Local cops release use of force stats

Belleville, Ontario - Population 45,986 - has 6 tasers - "used" the taser 18 times, discharged it *only* 9 times last year

Waterloo, Ontario - Population 97,475 - has ?? tasers - discharged 29 times last year

Chatham, Ontario - Population 108,177 - has ?? tasers - used seven times and "only in specific circumstances" last year

Kingston, Ontario - Population 114,195 - has 34 tasers - fired them 4 times last year

April 24, 2009
ERICA BAJER, THE DAILY NEWS (Chatham, Ontario)

Chatham-Kent Police Service officers used force 85 times last year, according to statistics released this week.

Deputy Chief Clare Wiersma told the Chatham-Kent Police Services Board officers discharged their firearms 11 times in 2008. He said in all of those incidents, firearms were used in the humane destruction of injured animals.

Police pointed their guns at people 35 times last year and used pepper spray 20 times.

Wiersma said Tasers were used seven times and only in specific circumstances.

"The officers are using them judiciously," he told the board. "We monitor those very closely.

The Taser has prove itself to be a valuable use of force option."

According to the use of force statistics, police used a baton once and a police dog twice. Physical control was used nine times.

In 2008, Wiersma said officers were involved in 17 pursuits, which was up from 13 in 2007.

He said police chases are strictly monitored and analyzed after the fact. Many of the reported pursuits were terminated shortly after they started, he added.

Wiersma also told the board there were 28 public complaints laid in 2008 and 64 internal affairs investigations.

"For both the public complaints and internal affairs matters, there were relatively few serious misconducts," he said, adding no criminal charges were laid and two misconduct cases were dealt with through Police Service Act hearings.

He said some of the cases were resolved through informal discipline.

Police use Tasers four times, report reveals

Belleville, Ontario - Population 45,986 - has 6 tasers - "used" the taser 18 times, discharged it *only* 9 times last year

Waterloo, Ontario - Population 97,475 - has ?? tasers - discharged 29 times last year

Chatham, Ontario - Population 108,177 - has ?? tasers - used seven times and "only in specific circumstances" last year

Kingston, Ontario - Population 114,195 - has 34 tasers - fired them 4 times last year

April 23, 2009
ROB TRIPP, Kingston Whig Standard

Kingston Police officers fired electric stun guns four times last year, according to a report presented today at Police Service Board meeting on the use of force by officers in 2008.

The Taser shootings were among 40 uses of force, including seven incidents in which guns were fired to euthanize deer that had been hit by vehicles.

Pepper spray was used seven times. A baton was used once. A Taser was drawn from a holster by an officer five times without being fired.

Police Chief Stephen Tanner also revealed that a second round of laboratory testing has been completed on Tasers used by Kingston Police. A second weapon was found to be operating outside specifications.

The gun was not pulsing properly and will be sent to the American manufacturer, either for repair or replacement.

Last month, Tanner said tests on 19 of the department’s 34 Tasers found that all are discharging the correct amount of electricity, but one was not pulsing properly.

The weapons are designed to deliver 50,000 volts of electricity that briefly incapacitates a person.

Tanner said Kingston Police have one more Taser to be tested.

Stun guns get the job done, police tell board

April 23, 2009
Cherri Greeno, The Record (Waterloo, Ontario)

Tasers are one of the most effective forms of force available to regional police, according to a report released yesterday.

Stun guns were discharged 29 times last year, says the annual report on "use of force" incidents.

In all but one case, the weapon was effective in getting combative suspects to comply with police.

The one failure was blamed on the probe getting tangled in the suspect's clothes.

"It's one of the most consistently effective methods . . . with the least amount of injuries,"said Insp. Steve Beckett of Waterloo Regional Police.

The report to the Waterloo Regional Police Services board also said that officers fired their guns 45 times last year.

One shot killed a 26-year-old robbery suspect.

Forty-three shots were aimed at animals, and one was fired at the lock of a door.

Another officer's gun discharged into the floor of a house after he was attacked while entering.

The use-of-force report describes stun guns as "conducted energy weapons," also known by the brand name Taser.

