Mounties using their heads to video crime, deal with suspects

May 16, 2011
By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The RCMP like to say they always get their man, and soon they might have video of him, too.

The national police force is studying the use of head-mounted video cameras to record confrontations with suspects.

The move follows RCMP field trials in Kelowna, B.C., and Moncton, N.B., last year in which the force tested — and later rejected — other video devices.

Included in the trials were the Taser Cam, an accessory for newer-model stun guns made by Taser International, supplier to the RCMP, and the Vidmic, an audio-video recorder that attaches to an officer's belt radio.

During the pilot, 132 Vidmic video clips were recorded and the Taser Cam was used twice, say RCMP documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. In addition, several still photos were taken with the Vidmic.

The RCMP records show the devices didn't quite meet the force's needs.

Members "expressed concerns" with the Taser Cam because it began recording only when the stun gun's safety switch was set to the armed position, says an August 2010 report on the field trials.

It meant that, in one Kelowna episode, "a significant amount of communication and negotiation" with a man who tried to harm himself and threatened police was not captured on video, notes the report.

In that case, the Taser was not fired.

"Had the situation ended differently, with the subject not complying, the efforts made by the members to de-escalate the situation would not have been recorded," the report says.

Because the Vidmic was mounted on the member's vest or jacket, it was not always pointed in the direction the member was looking, says the report.

Officers also had technical concerns with the Vidmic, including the fact it beeped every few seconds when the battery was low.

"It was noted this could have officer safety implications if the members were conducting a silent approach on foot to an incident."

As a result, late in the trial, the force began looking at a head-worn camera that slips over the ear and connects to a portable mini-computer on the belt.

Ten Axon devices, made by Arizona-based Taser International, were tested only in off-duty settings, such as training, because the video recordings were downloaded directly to a site in the United States, posing potential privacy concerns.

"The members immediately reported that the Axon camera resolved the issues and limitations they had noted with the Vidmic," say the RCMP notes.

Though officers found the mini-computer "quite bulky," the Axon "warranted a more in-depth review."

Based on feedback from officers, the RCMP began new research last month focusing on the head-mounted cameras, said Sgt. Pat Flood, an RCMP spokeswoman.

No field trial is yet underway, she said. But the internal RCMP memos say funding has been set aside in anticipation of the next trial, which might include other police forces.

"If a further pilot is approved, the recordings will be housed in Canada," say the notes. "There is also opportunity to bring other law enforcement agencies in on the expanded pilot project as the server can house their data separately."

At least two other Canadian police forces have tested body-worn video devices. A report on the Victoria police department's 2009 trial found the technology provided "the best evidence possible" and that the video could be used in court. It also said officers' awareness of their surroundings increased, while public hostility and aggressiveness decreased.

Police tout video as a means of documenting their side of the story when conflicting accounts of an altercation arise. However, civil libertarians have warned that police use of video raises important questions about the citizens' rights.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has argued that it's no coincidence a number of videos police misconduct have come from the public, not police.

A vivid example is the case of Robert Dziekanski — who died in 2007 after being hit with an RCMP Taser at the Vancouver airport — an episode recorded by a fellow traveller carrying a video camera.

The RCMP report recommends that future study of video look at data storage and retention, cost, training and recertification, and privacy-related concerns.

Australia: Officers using tasers with inbuilt cameras obscured

The Greens have MY vote!!

October 14, 2010
Brisbane Times

The NSW government should conduct an inquiry into police use of tasers, after it was revealed that officers were using them with their inbuilt cameras obscured, the Greens say.

The 146 instances where cameras were obscured in the 18 months to September this year represented 13 per cent of all taser incidents during that period, figures released by the government showed.

NSW Greens MP John Kaye said the high number of times where the safeguard mechanism was being turned off is evidence of systematic abuse.

"It's very clear the training of police and the regulation of the use of tasers is inadequate," Mr Kaye told ABC Radio on Friday.

"It is time for the NSW government to conduct a thorough inquiry into the use of tasers, into the way the training is working and into the way the police are responding to the opportunities to use tasers," he said.

Australia: Police set to ban use of non-video tasers

October 5, 2010
Joe Hildebrand, The Daily Telegraph

NSW Police will eliminate Tasers that do not automatically record video of confrontations, amid allegations the state has suffered its first stun gun-related fatality.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione was quick to defend his officers, saying the decision by a constable to use his Taser "may have saved their lives".

He said the inbuilt Taser video backed up the decision to fire on the Sefton man, who came at the officers wielding a pair of knives and was brought down just 2m-3m away.

"I certainly believe the consequences could have been tragic for one or both of the officers involved" had he not fired, Mr Scipione said.

However, many of the Tasers still in use do not have the video to verify that they are being used appropriately. These devices will be removed entirely within eight weeks to eliminate doubts.

The only Tasers to be exempt from the purge will be those used by the tactical operations unit, which handles counter-terrorism and hostage situations. These have modern X26 Tasers but with the optics removed.

Police were at the Sefton house, in Sydney, over allegations that the man had raped a female inside the building.

The fatality came within 24 hours of another death in police custody when a grand final reveller who had been asked to leave St George Leagues Club died after being hit by police batons and capsicum spray.

While police say that man was hit only in the thighs and legs, the Taser death has reignited debate about the safety of the controversial weapons which have been rolled out to all frontline police officers.

Ombudsman Bruce Barbour is considering a review of procedures in using the stun guns.

"We would look at how Tasers are being used and whether they're being used appropriately," he said.

Police are now using Tasers more than twice a day on average. Tasers were drawn only 440 times in the 12 months to October 2009.

However, in the nine months since, as the rollout has increased, that number has jumped to 619 - an average of 825 a year.

Police said in about six out of 10 cases, Tasers were actually not fired and the threat of their use on most occasions was enough to subdue the suspect.

New Brunswick Police divided on use of Taser cams

Tasers with cameras attached to them to record what happens when the weapons are deployed have made their way to New Brunswick.

But there is no uniform policy on the use of Taser cams - or stun guns - in the province.

The Telegraph-Journal has learned that at least one of the province's municipal police forces - Edmundston - has shelved the controversial weapons, while others have no plans to purchase them as a result of the public debate over their safety.

The Saint John and Fredericton police forces have been using the Taser cams for more than two years.

But a poll of the other municipal and regional police forces in New Brunswick found a different story in each community.

