June 24, 2008
It Rained (A Lot), GM Further Slowing Down Production, Chris Bosh Is Goin' To Beijing
It rained a lot yesterday, and it will most likely rain more today. Then it will probably rain some more on Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. If you're like Torontoist and don't have air conditioning, you are all for more rain. Keep raining, rain! (But no more funnel clouds, please. That kinda freaks us out.)
Omar Khadr wrote a letter to the CBC answering six questions they sent him. The young detainee says he is a peaceful person, and wants to live a normal life in Canada and be a doctor. The American government reacted to this letter by issuing a press release saying that Khadr just wants you to think that, and let down your guard, and then, when you least expect it…
General Motors announced it will slow down production in its Oshawa plant with periodic shutdowns over the next six months. Buzz Hargrove responded to the news by urging the Canadian government to "make things like they used to be."
Dozens of Toronto corporations have endorsed the plan to green Toronto, pointedly necessary as nearly two thirds of Toronto's waste is generated by non-residential use. Noticeably absent from the endorsements: Amalgamated Smog, the Asbestos/Lead Paint Manufacturer's Union, and WeLovePolluting.com.
A man died yesterday after a Tasering incident involving the OPP. Torontoist is informed that the Taser is perfectly safe and anybody who says otherwise just hates law and order.
Finally, Chris Bosh was named to the United States Olympic basketball team yesterday, along with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Jason Kidd. Pointedly not on the team: Vince Carter. SUCK ON THAT, VINCE CARTER!
Photo by dcooper... from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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I love the comments on the taser article. "take tasers away now!!" haha! So you take taser away, and they are left with two alternatives - guns and clubs.
My bet is that police have killed alot more people by guns than tasers while trying to "subdue".
Given the options, taser seems to be the safest one.
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Alex, what about harsh language? You can cripple someone with the right words. Maybe even make them cry.
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Alex, I did a cursory bit of internet research about 6 months ago to compare deaths in police custody by guns versus tasers (in Canada). I wish I had saved that data, but it was very difficult to find anything meaningful. Newspapers are too dumb to make this obvious comparison (throwing down the gauntlet to the Mop & Pail and the Star).
As I recall, there have been about 21 such deaths since 2003 by taser. There are about 6-8 police shooting deaths of suspects per year in Canada, for a total of about 35 from 2003-2007. That is a shocking ratio, Alex. 21:35? WTF?! I though tasers were to save lives?
(It is interesting to note that it seems very difficult to get statistics on deaths in police custody or during apprehension for a rank and file citizen like me. I naively thought there would be a clear and easy resource on the internet at a government site.)
Maybe after work tonight I will try to re-do my research, but in the interim I dare anyone to refute my claim with cited statistics. If you can cite it, I will accept it.
In the meantime, BAN TASERS NOW.
Cheers,
Tuds
Firearm Deaths In Canada
http://tinyurl.com/5yscex
"While police shootings receive the most attention, the RCMP report found the most common cause of in-custody deaths was drug or alcohol toxicity, which accounted for 32 of the 80 deaths (40 per cent).
Police shootings came second, with 19 deaths, followed by natural causes (13), physical trauma (nine) and suicide (seven)."
http://tinyurl.com/4mtzf4
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Interesting analysis, Tokyo, although I think your methodology is slightly off...
To answer this question fully, you'd need to examine police shooting statistics prior to and after Taser introduction - there should
theoretically be a drop in shootings equal to the number of taserings in order to support the claim that they reduce uses of lethal force.
However, that isn't really what Taser proponents are claiming - Tasers are supposed to be another use of force tool, along with physical
restraint, batons, pepper spray and firearms. So the level of proof would seem to be whether or not overall deaths are reduced as a result of their introduction, and not just deaths as a result of shootings.
Comparing taser and shooting numbers for the same time period doesn't really let you make any deductions - perhaps there were 56 fatal incidents for the five year period from 1999 - 2003, equal to the 21:35 ratio for the same period from 2003 - 2007. I doubt it, but the problem is the comparison of taser vs. firearm for the same period is a meaningless exercise as it exists in isolation of the figures prior to Taser ntroduction, thus fails to control for the very thing you're testing - Tasers.
Probably the best answer would come by comparing deaths by all force options prior to Taser introduction with the total number of deaths
afterwards. Subtract shooting deaths from both figures, weight for overall crime rates, and you'd have a good comparison of whether or not
Taser use increased deaths at the hands of police.
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flashman, thanks for the thoughtful and reasoned laying out of what would constitute a proper comparison of pre and post-taser use deaths. I essentially agree with your premise. We may need to adjust it a little, but it is sound.
My frustration is why we have to hash it out on a blog. Why hasn't an investigative reporter at a Canadian newspaper dug out the numbers that are not readily available to you and me on the internet and done an analysis for the public benefit.
The RCMP and other police services have a vested interest in tasers and cannot be trusted for an honest analysis. A crown inquiry will have to be called in the first place, and will take years in the second place. Public concern supported by facts from a news agency could put a moratorium on taser use until the crown inquiry is done.
My own gut feeling an bias is clearly that tasers are unnecessary, dangerous and misused. I'd like to present the numbers to support my argument, but they are unavailable to me. So, until someone presents me with statistics vetted in the manner you lay out, I stand by my demand to ban taser use.
Cheers,
Tuds