mike Maloney, the head of the force's tactical unit.

Other options, such as pepper spray and batons "are based on pain compliance, where the Taser does not use that. It disrupts the nervous system, which allows us to take somebody into custody," he said.

The use of force reports also indicate:

. The decision to use the Taser was usually made when the officer was within three metres of the subject. In at least 46 cases, the decision was made when the pair were less than two metres apart. Use of force reports do not require officers to specify the number of times a person was been Tasered and whether it was a "push stun," whereby the device is pressed against the body, or whether the device's probes were deployed. The probes are tipped with a short dart that has a small barb that hooks into the body.

. Tasers were deemed to be ineffective in at least nine cases. One male swung a fridge in the way of the probes, while another male fell back into his apartment and the probes were dislodged by the door. Another Taser was rendered useless when its target wore baggy clothes.

. Tasers are often used in addition to other use of force options, such as pointing handguns or pepper spray. Pepper spray was used during an arrest involving a Taser at least 10 times. Amnesty International has raised concerns about the use of pepper spray, which affects respiration, in combination with Tasering. In one case, officers responded to a half-dressed mentally unstable and violent male on a road who was allegedly actively resisting arrest. The officer who used the Taser saw that baton blows and pepper spray were ineffective, the report states. The Taser was used, but a probe dislodged when the male hit the ground. The male allegedly continued to fight and officers tried to use the Taser again in push stun mode, but it did not work. Pepper spray was again ineffective, so officers tackled the man from behind and he was eventually controlled.

. Almost all injuries reported following a Taser incident were deemed to be minor - often caused by the probes hooking a person's skin. One fatal case was recorded. In January 2007, a 25-year-old man stabbed himself in the eye on Merivale Road and was Tasered after he tried to injure himself again. The man later died in hospital and Ottawa police were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in his death by the province's Special Investigations Unit.**

Months and days of incidents were erased from reports given to the Citizen, making mid-year comparisons difficult. Still, the number of Taser cases does not appear destined for a large increase this year as a result of their expanded use.

Police reported that seven Taser incidents have occurred up to last month.

**On February 1, 2007, Chief Vince Bevan wrote a Letter of Commendation to the officers involved the night James Barber died:

Date Received: 01 February 2007

From: Chief Vince Bevan

OPS Members: Cst. Trevor Woods, Cst. Arun Daniels, Cst. Carlos Zapata, Cst. Steve Boucher

Excerpts from Letter:

On January 3, 2007, officers from West Division and Tactical were involved a dramatic and ultimately tragic incident involving Mr. James Barber. On the day in question Mr. Barber became involved in an altercation with another man while in a vehicle on Greenbank Road. Barber produced a knife and slashed the man, almost cutting off one of his fingers. The two ended up in a taxicab. At one point, on Merivale Road at Trenton Avenue, the taxi driver and the other man fled the cab leaving Barber in the rear seat with the knife. As attending officers surrounded the vehicle, Barber stabbed himself in the leg, and then drove the knife through his eyeball inflicting very serious injuries as a result. He was transported to hospital where he underwent surgery. Unfortunately, the injury was too severe and Mr. Barber passed away. I wish to commend Constables Trevor Woods, Arun Daniels and Carlos Zapata for their actions that day, including the textbook use of tactical communication in attempts to get Mr. Barber to drop the knife and surrender. They kept talking to the subject, and showed excellent restraint, despite the fact that Barber was armed and would not comply with commands to drop the weapon. I also want to commend Tactical Constable Steve Boucher who moved in, opened the door of the vehicle, and incapacitated Barber with a Taser gun. Barber was then subdued and transported to the hospital. All the officers involved acted with the utmost professionalism in a very demanding situation, making every reasonable effort to prevent Mr. Barber from harming himself and others. A letter from the Director of the Special Investigations Unit dated January 29th lauds the officers involved for their actions.

Taser Cams put to the test by Ottawa police

April 16, 2008
CBC News

A camera built into the grip of a Taser stun gun that records audio and video during its use is being tested by the Ottawa police force. About 21 officers are carrying Taser Cams in the field and will be testing them over the next six months.

The video camera is built into the bottom of the grip of the Taser and is activated by the release of the safety catch. Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser International in Scottsdale, Ariz., said the Taser Cam is a response to concerns from the public, who want to make sure the devices aren't being used in a careless or brutal manner.