The Rothesay police detachment uses the stun guns but without the camera attachment. Grand Falls and Bathurst don't use Tasers at all.

A Bathurst police spokeswoman indicated the force is apprehensive about purchasing Tasers until a uniform policy on their use comes into place.

The unwillingness to use the devices stems directly from the death of air passenger Robert Dziekanski, according to Edmundston Deputy Police Chief Percy Picard.

"We do have the Taser with the camera attached, we have three, but they are not in use right now," Picard said. "We took them off the patrol division once everything with the Dziekanski case happened.

"We are waiting for the province and the New Brunswick police chiefs to come out with a policy and approach to their use."

Dziekanski, en route to British Columbia from Poland to join his mother, Zofia Cisowski, died in October 2007 after being subdued by a Mountie's Taser at the Vancouver airport.

A video of the confrontation, filmed by a fellow passenger, showed an agitated and disoriented Dziekanski zapped five times. It was seen by millions of people and triggered public outrage and widespread re-examination of stun gun use.

The RCMP recently apologized to Cisowski and agreed to a financial settlement.

Picard said there is a sense of uneasiness by police officers around the use of stun guns.

"We are also currently in search for more training," Picard said. "It's another big issue."

The Woodstock Police Force has no plans to purchase Tasers, but would do so only if a camera is attached.

"We're not looking at (acquiring Tasers for use by the police force) in the near future," said Woodstock Police Chief Dana Collicott. "If at some point down the road we do look at outfitting our officers, we would go with the ones with the cameras.

"They record what is taking place at the time the Taser is used and would have some added evidentiary value for sure."

A RCMP complaints commission report on the Dziekanski case found there would have been "a clear benefit" to video footage capturing the events from the officers' perspectives.

A report recently released by Liberal senators also recommended that RCMP officers be equipped with miniature cameras to enhance transparency for both officers and citizens, protecting both sides from accusations of improper behaviour.

In New Brunswick, there is nothing mandating the use of Taser cams.

"At this point, there has been no move to make anything a requirement," said Barry MacKnight, president of the New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police.

"It's left to the individual agencies."

MacKnight said the association's use of force policy - rules for all of the province's police forces - was rewritten in 2007 to include specifics on the use of Tasers. But there have been no policy discussions on mandating cameras.

A spokesman for Taser International, the manufacturer of the Taser cam, said the camera device was created to provide heightened accountability.

"Certainly we are no stranger to controversy in Canada, but I think what the Taser cam does is it adds merit to the seriousness of what law enforcement thinks about the deployment of Tasers," said Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle in a phone interview from the company's Scottsdale, Arizona offices.

"And that is that they do require accountability."

Taser cams have been in use since May 2003, mostly in the United States. Roughly 40,000 Taser cams are used by nearly 2,000 police agencies in 44 countries worldwide.

"People tend to behave better when they are on video tape, and it works both ways because the officers perform better as well," Tuttle said. "The Taser cam provides another layer of comfort for law enforcement agencies, but it is also a comfort to the public."

Codiac RCMP in Moncton are currently part of a national pilot project, along with the RCMP in Kelowna, B.C., testing the Taser cam and a second type of camera that attaches to an officer's belt radio.

Both options record audio and video. The Taser cam also includes a computer chip that records the time, date and duration of each Taser deployment.

"The RCMP continually reviews its policies and procedures to ensure best practices are being utilized by RCMP members," said Const. Chantal Farrah, media relations officer for both the Codiac RCMP and New Brunswick's J Division.

"This includes research of new technology, which is sometimes extended to pilot testing, if it is deemed to be a potential benefit to RCMP members in providing security to the Canadian public."

The cameras will be used in the field by Codiac RCMP by the end of June with analysis of the recordings and feedback from the members, according to Farrah.

Ontario Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci said last week he is considering making cameras mandatory with Tasers.

The Police Association of Ontario has voiced its concern with the move, its president saying he sees little use for the cameras currently on the market because they provide a limited view of an incident.

Both federal and provincial governments have been working on national standards for stun gun use, but Ontario moved ahead with its own plan earlier this month.

Ontario has promised tighter rules around the use of stun guns by police, mainly against pregnant women and children, and promised to amend provincial guidelines to include rules about deployment of the guns as well as standardized training.

The New Brunswick Department of Public Safety declined to take a position on whether cameras are needed to record Taser use. The province maintains it is a decision to be made by the New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police.

MacKnight, who is also the Fredericton police chief, would not speculate on future discussions to make the cameras mandatory.

"We have not dealt with this issue from a policy perspective; we have only dealt with the general use of force policy on the use of conductive energy devices," he said.

"As far as the Fredericton Police Force is concerned, we have always had Taser cams as soon as we were operational with Tasers on the street.

"We see it as a very positive way to capture evidence of very critical incidents - when officers are resorting to the use of force in order to carry out their duties."

Niagara police association OK with possible plan for Taser cams

April 7, 2010
RAHUL GUPTA, ST. CATHARINE'S STANDARD

The head of the Niagara police association says his membership is willing to adjust to proposed legislation requiring the recording of Taser useage if it means more officers get to carry the electro-shock weapons.

Paul Di Simoni of the Niagara Region Police Association said he hopes the plan under consideration by the provincial government would mean greater access to Tasers for frontline officers in the region.

Currently, only experienced officers can use the weapons.

"I hope legislators get on the same page as the association and implement standard use of Tasers," said Di Simoni from the NRPA's office in Welland.

"It's a better, less lethal option for officers to employ."

Under the plan, any Ontario police officer who fires a Taser in the course of duty would automatically activate a small camera, or Taser cam, that can be attached to the base of the weapon's handle.

Up to 90 minutes of tamper-proof footage could then be downloaded and used as evidence.

"Is there value to documenting Taser use? I suppose," he said.

"It's a relatively new technology."

While Di Simoni said he supported the province's recently introduced training and usage guidelines for Tasers, he worried a camera would only capture one aspect of an altercation between police and a suspect.

"It's a snapshot in time," he said. "One has to look at the totality of events."

Di Simoni said he was concerned that footage obtained from a Taser Cam would lead to premature censure of Niagara police officers.

"Officers may fall into a situation where they're being criticized without all background information," he said. "The camera captures only the deployment of the Taser and nothing else."

While Taser Cams aren't used in Niagara, Ottawa police have employed them since last year, said an officer who has provided extensive training in the use of the weapons.

