Man dies after being tasered by RCMP

deasine · #1 Posted **Oct 14, 2007, 7:55 PM**

Quote:

Man dies after being tasered by RCMP
Published: Sunday, October 14, 2007

VANCOUVER -- A man is dead following an early morning incident involving police at the Vancouver International Airport Sunday.
So far, police have released few details about what took place, and the victim has not yet been identified.
According to Global TV, the man had reportedly been acting erratically, including throwing chairs, before officers with Richmond RCMP arrived on scene.

Global also reported that a taser may have been used to subdue the man.
The incident took place in the international arrivals greeting area, which remained shut to the public as of 9 a.m. Sunday, cordoned off by yellow police tape.
Officers with the region's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team are on scene, as is a coroner with the BC Coroner's Service.
Jody Holgate, airport spokeswoman, said all flights are expected to remain on schedule, with the incident posing only limited impact on passengers as they are re-routed around the closed off greeting area.
More details are expected later today.

© CanWest News Service 2007

Video Link: http://www.canada.com/globaltv/bc/index.html (you may have to find it if they remove it from their top story)

SpongeG · #2 Posted **Oct 15, 2007, 10:48 PM**

the report i read today said the man was yelling, he was banging on windows and through around some computers and equipment around and was uncontrollable

sounds like use of a taser or something to subdue the man was needed

zivan56 · #3 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 1:30 AM**

^^ Maybe once, not 4 times as was witnessed by a bunch of people.

Canadian Mind · #4 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 1:58 AM**

I've seen a taser used twice to subdue a normal aggravated man. If this guy was on drugs, who knows how many times a taser would have to be used.

mr.x · #5 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 2:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

the report i read today said the man was yelling, he was banging on windows and through around some computers and equipment around and was uncontrollable

sounds like use of a taser or something to subdue the man was needed

he was also sweating, it was clearly a medical condition....which begs the condition why they used a taser?

Canadian Mind · #6 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 2:23 AM**

sweating doesn't mean it was medical... you ever seen someone on crystal meth? they sweat real easy, especially when throwing shit around.

mr.x · #7 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 2:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

sweating doesn't mean it was medical... you ever seen someone on crystal meth? they sweat real easy, especially when throwing shit around.

that's medical.

Canadian Mind · #8 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 2:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.x2

that's medical.

Crystal meth is drug induced. and when someoen on drugs is throwing shit around and causing havoc, you gotta subdue them so they can get medical attention. unfortunately this time it may have been a part of what killed him.

We have to wait and see what the official results are. but that is my guess, and why I think that.

deasine · #9 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 3:20 AM**

CTV reports found out that the man actually came back to the airport (after arriving at YVR on Saturday) and then came back to the airport 6 hours later and goes into the restricted area, then starts to get mad... and you know the story from there.

He is believed to be a russian-speaker although the police has not released anything yet.

mr.x · #10 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 3:20 AM**

According to a witness, there were 5 police officers not 3 as the RCMP had reported. And they also tasered him four times, not twice. According to the witness, before he went into unconsciousness two officers tasered him at the same time.

After he was tasered, he was pinned down by three officers on his chest....which according to studies, puts people at a dangerous risk of death.

ckkelley · #11 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 4:27 AM**

Boy, the cops really have a thankless job in this town....

Canadian Mind · #12 Posted **Oct 16, 2007, 4:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.x2

According to a witness, there were 5 police officers not 3 as the RCMP had reported. And they also tasered him four times, not twice. According to the witness, before he went into unconsciousness two officers tasered him at the same time.

After he was tasered, he was pinned down by three officers on his chest....which according to studies, puts people at a dangerous risk of death.

He didn't die at the scene, therefore this point is probrably irrelevant.

Also, most witnesses can't tell the difference between rent-a-cops and real cops, therefore there probrably was only three officers, plus two security personel.

I'm more inclinded to trust the police than a random witness anyways.

cornholio · #13 Posted **Oct 22, 2007, 9:35 PM**

having had/have the please to know several police officers i am more inclined to trust the witnesses. this is their job, reputation and entire career on the line, they will say what ever is best for them and that is the bottom line and on top of that they stick together really good which also has allot to do with the fact that their out work social lives are not very well connected with the rest of society. In fact if I would split all career in to two categories of trusted/untrusted then police would fall in to the untrusted half.

By the way police officers sign up for a job with risks, its not easy and there are consequences. A taser is the use of force, in a situation where there are 5 officers and a distraught man who is not a immediate threat to the officers or anyone and it is unlikely that the man could be armed with a projectile weapon then a taser is certainly the use of excessive force. These officers should be reprimanded and forced to retrain. They should of cordoned of the area and tried to calm him down, get a translator, and if they had to they should of tackled him. Tasers are to be used on people who have handheld weapons or when there is reasonable doubt that the officer could take the person down safely from all accounts this was not the case and the officers carried out a death sentence(not on purpose but that was the result of their action)

mr.x · #14 Posted **Oct 26, 2007, 11:00 PM**

It turns out this was a Polish man who was immigrating to Vancouver. His mom, who lives here, spent the past 2 years of her life working so she could afford having him move in with her.