Police have found the Taser even works well when it is simply shown to a suspect, according to the report.

Officers displayed a Taser 26 times last year. In each case, the suspect complied.

Whenever a Taser has been used or displayed, "there's been less injury to the subject and to the officer," Beckett said.

Some supporters of stun guns believe they provide officers with a less-lethal form of force.

But their use became controversial after the death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007.

Dziekanski was stunned several times during a confrontation with RCMP at Vancouver's airport.

The weapons can be used two ways.

One is the drive-stun method, in which an officer subdues a suspect by simply touching him with the device.

The other method is to fire a probe that makes contact with the suspect's skin and incapacitates him.

Deputy Chief Brent Thomlison told police board members yesterday that Tasers have "an extremely high rate of effectiveness."

The use of physical-control methods -- such as wrist locks and arm bars -- more than doubled, from 30 in 2007 to 63 in 2008.

The increase is likely due to recent training on physical-control techniques and the fact officers were more confident in using them, Beckett said.

This could also explain the increase in reported injuries -- 15 in 2008, compared with seven in 2007.

Of the 15, five were from takedowns by police dogs.

Another five were from hard physical control methods, such as punching or kicking.

Four cases of injuries were the result of soft-control methods, and one happened when a suspect darted in front of a cruiser.

All of the injuries were minor.

Overall, the use-of-force statistics show that officers "are effectively and appropriately using their use-of-force protocols," Thomlison told board members.

Waterloo Regional Police made 13,318 arrests in 2008, compared with 13,642 in 2007.

Vancouver cops tied for second in Canada in Taser usage

March 16, 2009
Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier

The Vancouver Police Department tied for second with Niagara Regional Police Service for the number of times a Taser was fired in 2007.

Out of eight departments in Canada, including Montreal, officers from Vancouver and Niagara fired the Taser 74 times each. Edmonton topped all departments with 89. Victoria officers fired the Taser 71 times, with Greater Sudbury (55), Halifax (38), Waterloo Regional (33) and Montreal (32) rounding out the eight departments. The report did not include statistics from Toronto, which has one of the largest police departments in Canada.

The statistics are contained in a brief report that goes before the Vancouver Police Board March 18. The report also included statistics for 2008, but only four departments are listed.

The VPD's use of the Taser in 2008 dropped to 27 times from 74 in 2007. Greater Sudbury's force also saw a decrease in 2008, with 23 firings from 55 in 2007. The report lists statistics for two other departments but didn't name them. The report's author, Drazen Manojlovic, said the two unnamed departments haven't publicly released the statistics.

But Manojlovic, who is the VPD's director of planning and research, said the departments-which fired their stun guns 91 and 73 times respectively in 2008-are of comparable size to the VPD.

Manojlovic said it was "unlikely" that the other departments represented in the report had similar decreases to the VPD. He didn't explain the reason for the decrease.

In February, the Courier attempted to determine why the VPD saw such a dramatic decrease in use of the stun gun since 2005. In 2006, the VPD fired the Taser 93 times and 66 in 2005.

Const. Jana McGuinness, a media liaison officer with the department, said the VPD couldn't point to a definitive reason for the decrease. McGuinness also told the Courier in February that there was no directive from Police Chief Jim Chu to curtail the use of the controversial weapon.

Manojlovic noted in his report that his analysis of the statistics "to be blunt, only scratches the surface." Other factors, including how many officers are authorized to use a Taser and departments' policies around Taser use were not included in the report.

"If more comprehensive analysis is required, then the VPD would need to formally canvass comparable police departments later in 2009 to obtain more data, enquire about the factors listed above, and obtain approval to publicly release such information," Manojlovic wrote.

The Canadian Association of Police Boards released a report Feb. 24 on stun guns, or conducted energy weapons. The association agrees in theory that a Taser can be a valuable force option for police.

"However, [the association] would like to see more evidence and discussion to clarify the conditions under which use of [Tasers] does not pose risk of injury or death," the report said.