Sergeant Mark Barclay of the Ottawa Police Service said all 32 members of the Tactical Unit are currently using the cameras.

Barclay said the response to Taser Cams among officers with the unit has been largely positive, although there have been instances when the camera's lens has been accidentally obscured by officers used to handling guns.

"We're trained to use a two-handed grip when it comes to firearms," said Barclay from Ottawa police headquarters. "So some officers go back to what they know in moments of extreme stress, which can block the lens."

Another problem with the Taser Cams, according to Barclay, is the fixed position of the device.

"To sometimes get a good camera shot, you've got to point the Taser right at the person, which isn't always possible," he said.

Barclay said the camera's video output can often be shaky or blurry, depending on the circumstances, although a microphone can still capture available sounds.

"It's better than nothing."

Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services spokesman Anthony Brown said any decision to legislate Taser Cams would be made in consultation with provincial law enforcement agencies.

Niagara Regional Police declined to comment on the issue of Taser Cams.

Taser International announced Tuesday that 2,680 Taser Cams were shipped for use in law enforcement in 2010.

Taser cams? Ontario hasn't ruled out outfitting stun guns with video cameras

April 5, 2010
By Romina Maurino, Canadian Press

TORONTO — Tasers with cameras attached to them that produce video evidence when the controversial weapons are used on people is an option Ontario is considering, the provincial government says.

While Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci hasn't committed to the move, he said he hasn't ruled it out as part of ongoing discussions about how to best use Tasers.

"No decision has been made, but there is some dialogue with regards to that particular device being attached to the weapon," said Bartolucci, who last week promised tighter rules and standard training for Taser use.

"We're looking at it."

The RCMP is already testing two kinds of cameras that record Taser firings, in Kelowna, B.C., and Moncton, N.B., while Ottawa police have also tested the cameras.

Larry Molyneaux, president of the Police Association of Ontario, said he sees little use for the cameras currently on the market because they provide a limited view of an incident.

"The difficulty is that it only shows you the immediate threat - it doesn't show you what leads up to that, it doesn't show you what occurs after," Molyneaux said.

"You really don't get the whole picture, because a lot of it has to do with what leads up to the incident."

Emile Therien, past president of the Canada Safety Council, said any consideration of the cameras is a small step - and one likely brought on by public pressure after the death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007. Dziekanski died after he was Tasered by four Mounties at Vancouver International Airport in a confrontation that was recorded by a bystander.

That video contradicted some of the statements made by the officers and led to several inquiries, including a two-part probe by retired judge Thomas Braidwood. His final report is due in a few weeks.

Last week, Dziekanski's mother received an apology from the RCMP, as well as a financial settlement.

Therien said he doubts Braidwood will recommend cameras, adding that what's really needed is a national standard.

"What it comes down to is well-trained people, (and) limiting the use of Tasers to those who are well trained," said Therien.

The RCMP, he added, has to make sure there are Canada-wide standards and controls in place, and that they are being followed - especially given the fact that one in 20 of the devices have been acknowledged to fail.

"It's the only electrical product sold in the western world that doesn't have a standard," Therien said.

NDP justice critic Peter Kormos called the incorporation of video cameras into Tasers "naive to the point of being silly."

"This is Star Wars sort of stuff - we all know the quality of the image that you get," Kormos said.

"All this does is underscore the fact that the science around Tasers is far from complete, far from thorough."

Civil liberties groups have also questioned what will happen to the video and audio after they are recorded, and said there should be protocols to ensure the digital recordings cannot be tampered with and are readily made available to police watchdogs.

While the devices would provide more evidence in cases where a person dies after being Tasered, Therien added, the cameras would also amount to an intrusion into a police officer's workplace.

They could make police hesitant to use the weapons - even in situations when they are clearly the better choice.

Of the cameras being tested by the RCMP one is called Taser Cam and is attached to the stun gun. The other, called VIDMIC, attaches to the officer's belt radio. The results from those trials will be analyzed to determine whether one or both of the devices are used more widely by the RCMP.

Both federal and provincial governments have been working on national standards for Taser use, but Ontario moved ahead with its own plan last week.

Ontario has promised tighter rules around the use of stun guns by police, including against pregnant women and children, and promised to amend provincial guidelines to include rules about deployment of the guns as well as standardized training for all users and instructors.

Bartolucci has also said training in Ontario wouldn't be provided by Taser International.

"There are particular needs when it comes to the training, we think that that training should be Ontario-centered, it shouldn't be centered on one particular manufacturer's weapon," he said.

RCMP to test uniform-mounted cameras

February 25, 2010
Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star

OTTAWA–Get out of the car with your hands up. You're on candid camera.

Liberal senators recommended this week that individual Mounties be equipped with miniature, uniform-mounted video cameras to enhance "transparency" in the problem-plagued force.

Now, the Star has learned that at least 20 police departments and detachments across Canada are already using the devices.

The RCMP says officers in detachments in Kelowna, B.C., and Moncton, N.B., (Codiac region) have been fitted with the uniform-mounted cameras as part of a pilot project that is also testing Taser-mounted cameras, made by Arizona-based Taser International.

The six-month pilot project was launched in January using VIDMICs, the trademarked name of a body-worn video and audio-recording device, said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox.

Magdy Rafla, of MD Charlton Co. Ltd., the Canadian sales representative for VIDMIC, said the device has also been bought by several Canadian municipal forces, military police and private security firms.

Rafla said the device, which costs $850, has been used by nightclub "bouncers" and "they love it."

In all, Rafla estimates 225 devices are in use, and if the RCMP testing approves them for wider distribution to its members, the force has told the company it would acquire them for all Mounties – in what would be a huge contract for the Victoria-based company.

"(The RCMP) are trying 10 of them right now across Canada. Once they go ahead, they'll be for every RCMP officer. ... That's the plan," Rafla said in a telephone interview from Victoria.

Rafla said other buyers include police forces in Provost, Alta., St. Albert, Alta., and Merritt, B.C., as well as the Department of National Defence. His client list also includes B.C. Ferries, Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital security services and some fire departments.

Taser International produces the Taser Cam, and a different ear-mounted video recording system, known as Axon, which looks like a Bluetooth device. That device can record 12 hours of video – in other words, a police officer's shift. But right now, the Axon contract requires the data to be downloaded to a central data storage facility in the U.S., said Rafla.