"Adding some accountability does not hurt," he said.

Ottawa police Sgt. Mark Barclay, the force's main stun gun expert, said police hope the cameras will calm the fears of citizens and watchdog groups alike. "Now there's going to be that other piece of evidence that can be brought forward to look at," he said, adding that it will also protect officers from false complaints. "You explain what you're doing."

Reliability an issue

The camera is activated by the release of the stun gun's safety catch and doesn't shut off until the gun is shut down. Taser International said police won't be able to override the camera or edit the footage after the fact.

Barclay said he has used the Taser Cam twice. It worked well on one of those occasions, but the other time, the camera blanked out when Barclay pulled the trigger on a man who was holding a knife to his own throat. He said that's the type of scenario the device is designed for.

So far, another problem with the cameras is that police are trained to shoot their service pistols with a two-handed hold, and may use that hold for their stun gun in a stressful situation, blocking the camera lens, Barclay said.

Recordings may be incomplete: critic

Matthew MacGarvey, a lawyer who helped win an appeal case that found an Ottawa police officer guilty of excessive force after a stun gun was used on an Ottawa man at a demonstration in 2003, said he likes the idea of the camera in theory, as pictures and audio often help get to the truth of an incident. However, MacGarvey said he believes the Taser Cam begins recording too late and doesn't show what led up to the use of the device.

Footage shot by bystanders helped MacGarvey's client Paul Smith win his case after an appeal of an internal investigation, and MacGarvey said it was also a bystander's video that led the public to question whether it was really necessary for RCMP officers to use a stun gun on Robert Dziekanski, who died moments later, at the Vancouver airport in October 2007.

In Smith's case, police cameras also videotaped the incident, but their footage blanked out during two periods coinciding with the time police used a stun gun on Smith.

"In the case of the Vancouver airport, if that video would have been shot by a police officer, I don't think we would have seen what we in fact saw," Smith added.

Smith was shot with a stun gun twice by a police officer while handcuffed after taking pictures at a demonstration outside the office of Citizenship and Immigration Canada in downtown Ottawa on May 29, 2003. An internal police investigation found two officers not guilty of excessive use of force. Smith appealed to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, which found Sgt. Paulo Batista guilty of excessive use of force in November 2005.

Ottawa police threaten 10 year old with taser

April 16, 2008
CBC News

An Ottawa couple has filed a complaint against local police after they came home to find their 10-year-old son handcuffed in a cruiser. Lukasz Gurzynski said officers threw him on a chair, threatened him with a Taser, questioned him and then handcuffed him.

Lukasz Gurzynski said he and five friends were in the midst of a noisy swordfight with sticks and a loud game of Xbox on Sunday when the next-door neighbour yelled at them to quiet down. The children turned the video game down and then went outside for a bit, said Lukasz. When they came back to the apartment, three police officers were standing outside.

"They came [into the apartment] with their guns and kicked the door open with their guns drawn," the boy told CBC News on Wednesday. "And when they saw there was no one in here, they hid their guns. So then they threw me on a chair and I have a scratch over here," said Lukasz, pointing to his back. "They started questioning me, and then after they threatened me with a Taser and they also threatened me that they'd put me in a straightjacket and take me somewhere. And then when they were done questioning me, they handcuffed me."

A neighbour called the boy's mother, Santana Gurzynski, who was at a nearby apartment, to tell her that her son had just been arrested. Gurzynski said she freaked out when she walked outside her building and saw her son in the back of a cruiser. "They just walked him out in the handcuffs. He was all crying and shaking," she said.

The parents say they were gone from their home for 40 minutes, and two 12-year-old girls were among the children in the apartment at the time. The father, Tomasz Gurzynski, said his son is no angel, but the officers' conduct toward Lukasz was unnecessary and unprofessional. "No father or mother wants to see their 10-year-old boy being handcuffed and treated like a criminal," he said.

Tomasz and Santana said that ever since the Sunday incident Lukasz has been "much calmer" and sadder and has spent most of his time quietly playing games at home. Lukasz said he has been having nightmares about the police raid and is startled every time he hears a door slam.

The Gurzynskis have filed a complaint and hired a lawyer to explore their options, but say what they really want is an apology.

