The RCMP began issuing Tasers to trained officers 10 years ago.

By 2008, the RCMP had 2,800 Tasers and 9,100 officers who had been specially trained using them.

In May 2010, the RCMP released new restrictions on the weapon, indicating that officers are permitted to use Tasers only in cases where a person is causing bodily harm or an officer has “reasonable grounds” to think a person will “imminently” injure someone.

There are no definitions of what constitutes “reasonable grounds.” Did the RCMP have “reasonable grounds” to Taser an 11-year-old boy walking out of a group home in Prince George, B.C. on Thursday, April 7? Are there not other ways to restrain a child, rather than Tasering him?

How effective is our police force when they can’t control an 11-year-old boy? There must be some limitations on how children are treated by the authorities, especially when it comes to using force. A criminologist at Simon Fraser University said that this is the youngest person to ever be shocked by a Taser in Canada.

It’s true this young boy was a suspect in a criminal investigation and it’s true that he was being taken into custody. But it’s also true that he was a minor, and that he was coming out of the house on his own accord.
With limited research on adults, much less minors, concerning the health risks associated with being shocked the use of Tasers should be left as a last resort. Some critics argue that people who are already at risk of heart problems could be killed as the result of being hit with a Taser. High-voltage weapons can cause cardiac arrhythmia, which can lead to a heart attack, and if not treated immediately may result in death.

Since police officers usually do not know whether the target has a heart condition, there is a potential risk of heart attack in every instance.

Amnesty International said that between 2001 and 2008, 334 Americans had died after being struck by Taser shocks. It was decided that the stun gun “caused or contributed to at least 50 of those deaths.” In those cases, Amnesty said that most suspects were unarmed, and many were subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks.
This was the case on Oct. 14, 2007, with Robert Dziekanski, 40, of Pieszyce, Poland. He died at Vancouver International Airport after being shocked five times with a Taser by RCMP officers.

The use of Tasers seems to be increasing and RCMP officers may be relying on them because they are purportedly much less dangerous than handguns, given the potential injuries bullets cause. But if Dziekanski is any indication, the use of a Taser can be just as dangerous.