Robert Dziekanski Taser incident
Encyclopedia
Robert Dziekański was a Polish
immigrant to Canada
who died on October 14, 2007, after being taser
ed five times by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) at Vancouver International Airport
.
Full details of the incident came to light because it was filmed by a member of the public, Paul Pritchard. The police initially took possession of the video, refusing to return it to Pritchard. Pritchard went to court to obtain it, then released it to the press.
The final inquiry report released Friday June 18, 2010 concluded the RCMP were not justified in using a Taser against the Polish immigrant and that the officers later deliberately misrepresented their actions to investigators.
by trade, but had also worked as a miner. He was in the process of emigrating from Gliwice
, Poland
, to live with his mother, Zofia Cisowski, in Kamloops, British Columbia
.
Dziekański's flight was two hours late, and arrived at about 3:15 pm on October 13, 2007. According to official sources, Dziekański required language support to complete initial customs
formalities. After he completed initial immigration processing, his whereabouts between 4:00 p.m. and about 10:45 p.m. remain unclear, though at various points he was seen around the baggage carrousels. Dziekański's mother, Zofia Cisowski, had told him to wait for her at the baggage claim area but it was a secured area where she was not allowed to enter. At 10:45 p.m., when he attempted to leave the Customs hall, he was directed again to secondary immigration as his visa had not yet been processed. Dziekański's immigration procedures were completed at about 12:15 a.m. on October 14. After 30 minutes in an immigration waiting area, he was taken to the international arrivals reception area. Cisowski had been making enquiries of airport staff since the early afternoon. Airport staff told her Dziekański was not at the airport and she had returned to Kamloops at about 10 p.m., believing her son had missed his flight.
When Dziekański left the Customs hall, he became visibly agitated. Bystanders and airport security guards were unable to communicate with him because he did not speak English. He used chairs to prop open the one-way doors between a Customs clearing area and a public lounge and at one point threw a computer and a small table to the floor before the police arrived.
Four RCMP officers, Constables Gerry Rundel, Bill Bently, Kwesi Millington, and supervisor Corporal Benjamin Robinson, arrived and entered the Customs room where Dziekański was pacing about. They apparently directed him to stand near a counter, to which Dziekański complied but picked up a stapler
sometime after being told to place his hands on a counter. Shortly thereafter, about 25 seconds after arriving at the scene, Corporal Robinson ordered the Taser to be used. Constable Millington tasered Dziekański. He began to convulse and was tasered several more times after falling to the ground, where the four officers pinned, handcuffed and continued to taser him. One eyewitness, who recorded the incident on her cellphone, told CBC News
that Dziekański had been tasered four times. "The third and fourth ones were at the same time" delivered by the officers at Dziekanski's right and left, just before Dziekański fell. According to B.C. Crown counsel spokesman Stan Lowe, Dziekański was tasered a total of five times. Constable Millington testified that he deployed the Taser four times, but he believed that in some of those instances the probes may not have contacted Dziekański's body. Dziekanski writhed and screamed before he stopped moving. Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson stated he then checked for a pulse, but his heart had stopped. Testimony from the other RCMP officers state they never saw anyone including Robinson check for a pulse. Dziekański did not receive CPR
until paramedics arrived on the scene approximately 15 minutes later. They were unable to revive him and pronounced him dead at the scene.
The entire event was recorded by Paul Pritchard, another traveler who was at the airport. Pritchard handed his camera and the video to police who told him that they would return the video within 48 hours. Instead, they returned the camera with a new memory card and kept the original with the video, saying they needed it to preserve the integrity of the investigation. They claimed witness statements would be tainted if they viewed the video before being interviewed by police. Pritchard went to court to obtain the video, which he then released to the media on November 14, 2007; three television outlets paid fees to Pritchard for the right to broadcast the video. After the video was made available, an RCMP spokesperson cautioned the public to reserve judgment against the police because the video represents "just one small piece of evidence, one person's view."
