$7 million suit launched against York Regional Police

September 10, 2010
CHRIS DOUCETTE, Toronto Sun

Two young men who were allegedly beaten and Tasered repeatedly when they were caught up in a drug raid in a Richmond Hill hotel room two years ago have launched a $7 million lawsuit against York Regional Police.


Brandon Talon, then 23, whose battered face appeared on the front page of the Toronto Sun in the wake of the raid, and Jonathan Fontela, then 22, claim they have been left physically and mentally scarred since the wee hours of the morning of Sept. 6, 2008, when they claim they were “brutally” awakened by rifle butts, boot heels and jolt after jolt of electricity.


“Brandon is still having a lot of health problems,” said Brandon’s mom, Barb Talon, who is among the four complainants named in the civil suit. “He’s never been the same.”


Both men, who had no criminal records and passed drug tests, claim they had no idea their old high school pal was a dealer when they crashed in his hotel room.


Nor did they know their friend was under police surveillance for trafficking drugs from the room in the Sheraton Hotel at Hwy. 7 and Leslie St.


A statement of claim, filed with the courts Friday by their Toronto lawyer Leon Gavendo, alleges the pair were asleep on a couch and the dealer was with his girlfriend in a bedroom when officers entered the suite — some in plainclothes, some wearing ski masks and carrying assault rifles.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

At the time, Fontela and Talon thought it was a home invasion because they were half asleep and the officers allegedly didn’t identify themselves as police. Both men claim they instinctively fought for their lives.

“Brandon was tasered by one or more of the said police officers at least 12 times, including before, during and after he had been beaten and placed under arrest and placed in handcuffs, and including before and after he had lost consciousness as a result of being repeatedly beaten and tasered,” the suit alleges.

“Jonathan was tasered by one or more of the said police officers approximately 10 times, including before, during and after he had been beaten and placed under arrest and placed in handcuffs, and including before and after he had been completely subdued.”

The suit accuses officers of acting “maliciously” and using “grossly excessive force.”

Talon lost partial vision in one eye. Fontela suffered permanent brain damage.

They both also claim to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and each is suing for $3 million.

Talon’s mother and Fontela’s father are each asking for $500,000 in the suit, which names York Regional Police Chief Armand Le Barge and 17 of his officers.

“I have already proven my innocence in court,” Brandon said. “Now, all I can do is hope that the people responsible are held accountable for their actions so that no one else gets hurt.”

Police found cocaine in the bedroom and charged all four occupants.

Fontela and Talon later had their drug charges dropped. But they were found guilty of obstructing police and granted absolute discharges.

Le Barge, who is retiring in December after 37 years, said the civil suit was expected.

While he was unable to say much with the matter before the courts, Le Barge said he stands by his officers.

“They took actions that they felt were appropriate,” he said, adding out three of the four people charged have since been convicted.


Toronto cops say Tasers are up to snuff

June 3, 2009
By ROB LAMBERTI AND JENNY YUEN, SUN MEDIA

While the RCMP recall and review 1,600 Tasers, GTA police services say their cache of the stun guns is fine.

The RCMP is recalling the M26 model because it failed to meet the manufacturer's specifications 80% of the time. The Tasers will be tested and repaired if necessary.

The Monday recall came hours after B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman ordered the RCMP to stop using the older version of the weapon in that province.

The concern is that the M26 appears to be producing less charge than required by the manufacturer. Last year, B.C. pulled 82 stun guns purchased before Jan. 1, 2006, after tests showed them misfiring.

Stun guns are under increased scrutiny since the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski after he was jolted multiple times with an RCMP Taser at Vancouver's airport.

CHECKED DAILY

The Taser used on Dziekanski was an X26 model, and not the M26 affected by the RCMP recall.

Halton uses the M26, the same model being yanked by the Mounties and Sgt. Brian Carr said yesterday there were concerns about the 2005 version. Halton's tactical team has 13 M26 Tasers that were made in 2006 and 2007, and he said they appear to be functioning properly.

