Interesting letters to The Toronto Star

Toronto - Letters to The Star (22 June 2008)

... Relying strictly on manufacturers' specifications is completely unacceptable. ... The fact that the head of the RCMP's watchdog agency did not recommend that standards for these devices be developed is simply mind-boggling and inexcusable. ... Emile Therien, past president, Canada Safety Council, Ottawa [LINK]

Interesting how a past president of the Canada Safety Council seems to have some concerns about taser safety. In spite of the heaping piles of "evidence" about the safety of tasers (which is contradicted by the ever-growing taser-associated death count). [Those heaping piles of "evidence" are certainly evidence of 'something'...]

Stinger Systems [LINK] claims that their products use 75% less current than the similar devices from Taser, and they also claim that their devices have never been involved in proximal death (perhaps due to numbers, but also perhaps due to the 4:1 increase in safety margin that gets you away from the overlapping bell curves [LINK][LINK]). I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a friend of Stinger, but it would be worth looking into their products to see what's going on; what's different, etc.


... RCMP ... misused the Tasers ..., have fudged....reports, and ...cover up... . The RCMP have become the antithesis of their former ranking as one of the top forces in the world and, as the English bobby once was in Britain, the pride of the nation. They are in danger of denigrating themselves in the public eye to an untrustworthy embarrassment, politicized and arrogantly above the law and the very principles by which they exist. Is there no one in authority with the will and vision to bring this force back to its former glory? Is there no one who sees the need? Peter Cronin, Grimsby, Ont. [LINK]

The failure to act is mostly the fault of Mr. Stockwell Day [LINK]. He is the Minister in charge. His is the desk that should have the plaque the states, "The buck stops here." The RCMP should have a Compliance Plan written by now (they've known what's coming for months), and Mr. Day should be receiving daily status reports from the RCMP head.