Using authorized software, the video/audio devices can be downloaded in a police cruiser onto a laptop, or onto a police department computer. It cannot be transmitted wirelessly. Individual police departments set their own guidelines.

Rafla said the very act of cautioning a suspect that "you're being recorded" gives an advantage that works both ways.

EDITORIAL: Every contact recorded

February 24, 2010
Globe and Mail

A group of Liberal senators opened a can of worms this week when they recommended that RCMP officers be outfitted with video cameras that record their every move while on duty. The recommendation was one of a number aimed at improving the public image of the Mounties. Some of the recommendations are worth considering, but this one isn't.

The technology in question is being pushed aggressively in the United States by the company that developed it: Taser International. That name alone will raise eyebrows. Taser, famous for manufacturing the stun guns involved in the deaths of several suspects at the hands of police officers, has a clearly stated goal: to protect officers' reputations from harm. Its "Axon personal video recorder" does this by sitting in an officer's ear like a Bluetooth headset and recording to a miniature portable computer everything he or she sees and hears. "Destroy the lie" is the Axon's motto; in other words, protect an arresting officer from false charges of abuse, or from unfair allegations of firing his or her weapon unduly, by recording the actions of an alleged suspect. The suspect's rights are not at issue here, it should be noted.

The problem is that the cameras are on all the time, not just during an arrest. Every person an officer looks at and listens to will be caught on videotape, making this a wholesale intrusion into the public's right to privacy. Trampling on that ever-diminishing right in order to protect a police officer's "honour," as Taser International puts it, is a completely unacceptable trade-off.

Furthermore, where are these recordings going? Who has access to them? In the U.S., the recordings are stored on a website owned by Taser International and sold to law enforcement agencies, lawyers and courts. The commercialization of police evidence is an intolerable notion in our justice system.

Yes, the RCMP has problems that need to be dealt with, and there are many potential solutions that could be brought forward. But a quantum leap into a world of constant video surveillance by roving police officers is not one of them. We want our Mounties to be humans, not robocops; wearing such a device would diminish the trust between citizens and their police, not increase it.

Police refuse to release NZ Taser footage

Arming New Zealand police with tasers has been hailed as a success, but there is a secret attached to the gun that police aren't happy to share.

Unbeknown to many people, each taser has a camera underneath the handgrip that films the gun being used on offenders.

Steve Tuttle, Vice President of Communications at Taser International, says the footage "helps communities understand what police officers face in the field."

However, New Zealand is unlikely to ever see the footage shot here as police bosses won't release it, suggesting to ONE News that the Taser use should be given positive coverage instead.

The Taser was shown in use in August 2006 when the weapon was unveiled, but that was in strictly controlled conditions and used on police staff with medical staff on stand-by.

In 2008 police installed the Taser-cam saying that it would "assist with accountability" and reassure people the Taser was safe.

When police Tasered a man after a car chase in Auckland in March 2009, ONE News asked police to release the footage under the Official Information Act. Police refused the request, saying that the offender had a right to privacy despite ONE News' assurance that the offender's identity would be concealed.

Tuttle disagrees, saying that "if there's something that controversial, I don't see why law agencies wouldn't want to show that... we did create that Taser-cam to be viewed."

And Green Party MP Keith Locke is questioning what the police have got to hide.

"They've got these cameras on these Tasers, they should let us see the footage," says Locke.

The Taser will be in police hands throughout the country by the end of August.

Mounties testing Taser video cams

February 17, 2010
Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The Mounties are making some videos, and you don’t want to be in them.

RCMP officers in Kelowna, B.C., and Moncton, N.B., are testing two kinds of cameras that will record Taser firings during six-month field trials.

Included in the tests are the Taser Cam, an accessory for newer-model stun guns made by Taser International, supplier to the RCMP, and the VIDMIC, an audio-video recorder that attaches to an officer’s belt radio.

Field testing of the devices in the two communities was slated to begin in December, say internal briefing notes on the project obtained under the Access to Information Act.

Results from the trials will be analyzed to determine whether one or both of the devices are used more widely by the RCMP.

The tests come amid growing concern about police accountability on use of stun guns, which deliver a powerful jolt that incapacitates suspects.

An RCMP complaints commission report on the case of Robert Dziekanski — who died after being hit with an RCMP Taser at the Vancouver airport — said there would have been a clear benefit” to video footage capturing the events from the officers’ perspectives.

Complementing stun guns with recording devices may be beneficial because documenting incidents can make police more accountable, said Micheal Vonn, policy director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. However, an important factor will be what happens to the video and audio after they are recorded, she said.

There should be protocols to ensure the digital recordings cannot be tampered with and are readily made available to police watchdogs, she said.

“We see a lot of video go missing that complainants say would support their side of the story.”

Vonn noted that a public tussle ensued over an amateur videotape of the October 2007 confrontation involving Dziekanski. The tape was returned to traveller Paul Pritchard, who shot the video and loaned it to the RCMP, after he threatened to go to court.

The RCMP rented a total of 10 Taser Cams and 10 VIDMICS for the trials, say the notes.

Laboratory testing of the Taser Cams by MPB Technologies revealed that one was not functioning properly and that the battery could not be charged more than 20 per cent.

The notes indicate the lab tests also raised questions about the reliability of the Taser when the camera is attached. The camera comes with its own power supply that replaces the standard Taser power pack.

When the batteries were depleted to a level of 25 per cent with the camera in place, the Taser worked within tolerance 77 per cent of the time. When the same depletion test was done with the standard battery, the stun gun functioned within tolerance 92 per cent of the time.

The force believes six months is long enough to gather sufficient data and to see how the recording devices fare in cold weather and when officers are wearing winter gloves.

The RCMP didn’t respond today to questions about the status of the tests.

Cop fired after 10-year-old girl tasered

November 30, 2009
Boston Herald

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The small-town cop who zapped an unruly 10-year-old girl with his stun gun has been fired for violating department policy - not for using the Taser itself but for failing to use the camera attached to it.

Officer Dustion Bradshaw was called to the home Nov. 11 after the girl’s mom couldn’t get her to shower. He reported the girl was “verbally combative” and kicked him.

“The policy that Officer Bradshaw failed to obey is failure to have his camera placed on his Taser,” Chief Jim Noggle wrote.

Edmonton Police Reject Taser Cams

September 5, 2009
Travis Dosser, inews 880

Edmonton Police have rejected the idea of new video-equipped tasers, which would record audio and video each time a taser is used.