Road sergeants in Halton are armed with the newer X26.

In York Region, which has a total of 30 X26s, Const. Gary Phillips said only tactical officers have them. Durham and Peel also only use the X26.

The M26 was retired in Toronto in 2005 and replaced with the newer version, Chief Bill Blair said. In Toronto, only road sergeants and tactical officers have Tasers.

"We check our devices on a daily basis," Blair said. "They go through regular checks before they're used each day and we also send them in to make sure they're appropriately calibrated."

'I thought I was going to die': Beating victim

May 30, 2009
CHRIS DOUCETTE, SUN MEDIA

NEWMARKET -- Two young men who had never been in trouble with the law say they were beaten and Tasered as many as 24 times by York cops after innocently ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The two found themselves in the middle of a drug raid last fall after crashing in a buddy's Richmond Hill hotel room and were asleep when police entered the penthouse suite.

"I thought I was going to die," Brandon Talon, 23, said yesterday in an interview outside Newmarket court, explaining he is now living with physical and psychological scars from that fateful night.

Talon and Jonathan Fontela, 22, say they went to a nightclub on Sept. 5, 2008, to celebrate the birthday of an old high school chum, who -- unknown to them -- was under police surveillance for trafficking drugs from a room in the Sheraton Hotel at Hwy. 7 and Leslie St.

Early the next morning, after stopping for a bite to eat, the two longtime best friends claim they went back to the hotel and fell asleep in the suite rather than risk drinking and driving.

'CAME IN LIKE THUGS'

The drug dealer, who they say they hadn't seen in several years, and his girlfriend retired to the bedroom.

But their slumber came to a crashing end around 4:30 a.m. as Talon and Fontela awoke to find themselves surrounded by eight men -- four plainclothes officers and four Emergency Response Unit officers wearing ski masks and armed with assault rifles -- who they say began pummelling them and pulling them to the floor before they even had a chance to open their eyes.

"They came in like thugs," Fontela alleged of the officers, who obtained a key card from the hotel to enter the room.

Fontela says he initially thought he was having a bad dream and it took a few moments to realize the nightmare was real. "They were beating me so bad I barely remember what was happening," said Fontela, who alleges he was Tasered 13 times.

Talon, who said he was Tasered 11 times and beaten so bad the retina in his right eye was partially severed, believed it was some sort of home invasion.

"While I was being Tasered and grabbed in a choke hold, that's when I heard them saying, 'Stop resisting,' " he said.

It was only then, he said, that he realized the men were cops.

Talon, who weighs about 150 pounds and could easily pass for a high school student, said he "passed out" after suffering two hard blows to the head and doesn't remember much else.

His mother, Barb Talon, was surprised by the injuries when she was finally able to pick her son up from a jail in Lindsay two days later.

"He didn't even look like my son, his face was a mess," she said. She has since filed a complaint to York's public complaints bureau and hired a lawyer to launch a civil action against the officers.

Talon and Fontela were charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking and obstruction of justice. The pair, best friends since Grade 3, have not been allowed to associate with each other for the last eight months. Until recently, they were also under a 10 p.m. curfew.

When Talon and Fontela appeared yesterday in a Newmarket court, the drug charges were dropped and they agreed to face a judge on the obstruction charge. Despite their plea of not guilty, Justice Joseph Kenkele found them both guilty but granted them an absolute discharge, meaning they will not have a criminal record.

'WRONG PLACE'

Talon's lawyer, Kingsley Graham, said the two men had just found themselves "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's pick your friends carefully," said Graham, who was also adamant the police use of force was "absolutely" out of line.

He also dispelled any speculation the two were high at the time, explaining a toxicology test showed neither had drugs in their system.

Chief Armand La Barge refused to comment on the allegations, which are still under investigation internally, but he stands by his officers.

"If (Talon and Fontela) had followed the officers' instructions ... there would have been no obstruct police (charges) and no need to resort to the use of force in this situation," he said.

