Top Mountie Bill Elliott tasered

OTTAWA — The head of the RCMP has been stung lately by criticism about Tasers. Now Commissioner William Elliott has been zapped by one of the electronic guns. Elliott was willingly Tasered on Thursday during a visit to Alberta... Alberta Solicitor General Fred Lindsay and one of the minister's assistants were also shocked with the electronic stun gun. [LINK]

Congratulations, but these FAKE demos [LINK] prove absolutely nothing.

Were you tasered across the chest? [LINK]
Was the 5-second cycle repeated several times? [LINK]
Are you more susceptible than average? [LINK]
Are you an unlucky sort?

Sorry, but look: we have an actual death rate happening in the real world. [LINK]

These FAKE demonstrations accomplish NOTHING except to wash-out the statistics.


So, let's balance it out with some additional extracts from the same article:

In April 2003, the RCMP issued an operational bulletin prohibiting use of the Taser on civilian volunteers for demonstration purposes. However, the force has frequently turned the weapon on officers in training sessions. At least one Mountie and several U.S. police officers have sued over injuries allegedly sustained during instruction.

More than 300 people in North America, including 20 in Canada, have died after being Tasered. ...

Tasers are now the subject of several inquiries. The weapons came under intense scrutiny last fall when public outrage greeted the release of amateur video of the death of Robert Dziekanski. The RCMP blasted the Polish immigrant with a Taser as he tried to find his mother last October at Vancouver International Airport.

A Canadian Press analysis of 563 Taser incidents reported by the RCMP between 2002 and 2005 revealed that more than three-quarters of suspects were unarmed.

The reports also suggested a pattern of use by the Mounties as a quick means to keep relatively low-risk prisoners, drunks and rowdy people in line. More recent reports released by the RCMP have been heavily censored to remove key details such as exact dates and injuries linked to the stun guns. ...

The latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal calls for more independent study of possible Taser health risks.