Last year EPS announced it would test the video-equipped tasers, however authorities say the tests didn't produce the results they wanted, according to Global Edmonton.

The reason the results didn't go the way they wanted was because, the number of issues the new equipment had, was not worth the 400 dollar price tag for each.

The Taser Cam, attaches to the Taser X26 which city police already use, the video from the camera is often obstructed and the audio is muffled because of the Officers standard two handed grip.

The battery pack on the new unit is also prone to failure in some weather conditions, a problem that is not acceptable.

AUSTRALIA: Tasers face ban after findings they can kill

"Fears that Tasers would be used as a compliance tool may have come to fruition around Australia."

September 3, 2009
The The Australian

THE controversial Taser stun guns may be scrapped in Queensland after a review warned that the weapons could kill and could not be modified to prevent a repeat of the death of a man this year when he was shot 28 times with the 50,000-volt device.

The joint Crime and Misconduct Commission-police review, launched after the June heart-attack death of north Queensland man Antonio Galeano, has ordered an overhaul of police training and operational policy, requiring the stun guns to be used only when there is a "risk of serious injury".

The review, to be released today and obtained exclusively by The Australian, marks the first time an Australian authority has recognised the possibility the stun guns can injure or kill, especially when fired repeatedly at a person.

"The possibility of Taser use causing or contributing to death is possible and cannot be ruled out," the review warns.

The Arizona-based manufacturers have repeatedly denied the weapons can kill.

The report is expected to influence the nationwide rollout of Tasers, amid mounting evidence the weapons are being used by police as an everyday compliance tool and not as a non-lethal substitute for a standard gun in high-risk situations.

Sources have told The Australian a coronial investigation has concluded that amphetamine addict Galeano, 39, was deliberately shot 28 times, each time for a duration of up to five seconds, after he confronted police with a steel bar at his unit in Brandon, south of Townsville.

It was initially claimed the stun gun might have malfunctioned or that there was a glitch with the built-in computer system recording the number and duration of shots from the weapon.

But investigators will allege the policeman repeatedly Tasered Galeano, who dropped the metal bar after the first few shots, while he lay unarmed and writhing on the floor.

He died minutes later while still in handcuffs.

Civil liberties lawyers called for a criminal investigation into the death of Galeano in June, when The Australian revealed he had been shot 28 times.

Until then, police had claimed he had been shot only two or three times.

It will be announced today that the freeze on the rollout of Tasers to 3000 general duties officers -- ordered after the death of Galeano -- will be maintained while police move to implement the recommendations of the review.

Meanwhile, the 1200 Tasers with the Queensland police force will remain in operation. But the use of Tasers is under threat, with the CMC recommending they be modified so a single shot lasts no longer than five seconds, and that a limit be put on the numbers of times the weapon can be fired.

Police have been told by the manufacturer that "at this stage, this is not feasible with the Taser X26" -- the $15,000-a-piece weapon being used in Queensland and around Australia.

The review recommends that Queensland Police fit an automatic video device on the weapons, which records every time the Taser is pulled from its holster.

Queensland police last year refused to buy the weapons with the optional "Tasercam" because of the cost.

Civil liberties lawyer Scott McDougall, director of the Caxton Legal Centre, said police should be forced to table in parliament every deployment of the stun guns in Queensland.

He said an independent medical study should be conducted on the weapons, and a freeze on their use should be implemented until the findings were released.

"We have clients who were Tasered who were not offering any resistance to police," he said.

"Fears that Tasers would be used as a compliance tool may have come to fruition around Australia."

EDITORIAL: Public outcry led to taser policy change

April 9, 2009
Chronicle Herald (Halifax)

RCMP complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy makes a telling point in his final report, issued Monday, reviewing Taser use on the national police force.

Deployment of the stun gun was way down in 2008, compared to a year earlier, according to Mr. Kennedy’s statistics. The number of incidents in which Mounties drew a Taser, whether the weapon was fired or not, dropped by 30 per cent, from 1,583 to 1,106. Likewise, the number of people who were Tasered also fell, from 1,135 to 563.

Those numbers represent a "systematic shift" in usage by officers in the field, said Mr. Kennedy. The reason, however, was likely not due to changes in RCMP policy or training, he concluded, but instead to more "self-restraint" by Mounties who, stung by public outrage over incidents like Robert Dziekanski’s death at Vancouver airport in 2007, cut back on their casual, inappropriate use of the stun gun.

The inference is clearly that previously, Tasers were being heavily overused, often in the wrong circumstances.

Mr. Kennedy applauds the RCMP for making commendable progress on 22 recommendations from his two interim reports. Still, the head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP remains "concerned" about deficiencies in the force’s new Taser policy, statistical monitoring of usage and the need to curtail deployment in situations involving young or mentally ill people.

These are all legitimate issues the RCMP needs to confront. But the report also highlights perhaps the Mounties’ biggest challenge: regaining public trust lost in the continuing fallout over the disgraceful actions of the four officers involved in Mr. Dziekanski’s death – both at the time and subsequently, in attempts to mischaracterize what occurred.

For example, Mr. Kennedy said there was "reason to be suspicious" when more than half of RCMP officers who deployed Tasers claimed use of the weapon meant lethal force – i.e., a service revolver – became unnecessary. Unbelievably, some cases apparently involved people who were suicidal.

"It is hard to fathom circumstances under which suicidal subjects, bent on injuring themselves, would be killed," Mr. Kennedy noted drily.

Growing public mistrust has also not been helped by comments like those of RCMP Commissioner William Elliot, who, talking about the Dziekanski case, recently said that most Canadians don’t understand the pressures police are under. Perhaps not. That, however, doesn’t absolve the officers involved of misrepresenting what happened.

Here’s what would help: Put Taser cams on all police stun weapons.

Calgary cops to test headgear cams

March 28, 2009
Bill Kaufmann, Calgary Sun

CALGARY -- Picture this: Calgary cops with head-mounted cameras chronicling action on the beat.

While city police have rejected a camera installed on their Taser pistols, they're considering a dual-lensed device worn like an ear bud and produced by the same company that supplies their stun guns.

The cameras - dubbed Axon - would ensure more accountability for both police and the public, said Insp. Chris Butler, the force's field training co-ordinator.

"It goes both ways," said Butler, adding police are also concerned about increasingly litigious crooks.