Police said they found a "fairly substantial amount" of cocaine in the bedroom of the hotel suite -- 47 individually wrapped baggies with a street value of about $10,000, La Barge said.

A Mother's Worst Nightmare...Son Tortured by Law Enforcement

What follows, in her own words, is from Barb Talon, the mother of a young man who was asleep in the wrong place, at the worst of times and was tasered *ten!!* times by York Regional Police.

Whether or not the use of a TASER is an appropriate means of subduing an individual who is persistently incompliant and/or physically aggressive towards law enforcement officers is a debate for another time.

There is no debate, however, about the great responsibility a law officer must take when making the judgment to use such a weapon on a fellow human being. Certainly, there is no truly rational argument that can be made for the tolerance of any excessive use of these weapons on a person. It can be argued that any person who is unjustly tasered, that is they have this weapon used on them when they had not deserved it, is a victim of a crime. Any person, regardless of deserving or not, who has this weapon inflicted upon them excessively, is also a victim.

My son is the victim of both of these shameful situations.

My son followed up a full work week, against his own better judgment, for a night out in downtown Toronto to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Due to his fatigue, he decided to take it easy that night, only having a couple of drinks, followed by a late night meal. Then, he followed my long given advice and his good judgment not to drink and drive, which I learned, much to my relief, when he informed me of this decision just past 3:00 AM. He chose instead to stay over at an friend’s house, on the couch. Unbeknownst to my son was that the house had been under police surveillance.

Shortly after he fell asleep, the police came in to the sleeping area...My son has suffered deep and enduring pain at the hands of those people who are charged with the great responsibility of protecting their fellow humans, our law enforcement officials. The officials in question showed an egregious lack of sound judgment in their initial decision to use this weapon on my son; a profoundly contemptible lack of responsibility when they continued to use the weapon even after my son had been physically incapacitated; and a disturbing lack of human compassion in the continued use of this weapon on my son while he was unconscious, to the point of nearly killing him.

He had been tasered "10" times amongst other injuries...he never knew what for or who had attacked him while he slept, until hours later at the Police Station. He had been asleep for maybe 10 mins.

This is a travesty to Canadian Citizens...we are paying their salaries as Public Officials to bully and taser and yes sometimes kill Human Beings as they see fit...this madness has to stop...anyone that wishes to support honest Citizens against Police Brutality: my son will be appearing in court on May 25th...Newmarket Courthourse...I wonder what will happen on this date as they have no evidence...they know by now what they did...my question is how many others have been tasered and lost their lives and cannot speak for themselves...and my prayers are with their families.

Barb Talon
(my son was asleep and Tasered by Law Enforcement "10" times)

Province won't act on Taser recommendations

February 2, 2009
Joe Fantauzzi, YORKREGION.COM

The province appears to have no plans to hand Tasers to more police officers despite a recommendation to do so by a jury in York Region.

More time and study is needed to delve into the safety of Tasers, a type of conducted energy device, both the governing Liberals and a local member of the opposition Progressive Conservatives said following recommendations Thursday by an inquest jury examining the 2005 death of Jeffrey George Black, 21, who was fatally shot by York Regional Police in Markham.

“With respect to expanding the use of conducted energy devices, at this time, we have no plans to either call a moratorium on Tasers or to extend their use,” said Laura Blondeau, spokesperson for Rick Bartolucci, the minister of community safety and correctional services. “Currently, we are reviewing the use of Tasers in general and that review is expected imminently.”

While recognizing the need for police officers to be adequately armed while performing their duties, Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees said there have been many instances that conducted energy device technology has been called into question.

“I believe there is a place for the Taser equipment,” he said. “I have serious concerns about the safety of that equipment. Tasers can kill if they are used under the wrong circumstances and used irresponsibly. I think everyone will agree with me: let us make the thing safe first and then issue the tool.”

The issuing of more Tasers to more officers should not be done until the provincial review is complete, Mr. Klees added.

