TASER and Friends

Galloping Beaver has pointed out this cozy little relationship. Check out the impeccable endorsement our deputy chief coroner, Dr. James Cairns has given the TASER:

"I am absolutely convinced tasers will save lives instead of taking lives. And I hope some day, if I am in the position, please taser me before you shoot me," Dr. Cairns told the board at its meeting.

In other words: TASER - it's better than being shot! I thought this song fitting:

A National Disgrace

There's been so much written about the apparently cold-blooded killing of a confused traveler by the RCMP - and rightly so. I was disgusted listening to rationalizations of an RCMP spokesman on CBC radio last night.

I think this is perhaps the time to take it one step further: break up the RCMP. In Ontario and Quebec there are provincial police forces that do the vast majority of what the RCMP does in all the other provinces. Before Robert Dziekanski there was Ian Bush, part of 267(!) deaths at the RCMP's hands hands of police in BC.

Here's why a break-up might help: It appears, whenever there are problems with the RCMP they seem to disappear down a bureaucratic rabbit hole. It wasn't until there was real trouble for the RCMP's complicity in the rendition of Maher Arar that anyone even knew who Giuliano Zaccardelli was. Giving the RCMP's role to new provincial forces would shorten and clarify the lines of accountability. When, say, the OPP does mess up, we can draw a line from the officers on the ground right up to the premier if we need to.

Let the RCMP do horse parades and perhaps guard federal buildings and foreign dignitaries (we can work out their new, limited role). I do not have confidence in them to do much else. Dismantle the RCMP.

This man did not need to die

After watching the video it's fairly apparent that Robert Dziekanski did not need to die. The taser was applied almost as a matter of convenience. The cops in the video appear fairly cavalier.

This is tough for me to say, because all the cops I know really seem to be doing a tough job for the right reasons, and it frustrates me that my profession (teaching) is often tarred with a big brush, but there are some sick people who work their way into policing. Let's face it, if you get a sick kick out of violence, policing is a great state-sanctioned way to live that out. It's too early to apply that sort of characterization here, but we need to have our eyes open.