At last count, the VPD had more than 120 Tasers, which are made in the United States by Taser International. The stun gun resembles a handgun and releases 50,000 volts of electricity through two probes into clothing or skin.

Waterloo judge questions use of stun gun

December 12, 2007
DIANNE WOOD, Waterloo Record

KITCHENER - A prosecutor defended Waterloo regional police yesterday after a judge questioned the actions of officers who strip-searched an unruly prisoner and shot him with a stun gun last summer. "It's 100 per cent by the book,'' assistant Crown attorney Mike Murdoch said of the arrest and treatment of Michael Campbell by Waterloo regional police on Aug. 22.

Campbell is on trial for assaulting an officer by biting his finger during a struggle in a cell at the Kitchener police detachment. The 26-year-old man had been arrested for breaching court orders and was drunk when he refused a strip search and fought police in his cell.

The judge wondered why police had to strip-search someone facing such minor charges. He wanted to hear from the officer who shot Campbell with the Taser to subdue him for the strip-search.

But Murdoch said the Taser incident, which happened more than an hour before Campbell is alleged to have bitten the officer in the cell, has nothing to do with the assault charge Campbell faces. "We're here to decide did Michael Campbell assault this peace officer?'' Murdoch told the judge. "Waterloo regional police are not on trial here. "Your Honour, perhaps, is vexed by the fact the Taser was used,'' he said. "That's really a hot-button issue right now. This case has absolutely nothing to do with (the) Taser. Let's not cloud the issue with Tasers and searches.'' The prosecutor called the police behaviour "exemplary.''

But Westman was just as firm. "I am concerned, when prisoners are brought in, how they are treated,'' he said. "That's where mistreatment can occur. I don't look at it as totally exemplary. It involves a strip search.'' The judge went on to say, "It's too bad this place isn't filled with the public'' so people could hear what happened.

Murdoch said the fact that two members of the media were in the courtroom meant the public would learn of the case. "They should hear every vile word Mr. Campbell said,'' Murdoch said. "All I've heard is this man was rude and assaultive and the officers were trying to diffuse the situation.''

Campbell's lawyer, Mark Nowak, has said police used excessive force on Campbell. He produced a photo showing Campbell with a bruised eye caused by an officer who punched him in the face several times during the scuffle in the cell.

Murdoch urged the judge to focus on the charge against Campbell. He said the case was about a bite to a "family man,'' referring to Const. Daniel Cimermancic, who got medical treatment in case Campbell had an infectious disease.

"Don't be dramatic Mr. Murdoch,'' the judge retorted. He said the case was about everything that happened between police and Campbell that night. "Sometimes, things get out of hand,'' he said. "That's what we're here looking at.''

Campbell, who has a record for assaulting police, was belligerent from the time of his arrest, court heard. He refused to be strip-searched and the stun gun was used to force compliance.

The judge wondered why the thorough search was needed when police had already patted down Campbell during his arrest. Acting Sgt. Kurt Hartill, who ordered the strip-search, said sometimes things are missed in a pat-down search. Officers must check for drugs, weapons or items that could be used as weapons, he said. In Campbell's case, they found nipple piercings which they removed.

The stun gun didn't work on Campbell, however, and he threatened to kill officers and invited them to fight. Hartill ordered him to the ground where he was cuffed. "He was like an animal on the floor,'' the officer said. "He was crazed, violent. . . .''

Police got him into a cell. They had to go back in twice -- once to remove a mattress Campbell used to cover the camera in his cell, and once to remove a blanket for the same reason. Police needed to be able to monitor his well-being in the cell, Hartill said.

Things were quiet until Campbell spit on the camera lens twice, blurring officers' view of him. Hartill decided to restrain him. Hartill wanted Campbell's arms to be cuffed outside the cell bars so he couldn't reach the camera. He refused, bit the officer on the hand and thrashed around, court heard.

In a video shown in court, three officers can be seen restraining Campbell. Hartill admitted he hit Campbell in the face "to repel this assault and control him. He was absolutely the worst prisoner I've ever seen,'' Hartill said. The trial continues on Dec. 20.