B.C. stun gun report applies here, too

An opinion piece published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By Marilla Stephenson [pictured]

WHILE THE DEATH of Howard Hyde in a Dartmouth jail remains an incident of confusion and contradiction, the report from a British Columbia public inquiry this week was crystal clear: stun guns can kill.

The fatality inquiry called into Hyde’s death by the Nova Scotia government and the B.C. inquiry are different in many ways but they also have much in common: both deal with the death of a disturbed man who had earlier been Tasered by police officers.

The two men died about a month apart in 2007.

Robert Dziekanski died on the floor of the arrivals area of the Vancouver International Airport in October 2007 after officers used a stun gun to subdue him. The Polish man, who spoke no English, had been wandering the terminal for hours before becoming disruptive and exhibiting erratic behaviour. The RCMP were called in to deal with him, eventually delivering five Taser shocks before he collapsed and died.

Hyde died 30 hours after he had been Tasered by Halifax Regional police officers in November of the same year. The medical examiner ruled that his death, after a scuffle with guards at the jail a day after being arrested, was a result of "excited delirium" caused by paranoid schizophrenia.

The fatality inquiry into the Hyde case has different parameters from the B.C. inquiry. Judge Anne Derrick has not been tasked to assign blame in her findings.

In B.C., former judge Thomas Braidwood found that stun guns can kill or cause serious injury. As a result, the B.C. government has ordered the use of stun guns to be "severely restricted," but stopped short of an outright ban on the weapons, which have often been used to bring unruly suspects under control.

"Conducted energy weapons are unique — they are the only weapon designed to cause intense pain and to incapacitate through an electrical current," Braidwood said at a Vancouver news conference.

In releasing his report on Thursday, Braidwood noted that Tasers were introduced without prior independent government testing, relying instead on information from the manufacturers, the Canadian Press reported.

Braidwood issued 19 recommendations, including that police only use the weapons when someone is causing or is about to cause bodily harm. He said 25 people have died in Canada after being subjected to electrical shock from a stun gun.

He undertook a detailed review of existing research into Tasers. He concluded they are a better option for police than guns, noting the threat of a Taser has enabled some police forces to resolve up to 80 per cent of incidents.

But he also found that they can cause heart irregularities and are an especially high-risk weapon for those who are medically or emotionally compromised, particularly if they receive repeated shocks.

"Deploying a conducted energy weapon against an emotionally disturbed person is, in most cases, the worst possible response," said Braidwood.

Among his recommendations is a call for additional training to help police officers deal with emotionally disturbed people.

These findings will be of particular interest to the family and friends of Hyde, who have heard testimony at the Halifax inquiry from police officers and medical officials that seems, at times, at odds with common sense.

The inquiry has been told of procedural errors relating to Taser use by the officers involved in the incident, acknowledgement that written reports about Hyde’s time in custody are in conflict with what appears on security tapes, and a written doctor’s order that called for Hyde to receive a psychiatric assessment.

That never happened. Communication about Hyde’s condition appears to have been minimal among the police, medical staff who cared for Hyde after he was initially Tasered, and corrections staff. While the confusion that existed is apparent from testimony at the inquiry, there seems to have been little effort made to seek clarification.

One day later, Hyde was dead. Suggestions that jurisdictional limitations and ignorance of proper procedures may have prevented Hyde from getting the help he needed are far from good enough.

Bold emphasis in the text of the article is mine.

Also see:

Hyde lawyer: Adopt Taser guidelines