"The criminal element are using the tactic of launching a lot of frivolous and vexatious complaints to bog the system down and make officers second guess."

City police will field test Axon this fall, added Butler.

The $1,200 US devices would pack a colour-capable lens for daylight hours and a black and white infrared one for nighttime service.

A similar device was piloted in the U.K. last year and they're credited with dramatically reducing the numbers of complaints against police, said Butler.

GLITCHES
Police forces there didn't adopt them because of technical glitches, but Butler said he's hopeful the advent of the Axon will change that.

"We're hopeful the technological problems will be resolved," he said.

Earlier, Calgary police had tested a Taser gun-mounted camera, he said, but turned down the equipment after finding it unwieldy and technically unsound.

"The only time the Taser cam is recording is when the Taser is armed - they'd have to point it at a person, so they'd be more of a videographer than a cop dealing properly with a situation," said Butler.

"What we really want to be capturing aren't just the two seconds of Taser use but the entire context of an incident."

The camera lens was also obscured by the officer's hands when the Taser was held with both of them, he said.

The use of Tasers and cameras have come to the fore with the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dzeikanski who was captured on video when felled by a stun gun at Vancouver airport in 2007.

But the Taser-produced, blue tooth-like Axon "is a very fascinating piece of technology," said Butler.

EDITORIAL: Give Taser cams a chance

March 19, 2009
Chronicle Herald

HALIFAX Regional Police might not be ready to embrace Taser cameras, but the general public certainly is. Police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr says the department has little interest in acquiring the enhanced stun-gun technology, adding there are "too many issues" with it. Other jurisdictions like Vancouver and Calgary have made the same decision.

But the reality is that there are too many issues with Tasers, period. Taser cams, which start making video and audio recordings the moment the stun gun is deployed, could help resolve some of those issues. Better yet, they could help jolt public trust in the use of the weapon back to life.

It’s important to note that Taser cams are not infallible. Departments that have tested the devices have noted some glitches. There have been reports of the camera blanking out on occasion when the trigger is pulled, which, of course, defeats the purpose. A more common difficulty involves officers inadvertently blocking the camera lens in the Taser’s handle when, in stressful situations, they instinctively revert to a two-handed grip, as they have been trained to do when pointing a service pistol.

But camera-equipped stun guns also have their advantages. Some police officers feel the technology gives them an extra measure of protection – from frivolous complaints. The manufacturer, Taser International, likes to quote statistical data collected in a 2006 study for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which suggests that 96 per cent of the time, the recording of a disputed altercation has substantiated the officers’ versions of events.

On the other side of the ledger, the public gains an extra measure of protection from those police officers who are quick to resort to Tasers as an easy compliance tool. Everyone in law enforcement knows that a recording device is a double-edged sword – it will expose their actions as well as the suspect’s – and they are more likely to exercise restraint as a consequence.

Taser International claims citizen complaints are cut down by half in those jurisdictions where Taser cams are in use. Stricter procedures might have something to do with it, though. For example, in Edmonton, where the new technology is now in use, Taserings are three times less common than they were in 2005. But police have also implemented a new policy whereby a senior officer is called to the scene whenever a Taser is discharged in order to review the events and download the data.

In the end, Taser recordings are merely a piece of evidence. They don’t show what happened before or after an incident and they must be taken in their proper context. But more information and corroboration is better than less, and a more accountable police officer is a more effective one.

Bill would restrict police use of Tasers

They are finally beginning to "get it" south of the border. Imagine limiting the use of tasers to situations where it is used "only as an alternative to deadly force" and imagine requiring that any video captured becomes "a public record."

Of course: "Police officers are not crazy about any of this: the videos or the attempt to constrain their Taser use."

And of course (and this one hits very close to home): “It’s obvious that law enforcement agencies are not going to develop and implement the appropriate policies for the use of Tasers ... It’s clear the legislature needs to step in.”

March 16, 2009
By Abigail Goldman, Las Vegas Sun

Metro police have purchased just over 1,000 Taser cameras and will begin distributing the recording devices to police on the beat in two weeks. These cameras will capture grainy footage of every electronic zap, though the fate of that footage may be up to the Legislature.

As Metro equips its troops with Taser cameras, Assembly Bill 273 is working its way through the Legislature. The bill, if approved as written, would require a camera on every law enforcement Taser in Nevada. It would also make any video captured a public record, “open to public inspection during regular business hours.”

Metro is not a fan of this idea. The department considers Taser videos evidence and will release footage only in the course of a trial or as the department sees fit.

But wait, there’s more about the bill that Metro doesn’t like — AB273 would limit the circumstances in which police can use Tasers. Metro officers are currently allowed to use the electronic control devices during “custodial or arrest situations.” In other words, when officers are attempting to arrest someone who’s not cooperating, when they are trying to catch someone to arrest him, or in any self-defense situation. The phrase “compliance tool” tends to rub cops the wrong way, but that’s how Tasers are routinely used. The bill aims to put an end to that.

The legislation would allow police to use Tasers only on a person who committed a felony that involved the infliction or threat of bodily harm, or on someone who the officer believes poses a threat of bodily harm to himself or another person. The bill would make Tasers acceptable “only as an alternative to deadly force.”

Police officers are not crazy about any of this: the videos or the attempt to constrain their Taser use.

Groups that think the Taser is overused and underestimated, in terms of its potential to hurt people, say the bill is nothing short of necessary.

In short, there’s going to be a fight.

Assemblyman Joe Hogan, D-Las Vegas, is the bill’s primary sponsor. He has already heard from police representatives and he’s open to adjusting the language of the proposed law, though he does think Taser videos should be available to the public in some capacity and, moreover, thinks the Taser should be ranked high on any department’s use-of-force protocol.

“It’s to be used in really serious situations, where they (police) or someone else is in danger,” Hogan said.

In recent years, Metro has stopped calling Tasers “nonlethal” and starting calling them “low-lethality weapons.”

Because of their lethal potential, Gary Peck, director of the Nevada American Civil Liberties Union, says Tasers should not be used as a compliance tools. Peck emphasizes that he is not calling for a ban of all Tasers, as other groups have, but is merely asking that the circumstances in which an officer can use the device be limited.

“We know there is reason to believe these weapons can cause death or serious permanent bodily injury, and police policy should be much more restrictive to reflect that fact,” Peck said.

