An interim report on the use of Tasers in B.C. says police forces should be allowed to keep the weapons, but there's a need for better training.

The study, ordered by the Police Complaints Commissioner of B.C., was headed up by Victoria Police Chief Paul Battershill.




It suggests improved police training – that would be standard across province – including more training on how police restrain people once a Taser is used

The report also recommends police forces upgrade older Tasers with a new model that has a lower electrical output.




But Battershill also points out that medical experts say Tasers, themselves, do not cause deaths.

"It appears with the pattern of drug usage in North America that we are seeing increased incidences of excited delirium, some of which may be related to drug use," he says.

The report was prompted by the death of a Vancouver man, Robert Bagnell – but the interim report makes no mention of his death because it's still under investigation.

Nine people have died after being Tasered in Canada since April 2003 – four of them in B.C.

An estimated 50 law enforcement agencies – including police and prison guards – across the country use Tasers.

Victoria's police force was among the first in the country to use the weapons. That's one reason its chief was chosen to head the inquiry.

That's something Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward is taking issue with, saying outside experts should have been called in.

"We shouldn't be asking police departments to determine whether they are safe or not. We should be asking doctors and scientists, who have no link, to make those determinations."

This is only an interim report, with the final recommendations still a few months away. But until then, the Police Complaints Commissioner is asking B.C. police departments to voluntarily comply with Wednesday's recommendations.