Canada's national police force said Friday it will restrict its use of Taser stun guns to suspects who are "combative" or actively resisting arrest, a move that follows a report criticizing the force's excessive use of the weapon.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the force will more clearly define after a report released this week by the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP's said Taser use "has expanded to include subduing resistant subjects who do not pose a threat of grievous bodily harm or death and on whom the use of lethal force would not be an option."
While stopping short of calling for a moratorium, the report released Wednesday said the weapon's use should be limited to suspects who are "combative" or pose a risk of "death or grievous bodily harm" to police, themselves, or the public.
"The RCMP recognizes the need to take action on the issues raised in the report and is committed to making immediate improvements in a number of areas," RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said in a statement.
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski's death after Mounties zapped him with a Taser at a Toronto airport on Oct. 14 served as a catalyst for reviewing the force's use of the weapon _ particularly after the video footage was released to the public.
Authorities used the weapon _ which incapacitates through a 50,000 volt charge _ on Dziekanski 46 seconds after arriving on scene when he began acting erratically.
Last month, A 36-year-old British Columbia resident died four days after police used a Taser on him because he reportedly was acting erratically in a store. A Nova Scotian man died earlier the same week, 30 hours after being shocked with the Taser at a jail where he was being held on assault charges.
Overall, more than a dozen people have died in Canada after being hit with Tasers in the last four years. However, the Arizona-based manufacturer of Taser guns says they have never been conclusively linked to any deaths in Canada.
The watchdog group's report _ ordered by Canada's public safety minister _ found that even though Mounties have fired Tasers over 3,000 times since their introduction in December 2001, the Mounties have not thoroughly examined statistical information of the weapons use in developing policy.
RCMP officials, in tandem with the new guidelines, have issued an operational bulletin outlining the policy changes and will include them in future Taser training, the statement said.
In keeping with the report's recommendations, the Mounties will enhance their Taser database, establish more robust reporting and analysis, and file quarterly and annual reports on all use-of-force incidents, including those involving Tasers.
Elliott said preliminary reviews had suggested training and policy were adequate. But that apparently changed in light of the watchdog's report.
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