In 2008, Amnesty International ranked Metro as the police department with the most deaths that occurred after the application of electronic control devices — from June 2001 to August 2008, six people died after being shocked by Tasers in Clark County.

When Metro began trying out Taser cameras in the field two years ago, the department suggested the captured footage would allow Metro to be more transparent. In other words, the cameras would help Metro prove its use of Tasers was aboveboard. So, Peck said, the subsequent decision to guard videos as evidence and deny their distribution undermines department assurances of credibility.

“It doesn’t really lend itself to inspiring public confidence,” he said.

Chris Collins, president of Metro employees’ largest union, the rank and file Police Protective Association, said police have nothing to hide. Moreover, Collins noted, Metro has been recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for having one of the country’s best Taser policies, namely because Metro banned zapping anybody who was already in handcuffs.

The Taser is best used in the place of a baton, which can break bones, to get people into custody, Collins said. The bill narrows this discretion.

“I don’t want my officer standing there saying, ‘Oh boy, what is Gary Peck going to say?’ This is a decision you make in a split-second, and no offense to lawmakers, but they are not police and they are really going to tie officers’ hands” if they pass this bill.

Representatives of the police union will make their feelings known when the bill comes up for discussion in Carson City, which could happen late this week.

Metro representatives will also make their objections heard. Department lobbyist Lt. Tom Roberts says limits on Taser use would put officers and the public in danger.

“I am a firm believer that we have reduced officer-involved shootings, I believe we have reduced injuries to suspects and officers as a result of deploying the Taser,” Roberts said.

Both Roberts and Collins acknowledged that officers sometimes use Tasers as a compliance tool. If officers are denied this right, they insisted, there will be more injured officers, injured suspects and police shootings in Clark County.

Metro officers fired their Tasers 432 times in the field in 2007. If each of these incidents would have been a shooting were it not for the Taser, Peck said, then Clark County has a far more serious problem on its hands than anything suggested by the bill.

“It’s obvious that law enforcement agencies are not going to develop and implement the appropriate policies for the use of Tasers,” Peck said. “It’s clear the legislature needs to step in.”

Halifax police decline Taser cameras

March 14, 2009
By DAVENE JEFFREY, Chronicle Herald

Halifax police say they’re not interested in capturing their stun gun use on camera.

Taser International, the company that makes stun guns used by police forces in Nova Scotia, sells a camera which fits onto the gun handle of some models.

"There’s too many issues with them," said Halifax police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr, explaining that his department is aware of the optional add-on.

According to Taser’s website, the camera records audio and video when the gun is used and offers increased accountability.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," the company’s website boasts. The company also says that citizen complaints are down by up to 50 per cent in jurisdictions where police forces use the Taser cam.

"It makes a lot of sense," said NDP justice critic Bill Estabrooks.

Mr. Estabrooks is very clear that he is not against police forces having stun guns and believes they have likely saved lives.

But an audio and video record of every time an officer uses a Taser sounds like "common sense." With a recording, it would be clear what an officer was facing when the weapon was drawn and deployed, the politician said.

Nova Scotia’s Justice Department is also not considering ordering police forces to add the cam to their stun-gun weaponry.

"This is not part of our government’s standards in Nova Scotia at this time," said Justice spokeswoman Sherri Aikenhead.

Some agencies may have gone ahead and purchased the cameras on their own, she said, but the government at this time is not going to make it mandatory.

"It’s really up to the individual agencies," she said.

Tasers have been under attack in Canada over the past couple of years.

Late last month the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police admitted that police have overused the weapon in this country and have not been transparent enough in reporting how they have used the stun gun.

A public inquiry is currently underway into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. He is one of at least 20 people who have died in this country after being zapped with a stun gun.

Report: Police tampered with taser recordings

December 1, 2008
by Sue Dremann, Palo Alto Weekly Staff

An audio-video forensics expert has called into question the integrity of Palo Alto police conduct following a March 15 incident in which police shot a man twice with Taser guns.

Palo Alto police flatly deny that any tampering with evidence has taken place.

The analyst's report alleges that two of three police audio-video recordings made during the Taser incident were subsequently edited. The three recordings should have been uniform but are not, according to Gregg Stutchman, chief forensic analyst at Stutchman Lab in Napa.

The recordings are being used as evidence against Palo Alto resident Joseph Anthony Ciampi, who is facing a felony charge of assaulting a police officer stemming from the March 15 run-in with police.

On Monday, Ciampi's attorney plans to ask the court to suppress the audio-video evidence against his client. Ciampi was zapped twice with Tasers by Palo Alto police officers during the altercation.

The incident began when a neighbor, Ken Alsman, complained to police about a man who was living in a van on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Ramona Street.

Ciampi's van had been parked in front of Alsman's house for weeks at a time, moving in accordance with the city's 72-hour parking law but often returning to the spot, Alsman said in a dispatch tape of the call.

According to police reports, Alsman said Ciampi's presence made Alsman's wife uncomfortable.

At about 10 a.m. on March 15, police Officers Kelly Burger and Manuel Temores and Agent April Wagner approached Ciampi's blue van and asked him to come out, but they reported Ciampi would not open the door and refused to speak with the officers. Temores used a ruse to lure Ciampi from the van by pretending to phone in a request to have the vehicle towed.

Ciampi opened the door and became visibly upset at the prospect that his "home" could be towed, police reports state. An argument ensued, during which Ciampi was tased twice.

Video and audio recordings were made by equipment in a police car and on Burger's and Temore's Taser guns.

Stutchman, who was hired by Ciampi's attorney, noted in an Aug. 14 report that there were discrepancies in the recording times of the three tapes, which should have been uniform.

Between 7.5 and 17.5 seconds of audio-video material are missing from the two Taser recordings, Stutchman reported.

Using Burger's cruiser recording as the baseline, Stutchman established that 8 seconds elapsed between the first Taser firing by Burger and the second Taser firing by Temores.

But on Burger's Taser audio the time between the end of the first Taser blast and the beginning of the second is 0.432 seconds -- less than a half-second -- indicating a 7.5-second interval is missing from the recording.

On Temores' Taser camera, which records the time of the incident, only the first Taser blast is on the recording. The second one is not present at all. As much as 10 seconds are purported missing from the Temores Taser data.

The forensics report also found discrepancies between content of the audio recordings. The cruiser's audio captures Ciampi and Agent April Wagner talking:

Ciampi: "They've arrested me for nothing."

