I believe the death of a 17-year old in Winnipeg last week after being Tasered by city police brings to about 22 the number of people killed in Canada with the device since 2003.
Coincidentally, that would be one-quarter of the number of soldiers killed to date in Afghanistan, tragic events that bring pomp and ceremony, flag lowering, somber parades serious national debates and calls for change. I don’t know if you can draw any intelligent revelations from that comparison, but I just thought I would mention it and see if anything strikes you (zaps you?)… two different worlds, both our Canadian people.
We still hear claims from some of the law enforcement community that the “stun gun” is a comparable device to things like Billy Clubs, and perhaps even safer since you don’t get welts on the head from it. Certainly it’s been judged as safer for the officers involved, who wish to avoid a thrashing on the ground with the enraged “arrestee”, something that might have resulted in harm to them. I noted with interest the recent racially charged incident in Digby where a highly trained off-duty police officer took a swing at a young man outside a lounge, and was promptly felled and hospitalized with one punch (then the young man was soundly Tasered, of course, and arrested). There is a danger in mixing it up.