The RCMP watchdog reported Thursday that Taser use had gone down by almost a third in 2008 compared to the previous year. (Jim Slosiarek/Canadian Press)

RCMP officers used Taser stun guns 30 per cent fewer times in 2008 than in the previous year, according to figures provided by the force's watchdog on Thursday.

Mounties used Tasers, guns that use an electric shock to incapacitate people, 1,106 times in 2008, down from a peak of 1,583 in 2007. That figure includes incidents in which officers drew Tasers from their holsters but didn't fire them.

Of the 1,106 incidents recorded in 2008, in about half, Mounties threatened to use the Tasers but never did, the figures show.

RCMP complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy, who will release a full report on Taser use in the coming days, said he was encouraged by the decreases.

Mounties are showing more "self-restraint" with the Taser and members of the public are more wary of the stun guns and therefore more inclined to co-operate with officers, he said.

Tasers can be fired from a distance and cycled repeatedly once steel probes puncture a suspect's skin or clothing. The guns can also be used in up-close stun mode, a zap that has been compared to touching a hot stove.

The new figures show percentage decreases in the use of both probe and stun modes from recent years. They also show a drop in cases involving multiple stuns.

Figures come after CBC probe revealed loosened Taser restrictions

Kennedy released the figures a day after CBC News reported Thursday that the force had loosened restrictions on Taser use, even as new independent research has suggested that chance of death from stun guns rises with each exposure, contrary to claims by the largest stun-gun manufacturer and police forces using the devices.

CBC reported that on Feb. 3, 2009, two sentences were erased from the main document that guides officers' actions — the first limiting Taser use to one shot and no more than 20 seconds at a time, the second requiring officers to warn suspects before deploying a stun gun.

The RCMP's use of Tasers has angered many Canadians and been in the news since Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died on Oct. 14, 2007, after being shot with a Taser several times in the arrivals area of the Vancouver International Airport.

A bystander's amateur video captured Dziekanski's final moments, allowing officials and people around the world to witness the encounter between him and the four RCMP officers.

RCMP head 'has to account for the discrepancies'

Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland put forward a motion in the House of Commons Thursday to have RCMP Commissioner William Elliott appear before a committee to explain changes made to the force's policy on Taser use.

Elliott appeared before the House of Commons public safety and national security committee in February, and said at the time the RCMP introduced a new Taser policy last June that limited Taser use to situations involving a threat to an officer or public safety.

The new Mountie policy warns officers that Taser use carries a risk of death, particularly for agitated people, and advises them that multiple or continuous shocks "may be hazardous to a subject."

But CBC found the RCMP eliminated a line prohibiting officers from shocking someone more than once with a Taser, also known as a conducted energy weapon.

The old policy, in place since 2005, had stated: "Multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the [conducted energy weapons] may be hazardous to a subject. Unless situational factors dictate otherwise … do not cycle the CEW repeatedly, nor more than 15-20 seconds at a time against a subject."

In another section, the policy instructed officers to issue a warning before using a Taser: "Police, stop or you will be hit with 50,000 volts of electricity!"

Elliott did not mention those omissions when he appeared before the committee in February, leading Holland to say that Elliott has to explain himself further.

"[Elliott] has to account for the discrepancies," Holland said Thursday. "I think there is an enormous amount of confusion even before CBC did its report over what exactly the specific policies are around Tasers. That confusion is even greater now."

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said Thursday that he doesn't believe Elliott misled the committee earlier. He said the removal of the restriction on multiple use of a Taser had the effect of restricting stun gun use.

"It was a sentence that suggested a 15 to 20 second Taser [application] was appropriate," said Van Loan, referring to the deleted sentence. "Usual Taser applications are for five seconds, so removal of that sentence could be viewed as making it more restrictive."

Elliott may have to appear before the committee as early as next week.

With files from the Canadian Press