Taser use proves why cops shouldn’t investigate themselves
Posted Apr 11, 2011 08:22:51 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – After the tasering of a young boy in Prince George last week, a retired judge is again calling for an independent watchdog to review police conduct.
Police from West Vancouver have been called in to investigate, but Thomas Braidwood, who ran the inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski, says that doesn’t alleviate the concerns of police investigating police.
“Because of course there is camaraderie and other matters that exist between police forces and indeed, so there should be. They have to support each other and so it doesn’t quite go far enough.”
A professor emeritus from the University of Wisconsin tells the Province newspaper that while there are the rare, unfortunate cases, he believes Tasers can be a good thing and there are instances where police are justified in tasering a child.
David Eby with the BC Civil Liberties Association says this incident raises a lot of questions.
“I think when you are talking about an 11-year-old, you are talking about the last possible option, short of shooting them. And shooting an 11-year-old, obviously, would require some pretty extraordinary circumstances.”
Police say a 37-year-old man had been stabbed and the boy was a suspect, but it’s not clear if he was armed at the time. Both were taken to hospital.