The three-woman, two-man jury hearing the inquest into Mr. Black’s death recommended Thursday that the province amend laws, that currently restrict the use of conducted energy devices, such as Tasers, so only specialized police units such as tactical officers and supervising road sergeants can use them.

The jury also recommended the province fund police training and refresher courses for the devices and that all York police are permitted to carry Tasers.

The recommendations concluded the inquest, which took place at Aurora Town Hall and began Monday.

The jury followed the recommendations from Mr. Black’s father, Kenneth English.

Mr. English did not attend the hearing Thursday but in an interview with the York Region Media Group said he was happy the jury made recommendations to the province based on his suggestions.

“I am very thankful for that,” he said.

The Ontario government ordered the review of some Tasers to ensure their proper functioning in December, following an investigative report about a specific model of the device. There were concerns it discharged an electrical voltage higher than specified by Taser International, the manufacturer.

However, there has never been a death associated with Taser use by York police, the Black inquest heard.

Several inquest juries in Ontario, before the Black inquest, have made recommendations that front line officers be permitted to carry conducted energy devices.

York police, which permits only its tactical officers to carry the device, has 30 Tasers, Chief Armand La Barge said. Twenty-one Tasers were recently taken out of circulation for inspection but all were found to be in proper working order, he added.

York police want the province to permit front-line officers to carry Tasers, he said.

“We have used the Taser sparingly here,” Chief La Barge said.

“We give a front-line officer a gun and yet we do not seem to trust a front-line officers with a less-than-lethal force (option),” the chief said.

And, the resources, such as training time, needed to equip York supervisors with Tasers would be better directed to front-line officers who are often the first at scenes, Chief La Barge said.

The Black inquest heard Tasers cost $700 a piece and the cartridges used with the devices are $36.

On Oct. 17, 2005 at about 11:45 p.m., two York officers responded to an alarm call on Denison Street in south Markham. The officers spotted a dark van without its lights on as it drove out of the parking lot and accelerated onto Esna Park Drive, according to a case summary released in December 2005 by the province’s Special Investigations Unit.

The SIU is a civilian agency that investigates cases of serious injuries and deaths involving police.

When the van reached Esna Park and Alden, it slammed into another van entering the intersection, the SIU said.

Three men got out of the van and ran from the collision scene. One man was arrested and an officer chased Mr. Black, who ran behind an industrial complex, the SIU said.

The officer found Mr. Black in a parking lot, told him he was under arrest and ordered him to show his hands, according to the SIU.

The officer had his gun drawn, but put it away when he discovered Mr. Black was cornered between storage trailers. When the officer moved in, Mr. Black struck and punched the officer in the chest, according to the SIU.

After he was hit several times, the officer realized Mr. Black was armed with a knife and had been stabbing the officer’s bulletproof vest, the SIU said.

As the officer attempted to grasp Mr. Black’s hand, he stabbed the officer on the top of his head, according to the SIU.

Mr. Black then pulled away and “dared the officer to shoot him”, the SIU said. The officer pulled his gun and pepper-sprayed Mr. Black.

While the officer was dealing with Mr. Black, the York police helicopter flew over the scene and a call was put out for more police to respond.

A second officer arrived to find Mr. Black moving toward the injured officer. The officer had his firearm drawn and pointed at Mr. Black. When the injured officer called out that Mr. Black was carrying a knife, Mr. Black lunged toward the second officer, Const. Ryan Lidstone, and brought the knife down in a stabbing motion, according to reports from the scene.

Const. Jason Griffiths fired twice, striking Mr. Black in the abdomen.

Mr. Black died at Scarborough Hospital Grace Campus.

The inquest heard there was no front-line supervisor at the scene when Mr. Black was shot.

A provincial review of police action in connection with Mr. Black’s death found the shooting justified.

Both Const. Griffiths and Const. Lidstone were later recognized for their bravery.

RECENT INQUEST RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TASERS:

• 2008: A jury in Brampton recommended the province consider authorizing all front-line police officers to carry a Taser or have access to a Taser, following an inquest into the 2004 death of Jerry Knight, 29, who died while in the custody of Peel Regional Police.

