Tasers a ‘new urban terrorism’ against ‘downtrodden’: Canadian studyMr Oriola, you say "the poor, mentally ill and chronicle drug users" as if they are three different income levels. They are the people that cops deal with every day and more to the point they are all in the same. If you are mentally ill (and unable to control them with treatment from that great Canadian medical system) you generally don't hold a job and you are poor. Yes, the overwhelming majority of homeless people are mentally ill and they don't have much money. And they steal and harass other law abiding citizens. Those people the call the cops for protection. And this leads to conflict with the police.
A new study is calling for a moratorium on Taser use in Canada. By Douglas Quan
The use of Tasers by Canada’s police forces represents a “teething new urban terrorism” that targets society’s “downtrodden,” says a study published this month that looked at more than two dozen deaths involving the stun guns.
Those most likely to get “tased” include the poor, mentally ill and chronic drug users, according to the study, led by Temitope Oriola, who received a Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence upon the completion of his doctoral studies at the University of Alberta last year.
“It is beneath the integrity of the RCMP — a well-respected organization by international standards — and other police establishments in Canada to continue to use the Taser without conclusive independent scientific evidence succinctly demonstrating its effects or consequences on the human body,” the study, published in the journal Social Identities, concludes...Again Mr Oriola you seem clueless. You must be a PhD. :...very unhealthy mistrust, dread and fear of the police...", Mr Oriola, that mistrust, dread and fear of the cops was there long time before the TASER was invented and will still be there after the TASER is replaced by the next non-lethals pistol. It was not caused by the TASER but by the fact the cops are there to control the criminal element.
...In a statement, RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Julie Gagnon said the force has revised its use-of-force training and policies since 2007 to focus on “de-escalation and communication.”
The latest revision to the RCMP’s Taser-use policy in April 2010 states that Tasers can only be used when someone is causing bodily harm or when an officer believes that a person will imminently cause bodily harm, she said....
...The study reviewed 26 fatalities across the country in which a Taser was involved, including the high-profile death of Robert Dziekanski, a distraught Polish immigrant, following an encounter with police at Vancouver International Airport.
Relying on news accounts of those incidents, the study’s authors conclude that Tasers tend to be used on the most “hapless” members of society.
Many were poor or had chronic drug problems, some were ethnic minorities, and a few were certified as mentally ill, they said.
“Taser use on the downtrodden has led to a very unhealthy mistrust, dread and fear of the police akin to the way members of the public are terrified by terrorist attacks,” the authors wrote...
...In an interview, Oriola said he understands the dangers and risks that police face, but he insisted that there should be a moratorium on Taser use in Canada.
The days when academics sit on the sidelines and do “objective analysis” are becoming a “thing of the past,” Oriola said. Scholars need to take a stance on issues, especially those that involve society’s most vulnerable, he said.
Lack of objectivity from an academic, I don't believe it! I have no doubt there is federal funding waiting for you.
Yes Mr Oriola, why are you not coming into your true calling. You needed to get to the RCMP and let them know how to their job. To paraphrase a great bumper sticker, "Hire your college student while they still know everything." Or ever better, come with an officer on patrol and tell the cops he's screwing up.
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