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I don't know how widespread this story is, so I'll fill in anyone who
doesn't know.
A few weeks ago, the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) were called into
Vancouver International Airport to handle a distressed Polish immigrant.
They ended up shooting him with a taser twice and it killed him. This has
become a huge controversial issue here in Vancouver, as to whether the cops
use of force was necessary. The police have been accused of changing the
story, and trying to hide what really happened. It has been on the news
everyday since.
A civillian at the airport filmed the entire thing. The police immediately
seized the video for evidence. However, the civillian threatened legal
action if he didn't get the footage back. So he got it back and it was
released last night to the media for all to see. First, read the story:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/11/14/bc-taservideo.ht
ml?ref=rss
Then watch the video: (caution, it is somewhat graphic)
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/bc/ondemand/video/YVRTASERVIDEO.wmv
What do you think?
Mathew
Hard to say as I see the story being fairly biased in his view. From what I
read though, sounds like clear and evident abuse of power. That's nothing
new.
EDIT: Just saw the video. It's not so clear now. He really was agitated
which gives police the right to apprehend him. I think two shots was a tad
excessive though. I think that guy had a mental problem too. Language
barrier or not, that was insane.
Nissan_Altima
The cops reacted appropriately. A man who was severly agitated, including
throwing things around. Nobody could speak his language. Cops are
instructed to use whatever force is necessary to subdue the suspect. And
sadly, because they couldn't understand his language, there was no way to
tell if he was ready to surrender or not. The only thing they really did
wrong was kneel on the man after he was tasered. Cops aren't supposed to
kneel on them until the suspect has regained complete consciousness, by
which point the suspect should already be under arrest.
There's several other small things, but it's not just the cops that are
being questioned about them, so I won't even bother talking about them.
Yes, an investigation will definitely occur. Should the cops be charged? I
don't think so. There was no intent to kill the suspect.
Edit: I have a local motorclub that has a thread on this that's already
past 100 posts...
dodgerforlife
Yeah, I heard about it, and think that while it is tragic, the police
didn't really have any options. The only thing they did wrong was zap him
twice...Not sure if that's what killed him, but it does deserve an
investigation.
chris_knows
As with all situations like this, where serious injury or death occurs,
there's going to be an indepth investigation along with some differing
views from by-standers etc. The guy clearly either had some sort of mental
health issues, or he was very cross with something. I don't see why the
couldn't just all jump on him rather than zap him, afterall, he wasn't in
possesion of a weapon at this stage...not a visible one at least. I guess
they had to sum up the pros and the cons before they acted, and in this
case the outcome wasn't too good. It's much like the Stockwell shooting
after the 7/7 bombings in London. The Brazilian suspect was scared
(supposedly) because he didn't know what the Police were saying, or if they
were Police at all. It must be hard to make a life or death decision in a
split second, but that's part of the job.
Cliffy
They really couldn't use clubs, though. If you look at the video, he was
throwing chairs and stuff...
Cliffy, he was mad because he had been stuck in that gate for 10 hours I
believe (after a 14 hour flight), and he couldn't have had a weapon; he's
in an airport.
chris_knows
That really doesn't mean a thing in this day and age, lol. :laughing:
Cliffy
That means everything...especially...in this day and age lol. Nowadays, it
seems like you can't get on an airplane without getting a proctology exam
:laughing:.
chris_knows
plastic explosives in the shoe ftw. It's not THAT hard to have weapons
hidden.
dodgerforlife
I could see it being a threat in the cops' position on the spot, but in
hindsight, the Polish guy would have more likely used the explosives on the
plane rather than in the terminal...
chris_knows
You know the ****ed up part?
If the cops had tasered him and hadn't died.....there wouldn't be a PEEP of
this on any news network. They would have been applauded for successfully
apprehending the suspect.
Only because he died did it became such a widespread news topic.
Now imagine this was south of the border.....and it was a muslim. *BOOM*
Headshot.
Just some food for thought.
dodgerforlife