• 2006: A jury in Toronto recommended the province take the necessary steps to ensure all front-line or primary response police officers are authorized to carry a Taser, following an inquest into the 2000 death of Otto Vass, who died from injuries sustained while in the custody of Toronto police.

• 2005: A jury in London recommended the province take whatever steps are necessary to ensure all front-line officers are authorized to carry a Taser, following an inquest into the 2004 death of Peter Lamonday, 33, who died at a London hospital shortly after being arrested by London police.

— source: the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services

Kingston - taser testing not done

January 22, 2009
ROB TRIPP, WHIG-STANDARD POLICE REPORTER

Kingston police have not had any of their 34 Taser tested, seven weeks after an investigative report raised concern that some older models of the weapon could deliver much larger shocks than the manufacturer says is possible.

Last month, Kingston Chief Stephen Tanner said the weapons would be tested.

"It's not stalled, we're just trying to work through the logistics," said Insp. Brian Coachman, of Kingston Police. "There's only one company right now that has been used."

That firm, MPB Electronics in Quanta [Reality Chick here: I think they mean Kanata], has tested Tasers used by Ottawa officers and York Regional Police officers.

"Every unit that we sent successfully completed the testing from the perspective that it was operating within the specifications as established by Taser International," Armanda La Barge, York's police chief, told the Whig-Standard in an interview yesterday.

Last month, Ottawa police said their Tasers that were tested were found to be operating within specifications.

MPB tested 21 York Tasers. The department of more than 1,300 officers has 30 Tasers that are used only by tactical officers.

The remaining units also will be tested, La Barge said. He said he was happy to see that the weapons are operating within specs. "I was relatively confident that would be the case," he said. "I have a responsibility to the citizens and I have a responsibility to the officers that we put these tools in the hands of."

Many police agencies are scrambling to find independent labs to test their Tasers after a CBC television report in early December. It found that some older model Tasers, units manufactured before 2005, delivered far greater electrical shocks than the manufacturer said was possible. In some cases, the current was up to 50% stronger than specifications.

Taser International, the U. S. maker of the guns, disputed the findings. It said the tests didn't follow the right procedure.

Tasers used by Kingston Police are all pre-2005 X26 models that were part of the CBC testing.

All of the York Tasers tested were X26 models, but only two were manufactured before 2005.

Tasers are supposed to deliver a jolt of 50,000 volts of electricity, enough to briefly incapacitate a person, but a growing number of deaths in Canada and the U. S. of people who have been shocked has raised concern about the safety of the weapons.

The CBC report, based on independent scientific testing of 41 Tasers, prompted some police agencies across Canada to pull the stun guns out of use until they could be examined.

"There had been enough doubt raised in my mind that I just felt that I had to do this," La Barge said.

Kingston's chief initially balked at testing but changed his mind, saying that he felt it was important to address a "public perception" issue.

MPB Electronics won't talk about its test results. "We just do measurements for clients, whoever that client may be," said Dan Zanette, the private firm's technical director. "We perform the measurements for them and it's up to them to do what they feel is appropriate." Zanette would not explain, except in general terms, the firm's expertise in testing Tasers.

"All we can say is that the type of testing we perform here is related to lightning- induced transients on various types of equipment that [range] from aircraft to nuclear stations and their instrumentation, commercial equipment that would be susceptible to high voltage, high current transients," he said. Zanette wouldn't say if the firm has experience with Taser testing. "We're sort of uncomfortable with even talking about it,"he said. "Measurements of that kind on those kinds of transients are not new to us, it's just the specific topic of Tasers, which seems to be very sensitive these days."

Kingston Police discovered that the testing may be more costly than expected. MPB isn't licensed to handle Tasers, which are classified as restricted weapons. It could mean an extra expense because a police officer would have to accompany the weapons to the Kanata offices of the lab and then remain with them throughout the testing process. "We have to attach an [officer] to it," Cookman noted.

