Tasers are back, with a new policy, at Nelson City Police
By Bill Metcalfe
The Nelson Police Board has decided that Nelson police officers can start using tasers again.
The weapons were discontinued in 2007 after the high-profile death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver Airport. The incident led to a judicial inquiry into taser use in B.C.
Most of the recommendations made by Justice Thomas Braidwood, who led the inquiry, were incorporated into a provincial government policy in early 2012 that applies to all police departments in the province.
The policy requires that police officers receive training in taser use and that they be re-certified annually.
“As we speak, we are in line to send our use-of-force instructor to the Justice Institute to be recertified,” Nelson Police Chief Wayne Holland told the Nelson Daily. “Every use-of-force instructor in BC will be trained to re-certify the people in their own departments, and that is happening right now.”
The Nelson Police Board employs the Nelson Police. The board is comprised of the Mayor (designated as the chair of the board by provincial legislation), one member appointed by municipal council, and up to five members appointed by the provincial cabinet.
The policy also states that police officers must:
- Only use tasers on violent people
- Give verbal warnings before tasering anyone
- Use crisis intervention techniques first
- Avoid chest shots
- Avoid shocks that last for more than five seconds
Holland says carrying a taser will be voluntary for Nelson’s officers.
“They are an optional tool,” he says. “You do not have to carry them with you, but if you do carry them you must be certified annually.”
Many police forces around the province have already resumed taser use following the Braidwood report and the new policy. Since the Dziekanski incident, taser use by police in B.C. has decreased by 87%, according to a Canadian Press report.
