Ottawa police zap officer with Taser to show device's safety
Last Updated: Friday, November 16, 2007 | 11:17 AM ET
CBC News
An Ottawa police officer was zapped with up to 50,000 volts of electricity in front of CBC reporters Thursday in an attempt to demonstrate that the Taser that delivered the jolt is safe when used properly.
Staff Sgt. Mike Maloney, who was kneeling as his colleague Sgt. Mark Barclay shot him with the device, stiffened suddenly and fell forward silently with his knees still partly bent, twitching slightly for a few seconds.
Staff Sgt. Mike Maloney fell forward, twitching slightly after receiving a jolt from a Taser.
When asked moments later how he was, he responded: "I'm fine. Do you want me to get up and run?"
The demonstration was put on hours after the release of a video showing the last moments of Robert Dziekanski, a man who died after being shocked with a Taser by RCMP officers at the Vancouver airport in October, renewing controversy over the safety of the stun guns.
Ottawa police, who have used Tasers for six years, would not comment on that incident.
But Barclay, who trains officers on when to use the devices and when not to, insisted that when used properly, the device can save lives.
"Sometime down road … you're going run into someone who can take a tremendous amount of pain," Barclay said. "And unfortunately, before the advent of the Taser, all we could do to get compliance of that individual was inflict more pain — more pepper spray, use more batons, more officers there, more injuries."
The Taser causes muscle spasms that immobilize the person who was shot, allowing police to move in and subdue them.
Maloney says officers should be taught to use the Taser as a substitute for other weapons such as batons, not as a substitute for talking.
"With this, as I've always said, I don't care how big, how strong, how drunk, how high — you cannot fight off that muscle contraction," Barclay added.
Maloney, who was back on his feet within 10 seconds of being jolted, said being zapped with a Taser doesn't interfere with breathing or elevate the heart rate.
A key to safe use, he said, is to teach officers that the device is a substitute for other weapons such as batons, not a substitute for talking.
Six years ago, the Ottawa police force became the first force in Ontario to start using the devices. It has used them over 100 times since then, including in eight incidents so far this year.
Barclay said that just weeks ago, he used a Taser to disarm a suicidal man who had a knife to his own throat.
Right now the force has 80 Tasers, and Barclay expects the use of the devices to grow as the force buys more.
Barclay said being shot with a Taser should be a part of every officer's training, "so that the officers who are going to use it understand it."
He added that Tasers are usually only one factor in deaths during incidents involving the device.
"We want a reason why an apparently healthy person all of a sudden has ended up dead on the floor," he said. "Right now, because the Taser is new, it seems to be taking the brunt. But in my opinion, it's not the Taser."