Two York officers took their Tasers to Kanata and oversaw the tests. "Essentially we do have somebody babysitting any devices or any equipment that's deemed to be like an illegal firearm," Zanette said.

The lab has considered seeking special licensing that would permit staff to handle prohibited weapons without a police officer being present.

Insp. Tony Cooper, deputy chief firearms officer for Ontario, said no private labs in the province have sought a special licence that would allow them to possess Tasers for testing.

Cookman said it's his understanding that discussions about how the tests should be done also is holding up further tests. "They're tweaking their methodologies as they progress through this," he said. "They left me with the impression that they wanted to upgrade or finesse what they have."

Zanette wouldn't say if anything is delaying more testing of police Tasers. "Generally there's a desire for some consensus on what should be measured regarding devices of that kind and so there's a lot of discussions going on now," he said. "It's just being discussed on a ... broad sense as to what are the important things to measure about these types of devices."

Kingston's chief has said that he will release the results of tests once they are completed.

CBC study used 'flawed data,' taser manufacturer argues

December 11, 2008
TU THANH HA and CAROLINE ALPHONSO AND IAN BAILEY, Globe and Mail

TORONTO and VANCOUVER — As more police forces withdraw older models of tasers, the controversial stun gun manufacturer is insisting its devices are safe and has offered to help test them.

Police forces in Winnipeg, Newfoundland, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Fredericton and York Region, north of Toronto, are following police agencies in British Columbia and the RCMP in removing pre-2006 taser models for tests. Ontario has ordered tests but no blanket recall of the older models.

The move stemmed from a CBC/Radio-Canada report that found four of 41 tested units discharged more current than the manufacturer said was possible. The tests involved X26 taser models manufactured before Dec. 31, 2005.

Peter Holran, a spokesman for Taser International, dismissed the report as scientifically unsound.

"It is unfortunate that false allegations based on scientifically flawed data can create such uncertainty," he said in a statement. The Arizona-based company said it has provided its factory test protocol to laboratories in Canada "so police agencies can avoid the scientific errors made by the CBC." Mr. Holran said the four stun guns that produced higher electrical currents can be explained by the lack of a spark test before the devices were used, a safety procedure required of all officers using tasers in the field.

A spark test is required because a taser that hasn't been fired for a while needs more voltage to activate, he said.

Yesterday, the Winnipeg Police Service cited the test results as it announced it was removing the X26 models from service. "I think it is a very valuable tool. But given this information with regards to these particular models, we are concerned," said Constable Jason Michalyshen. Tasers became controversial in Winnipeg when 17-year-old Michael Langan died after being tasered during a confrontation with police last summer.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary removed tasers from service on Tuesday. Constable Paul Davis said the RNC is awaiting the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police's policy on tasers.

"We don't know where we're going to go at this point in time as far as testing, replacing, repairing, that type of thing," he said. "That decision will made some time in the future."

The RNC suspended its purchase of stun guns for front-line officers last fall following the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski after a tasering incident at Vancouver International Airport.

In Quebec, Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis has ordered that all tasers manufactured before Dec. 31, 2005, be systematically tested by the provincial crime lab, in addition to random audits on later models.

Vancouver Police have completed an inventory of pre-2006, X26 model tasers. Sixty-three of the 171 tasers in the VPD will be taken out of service for further testing. This follows a request yesterday by Solicitor-General John van Dongen asking municipal police forces around B.C. to recall pre-2006, X26 models from service for further testing. In Ontario, the Ministry of Community Safety has instructed police services to check their X26 models, department spokesman Anthony Brown said yesterday.

York Regional Police Chief Armand La Barge said concerns surrounding tasers purchased prior to 2006 resulted in the force pulling 14 of its 31 tasers from service. "They will be tested before any consideration is given to having them put back into circulation," he said.

"We are looking at having a process in place whereby we would be examining all our tasers on an ongoing basis."

Toronto Police, Canada's largest municipal force, previously replaced its old tasers, and no longer has any that were purchased before 2006.