According to forensic reports, he wasn't high - he wasn't on drugs. He wasn't influenced by anything. He was simply aggravated that he was held in transit for 10 hours, and he was hungry. It must also be frustrating that nobody could understand him, and his mother was just metres away behind the glass.

He started to throw things around, YVR security arrived minutes later then the RCMP one minute after that. Two minutes later, he was tasered. And another two minutes after that, he went unconscious. YVR security called a code 3 emergency alert three minutes later, which would mean airport medical personnel would be at the scene in just two minutes. But airport officials canceled the alert.

A few minutes later, the RCMP called for an ambulance....and it was 12 minutes later until he got medical attention. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Terrible tragedy.

cornholio · #15 Posted **Oct 27, 2007, 7:54 PM**

Yup i would sue the living shit out of the RCMP, Securiguard(airport security), and the airport. This is unacceptable any way you look at it. I hope they at least end up paying out their ying yang for this.

vanhattan · #16 Posted **Oct 30, 2007, 6:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cornholio

Yup i would sue the living shit out of the RCMP, Securiguard(airport security), and the airport. This is unacceptable any way you look at it. I hope they at least end up paying out their ying yang for this.

Yea, they will probably get a paid one week leave from the job or a parking ticket like fine for killing the guy. He should have known the key words of "Don't TASE ME BRO!" Oh well, maybe the next lifetime.

cornholio · #17 Posted **Nov 1, 2007, 10:12 PM**

Police talked of using Taser before they reached Dziekanski, witness says

Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 01, 2007

VICTORIA - Police officers made a decision to Taser Robert Dziekanski before they even reached him, a witness to the event said Thursday.

At a Victoria press conference, Paul Pritchard said an officer asked if he could Taser the Polish immigrant while running through the airport.

Pritchard added police Tasered the man soon after making contact.

Pritchard, 25, took a video of the event, which he handed over to police.

Police originally said they would return the video within 48 hours, but have since refused.

Pritchard is now fighting to get his videos back from police, because, he says the footage will set the record straight on what happened to Dziekanski.

Dziekanski, 40, died at the Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14 after he was shocked with a Taser and subdued by three RCMP officers. The Polish immigrant reportedly did not speak English and was confused and agitated after two days of travel. Security staff initially found Dziekanski shouting and throwing chairs in the international arrivals area, police have said.

phesto · #18 Posted **Nov 15, 2007, 2:37 AM**

The video for this is posted on the Vancouver Sun website.

What surprises me is that the video which had been hyped by the guy who took the footage is pretty mediocre and doesn't really show when the taser was used, or any of the discussion leading up to it.

The only thing that surprised me about the footage was how long the police took to arrive at YVR. The man was clearly irate, had barricaded the international arrivals area, and was resisting police. I guarantee that at any other major airport in North America the man would have been dealt with more quickly, and more severely. And would it have helped if there had been an interpreter there? Sure, but at 1:30 am when you are acting erratic and violent in an international airport, you're probably not going to get that benefit.

It is obviously a terrible tragedy that this guy died as a result of the taser being used to subdue him, but I have personally witnessed far worse, and I don't believe any of those police involved should suffer the consequences here.

btw, the video does point to the pathetic state of security at YVR. Here a man is blocking the international arrivals gate with chairs, messing around with equipment, etc. Meanwhile a Cathay flight has landed with some 200+ passengers waiting to leave and some private security schmoe stands there and can't even move the guy without waiting 15 minutes for police? I shudder to think what the reaction time is like for potential terrorist incidents.

240glt · #19 Posted **Nov 16, 2007, 2:12 AM**

In light of what we know about this tragedy now, the RCMP and Vancouver Airport Authority must be held to account for that mans' death.

The tasering incident was neither necessary nor warranted, and a polish immigrant is dead because the VAA couldn't find someone who spoke Russian or Polish in 10 HOURS, and the cops decided to shoot first and ask questions later.

I am truly ashamed of the RCMP and Vancouver Airport authority right now. I hope a full inquest will result in charges against the RCMP and VAA.

phesto · #20 Posted **Nov 16, 2007, 2:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt

In light of what we know about this tragedy now, the RCMP and Vancouver Airport Authority must be held to account for that mans' death.

The tasering incident was neither necessary nor warranted, and a polish immigrant is dead because the VAA couldn't find someone who spoke Russian or Polish in 10 HOURS, and the cops decided to shoot first and ask questions later.

I am truly ashamed of the RCMP and Vancouver Airport authority right now. I hope a full inquest will result in charges against the RCMP and VAA.