Ottawa Police Service Const. J.P. Vincelette refused to comment on the case specifically, other than to confirm there was an incident, but added that police do handcuff children from time to time. "In general terms, I can state that for the safety of a young person involved or for the safety of the officer involved would be two circumstances where handcuffs could be used with a young person," said Vincelette.

As for Lucasz, he says he learned a lesson and will try to keep the noise down from now on.

Ottawa police taser use drops after 'responsibility pay' introduced

February 25, 2008
CBC News

The use of Tasers, guns and physical force by Ottawa police dropped to their lowest level in years in 2007 — the year after the service introduced a special premium for officers who regularly retake a course on the proper use of force.

Tasers were used only a dozen times by officers last year, said the police service's 2007 use of force annual report, which was to be discussed at the Police Services Board meeting Monday night.

That was the lowest number of uses in five years, even though 34 tactical officers were authorized to used the devices, and 61 front line supervisors became authorized in November 2007. Physical control was used 45 times — an eight-year low. Officers pointed their firearms 212 times, the lowest level since 2002, the report shows. They were fired 51 times, in all cases to destroy animals. Pepper spray was used 54 times, up slightly from the year before, but still one of the lowest levels since 2000.

Chief Vern White credits better training for the decline in the use of force. "I went through use of force training two weeks ago," he said, "and I have to say I was totally impressed with the use of force training itself, the instructors." He added that the instructors encouraged officers to talk to the people they deal with before doing anything else.

Since May 2006, officers have been eligible for a special salary premium called responsibility pay if they take the use of force training force every 11 months.

Const. David Zackrias said he believes the constant retraining has contributed to the drop in the use of force. "The officers receive better training these days," he said. "We have to requalify annually and every time … there's always new scenarious we use in our training."

White said he is naturally happy that officers are using force less often, but he said if the numbers go up he won't necessarily be disappointed. Circumstance can change from year to year, White said. He added that what's important is not how often police use force, but whether they are using it appropriately.

Ottawa police taser teenager behaving erratically in traffic

December 26, 2007
The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Ottawa police are defending the use of a Taser last week to subdue a teenager who was acting strangely in traffic.

Ottawa police were called last Thursday after a 17-year-old boy was found "acting in a strange manner" on a busy street near his east-end high school, said Staff Sgt. Peter Couillard. Police incapacitated the teen with a stun gun and took him into custody where he received "the attention that he required" before being released, Couillard said. "It's a very zero incident to us," he said. "From the police standpoint, it's just an average everyday call." Couillard added that if Ottawa police issued a news release every time a Taser was used, "we'd be writing them 10 times a day."

Every time an officer uses a Taser, a report is made to the force's Professional Development Centre, which monitors use of force options. When asked if it was necessary to use the stun gun on the teen, Couillard defended the move. "There's a lot of factors that come into play. You have to be acting in an aggressive manner and from there we figure it out as to what's the best method to take control of the subject in everybody's best interest," he said. "What he was doing was incorrect, and he was taken into custody with the appropriate manners, and he was provided the attention that he required."

The use of the stun guns has been under growing public scrutiny since the case of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish immigrant who died shortly after being shocked with a Taser and then manhandled by police.

The company that manufactures Tasers stresses the devices have never been directly blamed for a death and it has defended them in several lawsuits.

On December 27th, an article in the Ottawa Citizen, entitled "Taser remark taken out of context", said the following: An Ottawa police sergeant says his remark that the force's use of Tasers is very common -- as frequent as 10 times a day -- was taken out of context. The Canadian Press yesterday quoted Sgt. Peter Couillard as saying if Ottawa police issued a news release every time a Taser was used in the city, "we'd be writing them 10 times a day." Speaking to the Citizen yesterday afternoon, Sgt. Couillard didn't deny using the phrase, but said what he told the reporter was "more along the lines of, 'If we used it 10 times a day, we'd have to do press releases.'" The sergeant went on to say the Taser is "a tool that will be used, there's no doubt about it." He was responding to the news agency's inquiry regarding a story that appeared in yesterday's Citizen about the use of a Taser last week to subdue a teenager who was acting strangely in traffic. He said the use of the Taser was "similar to using pepper spray ... We go for a week and don't use it, then if we have a Saturday night in the Market that's stupid, we might use it a couple of times," he said.