Wagner: "The subject is in custody. He's been Tased twice."

Ciampi: "This is totally bull----."

But on one of the Taser recordings, Ciampi's last response is missing.

"Based on the analysis in this report, it is my opinion to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, that both Temores and Burger Taser videos have been altered and edited, removing content," Stutchman wrote in his report.

Stutchman is a former police officer and a state licensed investigator whose credentials include the Robert Blake murder trial and Michael Jackson child-molestation case, according to the company website.

Palo Alto's Independent Police Auditor, Robert Miller, said he looked at all of the material and hasn't seen evidence of intentional or accidental manipulation of the videos or audios. But he said he hadn't seen Stutchman's report.

"Anything coming out of this case that raises questions is something that we will pursue," independent Police Auditor Michael Gennaco confirmed.

David J. Beauvais, Ciampi's attorney, said the Santa Clara County Crime Lab is investigating if the recordings were altered, but he is still waiting for the report.

Amy Cornell, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office, of which the crime lab is a part, said her office can't comment on the evidence or on Ciampi's case.

But "in general terms, tampering with evidence could be a criminal act. There are many variables that come into play on whether or not to file charges," she said.

Palo Alto Police spokesman Dan Ryan said the department chose the x26 Taser specifically because it is "tamper-proof." Taser International, Inc., the company that makes the x26 Taser and the recording device, the Taser Cam, touts on its website that the x26 has "secure" files that are saved on encrypted data files that are secure from tampering.

But Stutchman said he was surprised more security safeguards were not incorporated into the Taser Cam. "The format of these Taser Cams is very editable. ... What I got was not encrypted," he said. Stutchman added that any copy would have been encrypted with separate deciphering software used to translate the information, he said.

A company spokesperson has not returned calls.

Stutchman said he analyzed digital recordings that were given to Ciampi's attorney but had not analyzed the original computer files, which are with the District Attorney's Office.

Miller, the independent police auditor, said he could not comment on the Taser camera's security, but noted the camera has only been on the market two or three years. "To call anything tamper-proof is more marketing than analysis," he said.

Beauvais plans to ask the court to throw out the audio-video recordings and other evidence. He alleges that his client's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure and 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law were violated. When the officers induced Ciampi to exit the van under false pretenses, they had no reasonable suspicion that he was involved in criminal activity, Beauvais wrote in court filings.

Beauvais argued that threatening to take over Ciampi's van was coercive and constitutes carjacking, since Ciampi was still inside. The threat to take his property meets the statutory definition of attempted extortion, according to Beauvais' court papers.

It is not illegal to live in a vehicle in Palo Alto on public streets, although the city is working on an ordinance to change the law. Ciampi filed a claim against the city in September for more than $11 million alleging civil-rights violations. The city rejected the claim on Oct. 15, determining that officers did nothing wrong, according to City Attorney Gary Baum. Ciampi said he would pursue a civil action against the city after his criminal case is resolved.

Forces watch Quebec test of Taser-cam

November 22, 2008
Phil Couvrette, Canwest News Service

Police departments across the country will be looking on as Quebec conducts tests to determine whether a camera-equipped version of the controversial Taser stun gun is suitable for its police forces and provides greater accountability.

But critics of the device, which discharges 50,000 volts when fired, say adopting such a model, which both records video and sound when it is triggered, will not eliminate their concerns about its use.

In late October, a subcommittee of Quebec's Public Security Department obtained the go-ahead to conduct studies and tests on the camera-equipped electroshock weapon, according to Andree Dore of Quebec's Ecole Nationale de Police.

The decision followed the recommendations of a Quebec coroner who concluded police forces should videotape the use of such devices.

Coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier was at the time submitting a report on the death of Quilem Registre, who died four days after being struck by Taser on Oct. 18, 2007. The coroner said although the weapon was not directly responsible for the death, the fact the intoxicated Registre had received six discharges in 53 seconds during his arrest may have contributed to his deteriorating condition.

In all, over 20 people have died shortly after being shocked by the weapon in recent years in Canada, prompting groups such as Amnesty International to call for use of the device to be suspended. Most of those deaths occurred within hours of the Taser incident.

Camera-equipped versions would "provide enhanced accountability for law enforcement officers and the communities they serve," said Steve Tuttle of Taser Inc., who stresses no death has ever been directly linked to the device.

Tuttle noted a 2006 International Association of Chiefs of Police report "showed statistical data indicates that 96.2 per cent of the time, the recording of the event exonerated the officer of the allegation or complaint."

He said the camera-equipped version, which was launched in August 2006, was available to 1,871 law enforcement agencies as of March this year.

But this greater accountability doesn't go far enough, according to Amnesty International.

"It's helpful to have new accountability measures - it certainly doesn't hurt to have them. But in terms of addressing our main concern, it certainly doesn't," said spokeswoman Hilary Holmes. "This is a device that was deployed prior to enough independent study to really be able to assess, 'Is this a reasonable risk?' Particularly with vulnerable groups, there needs to be more study in order to make that assessment."

In the meantime, Amnesty wants use of the weapon suspended or, failing that, brought to "highly restricted use." By Amnesty's count, 25 deaths have occurred in Canada following the use of a Taser since the introduction of the device.

Videotape of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski being shocked by a Taser at the Vancouver airport in October 2007 was broadly distributed. That tape, showing RCMP officers using a Taser on the agitated man, who spoke no English, and then pinning him to the ground, drew outrage from around the world.

Dziekanski's was perhaps the highest-profile death in Canada following the use of the device.

Some police forces do see an advantage in obtaining the camera-equipped version of the Taser. Such a device "would be interesting because it enables light to be immediately shed on events during the intervention," said Marc Parent of Montreal Police.

Other forces, such as Vancouver's, have considered camera-equipped devices, but decided not to add them to their arsenal. "The VPD does not currently use Taser cameras. Our Force Options Section has studied the information, and the cameras do not meet our needs at this time," wrote Const. Jana McGuinness in an e-mail.

The Calgary Police Service has also looked into the device, but have yet to implement its use, said Darren Leggatt, who looks after use-of-force training for the department. "We're certainly looking to explore new and different things . . . a variety of different products," he said.

The Ontario Provincial Police says it doesn't use the camera-equipped model, but notes provincial regulations require that all uses of force, including the Taser, be documented.

The RCMP did not respond to requests for information on whether it uses or has considered using the device.