Other forces say their devices function properly. "We're quite confident our tasers are all in good working order," said Constable Wayne Patterson of the Peel Regional Police. "They are tested regularly each time they are taken out."

Sadly, taser means no muss, no fuss, no hassle

May 21, 2008
Bernie O'Neill, Yorkregion.com

The Yale Book of Quotations came out with its most memorable quote of 2007 that, interestingly, is about an object of controversy in Canada.

The expression is ‘Don’t tase me, bro’, as uttered by a 21-year-old undergrad at a presidential hopeful’s address in Florida. At the end of the question and answer period, university police decided they didn’t like his questions (they weren’t really questions — more like accusations) and moved in.

You can sense both the indignation and the fear in the young man’s voice, if you’ve ever seen the clip. On the one hand, he is thinking, this — allegedly — is a free country and I have every right to make statements at a political event without being muzzled by force.

And, secondly, please don’t send thousands of volts of electricity through my body.

Ever put your tongue on both prongs of a 9-volt battery? I did when I was about 12 and just the memory of it gives me shivers.

If I was in student Andrew Meyer’s position, I would be saying the same thing. Please, please, please, do not tase me. (I might have left out the bro.)

You can actually buy a T-shirt bearing the words, ‘Don’t tase me, bro’ on a very cool website, bustedtees.com, that has a lot of other funny and politically relevant stuff on there, too — although mostly American. And you can see the clip on youtube.

What’s interesting is that, if you type in the word taser (that’s an electric stun gun, in case you haven’t gathered that at this point) in the youtube search, all kinds of crazy and questionable uses of the increasingly popular people zappers (just call it “shock and awe”).

You start to wonder if this whole taser thing has gone too far.

It certainly seems to have in Canada. Last year, a Polish man who had become agitated and disoriented at the Vancouver airport was zapped with a taser by RCMP officers and died. He was tasered within minutes of them coming upon the scene.

More recently, a senior citizen in B.C. who had become confused and was holding a pocket knife was tasered by police. The man is 82. He was zapped three times with a stun gun while lying in his hospital bed, according to reports.

I mention his age because, before the advent of the taser, it would seem police had fewer options to subdue people. If the person represented an imminent threat to his life or someone else’s, they could shoot him, whack him with a billy club, wrestle him to the ground, maybe pepper spray him.

I would imagine before the advent of the taser, most 82-year-olds were simply talked to.

When I first heard left-leaning members of Toronto’s police services board waxing rhapsodically about tasers a few years back and how it would be so nice if police officers would just mildly electrocute people when trying to make an arrest or keep order instead of shooting them, I was skeptical.

Not because I suspected tasers would be used casually to zap any trouble maker. But because I never thought a police officer who felt his life or someone else’s was at risk was going to waste much time or take the chance of getting killed just to be a nice guy.

No, I suspect he would use the gun he was trained to use and had every right to use under the circumstances to save his own life or someone else’s. The taser? I thought it would end up left in the holster.

In fact, it seems to be the opposite. Use of the taser is not replacing use of the gun. It is replacing having to risk injury by tackling someone and wrestling them to the ground or calling for backup so a group of officers by sheer number could overpower someone.

It is being used to save time, as the comments would suggest from one officer in the zapping of the 82-year-old, a former heart bypass patient who needed oxygen to breathe. “We’ve got more important work to do,” he said. And that was that. Three zaps to the abdomen.

If you were tending to your lawn, it would be like someone inventing a weed whacker. There’s no more bending, tugging, sore backs or pulled muscles. It’s all done with this nifty electric gadget and it saves you a lot of time for other things.

It is one more weapon in the arsenal and, for now, they have the right to use it when they see fit.

Before we start equipping every police officer, security guard, bouncer and grade school hall monitor with tasers, perhaps we should be setting more clear guidelines about who can legally own them and how a taser can be legally fired.

If it was meant as a second-to-last resort, the final option before firing a gun at someone, it certainly is not being used that way. People’s lives, health and rights are being violated in the process.