Mission Statement - De-Spinning the Pro-Taser Propaganda

Yeah right, 'Excited Delirium' my ass...

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The primary purpose of this blog is to provide an outlet for my observations and analysis about tasers, taser "associated" deaths, and the behaviour exhibited by the management, employees and minions of Taser International. In general, everything is linked back to external sources, often via previous posts on the same topic, so that readers can fact-check to their heart's content. This blog was started in late-2007 when Canadians were enraged by the taser death of Robert Dziekanski and four others in a short three month period. The cocky attitude exhibited by the Taser International spokespuppet, and his preposterous proposal that Mr. Dziekanski coincidentally died of "excited delirium" at the time of his taser-death, led me to choose the blog name I did and provides my motivation. I have zero financial ties to this issue.



Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Repost - Smoking Gun Number Three (X26 vs. M26)

Repost from about a year ago...

Smoking Gun Number Three [LINK] (6 April 2009)


CPC has released a report with a wealth of information.

Please continue reading this post before wandering off to review the report.


One thing caught my eye:

Table 15: CEW Deployment Characteristics...
2002-2007 (%)
X26 Model 26000 24.3%
M26 Model 44000 75.7%


In other words, during the period 2002 to 2007, the older M26 taser was used (actually deployed) about three times as often as the newer X26 taser.


But when you look at the taser-associated deaths [in Canada] covering this same period, in every case where I have access to information indicating the model of taser used, it is X26 in all cases. Nine out of nine. [LINK]

(The following data needs to be further checked. See [LINK].)

Deaths in Canada (2002 to 2005 only)
1. Terry Hanna, 51 – Burnaby, BC - April 19, 2003 - RCMP - X26 [?? before 30 May 2003 ??]
2. Clayton Willey, 33 – Prince George, BC - July 22, 2003 - RCMP - X26 - Cause of death: drug overdose
3. Clark Whitehouse, 34 – Whitehorse, YK - September 2003 - RCMP - X26
4. Ronald Perry, 28 – Edmonton, AB - March 23, 2004 - X26
5. Roman Andreichikov, 25 – Vancouver, BC - May 1, 2004 - X26
6. Peter Lamonday, 33 – London, ON - May 13, 2004 - X26
7. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: "restraint-associated cardiac arrest" due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis
8. Jerry Knight, 29 – Mississauga, ON - July 17, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: “restraint asphyxia” with cocaine-related excited delirium
9. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: drug overdose (Coroner Jim Cairns)
10. Kevin Geldart, 34 – Moncton, NB - May 5, 2005 - RCMP - Cause of death: excited delirium with contributing factors including repeated shocks with a taser and pepper spray
11. Gurmeet Sandhu, 41 – Surrey, BC - June 30, 2005 - RCMP
12. James Foldi, 39 – Beamsville, ON - July 1, 2005 - Niagara Regional Police, X26 - tasered 12 times

...
***UPDATED as more X26 statistical 'hits' are recorded (mid-2005  to 2007)***
13. Paul Saulnier, 42 – Digby, NS - July 15, 2005 - RCMP - tasered 1 time with dart, multiple times with touch stun - "Official" cause of death: heart attack brought on by excited delirium, linked to his paranoid schizophrenia (Medical Examiner Dr. Matthew Bowes) (Ontario Chief Coroner Jim Cairns reviewed the case and "concluded that the taser played no role in Saulnier's death")
14. Alesandro Fiacco, 33 – Edmonton, AB - December 24, 2005 - tasered 3 times - "Official" cause of death: "acute cocaine toxicity," and "a complete lack of evidence" the Taser contributed to his death (Medical Examiner Dr. Graham Dowling)
15. Jason Doan, 28 – Red Deer, AB - August 30, 2006 - RCMP - tasered 3 times in 38 seconds - "Official" cause of death: undeterminable
# ?? James Barber, 25, Ottawa, ON - January 2007
16. Claudio Castagnetta, 32 - Quebec City, QC - September 20, 2007 - tasered 5 times - "Official" cause of death: accidental severe cerebral edema (Coroner Dr. Jean Brochu)
17. Robert Dziekanski, 40 - Vancouver, BC - October 14, 2007 - X26 - RCMP - tasered 5 times - "Official" cause of death: Cardiac arrest
18. Quilem Registre, 39 - Montreal, QC - October 17, 2007 - X26 - tasered 6 times - "Official" cause of death: Necrosis of the liver, small intenstine and colon with contributing factors of 60mg/100 ml blood alcohol level and non quantified level of metabolite cocaine
19. Howard Hyde, 45 - Halifax, NS - November 22, 2007 - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: "Excited delirium" due to paranoid schizophrenia, with contributing factors of Coronary artery disease, obesity and restraint
20. Robert Knipstrom, 36 - Chilliwack, BC - November 24, 2007 - RCMP - tasered at least 6 times - "Official" cause of death: acute ecstasy intoxication and excited delirium

[2008 and on..., no overlapping data about M26/X26 usage]
21. Jeffrey Marreel, 36 - Norfolk, Ontario - June 23, 2008 - OPP - # of times tasered: "no comment" from SIU
22. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time
23. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - X26 - tasered 2 times
24. Frank Frachette, 49 - Langley, BC - September 30, 2008 - RCMP - # of times tasered: "no comment" from RCMP
25. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - tasered 3 times - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs
26. Gordon Walker Bowe, 30, Calgary, AB - November 2, 2008 - tasered 1 time - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium due to cocaine
27. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"
...

Why do the taser-associated deaths actually seem to be the X26-taser-associated deaths?


This observation raises some very interesting questions doesn't it?

It casts doubt on many of the blame-the-victim excuses, doesn't it?


CPC Report [LINK]
Table 15 [LINK]






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