Before the video was released to the public, the RCMP repeatedly claimed that only three officers were at the scene. There were actually four officers at the scene. The RCMP also said that they did not use pepper spray
because of the risk it would have posed to bystanders. The video, however, suggests the incident occurred in an area separated from bystanders by a glass wall. The actual location of the incident was inside the international arrivals area, which is separated by glass. Those waiting to greet arriving international passengers can view the area from the waiting lounge on the other side of the glass. An RCMP spokesperson also stated that batons were not used, which was also contradicted by the video.
superintendent commented after viewing the video that Dziekański did not appear to be making "any threatening gestures" towards the police and he did not see why it became a police incident. Particularly contentious is that the RCMP officers made no attempt to defuse or gain control of the situation before resorting to the Taser.
It is noteworthy that in August 2007, before Dziekański's death, RCMP changed its protocol on Taser use, suggesting that multiple Taser shocks may be recommendable under certain circumstances.
The RCMP's handling of the incident led to charges that they misrepresented the facts to portray the RCMP in a favourable light. The BC Civil Liberties Association has filed a complaint arguing that the evidence shows that the Taser was not used as a last resort and condemning the RCMP for its attempt to suppress the video and for casting aspersions on the character of Dziekański.
An RCMP spokesman, Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre, was heavily criticized for providing a false version of events prior to the public release of the video. He stated that Dziekański "continued to throw things around and yell and scream", after the arrival of the police officers, which was later revealed by the video to be false.
On December 12, 2008, the Criminal Justice Branch of British Columbia issued a statement, finding that although the RCMP officers' efforts to restrain Dziekański were a contributing cause of his death, the force they used to subdue and restrain him was reasonable and necessary in all the circumstances; thus there would not be a substantial likelihood of conviction of the officers in connection with the incident and accordingly criminal charges were not approved. Three of the officers remain on duty elsewhere in Canada, while the supervisor, Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson, is suspended with pay awaiting trial on charges of impaired driving causing death, stemming from the death of a 21-year old Vancouver man.
The officers have been subject to public criticism, both in the media and in formal proceedings before the Braidwood Commission of Inquiry
. The officers were served notices of misconduct by the commission forewarning them the commissioner may include a finding of misconduct in its final report. The warnings allege specific but overlapping grounds for each of the four. The collective allegations are that they failed to properly assess and respond to the circumstances in which they found Mr. Dziekanski. They repeatedly deployed the taser without justification and separately failed to adequately reassess the situation before further deploying it. The notices allege that afterwards they misrepresented facts in notes and statements, furthered the misrepresenting before the commission and provided further misleading information about other evidence before the commission. The four officers each sought judicial review to prevent the commission from making findings based on the notices. The petitions were dismissed. Three of the officers appealed and lost.
s. This was the 16th death following the police use of Tasers in Canada since 2003 and civil liberties groups have called for a moratorium on Tasers until training and procedures can be developed and implemented to minimize the risks. The human rights
group Amnesty International
repeated its call for Taser use to be suspended until an independent investigation into the medical and other effects has taken place. Meanwhile, Canada's seventeenth Taser-related death occurred less than a week later when Quilem Registre died after being tasered by police in Montreal
.
The police and the manufacturer have claimed that such deaths are the result of pre-existing medical conditions, not the electrical shock of the Taser. In the Vancouver case, police have suggested that Dziekański died from a condition described by RCMP informally as “excited delirium
.” A statement from TASER International
, the company that makes the weapon, asserts that Dziekański's death "appears to follow the pattern of many in-custody deaths following a confrontation with the police. Historically, medical science and forensic analysis has shown that these deaths are attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser."
Critics, however, point out that "excited delirium" is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
and claim that police overuse such so-called conditions as a matter of convenience. While some psychologists argue that excited delirium is indeed a bona fide but rare condition that can cause sudden death, experts say that delirium
(without the "excited" modifier) is a well-known condition, but that it is usually triggered by factors such as drugs or a pronounced mental or physical illness and that it is extremely rare for those afflicted to suddenly die. Toxicology
tests found no drugs or alcohol in Dziekański's system. An autopsy for the British Columbia Coroner’s Service did not determine the cause of death, citing no trauma or disease, nor pre-existing medical conditions.
The report by forensic pathologist Charles Lee, of Vancouver General Hospital
, listed the principal cause of death as "sudden death during restraint", with a contributory factor of "chronic alcoholism".
Airport security has been roundly criticized for not assisting Dziekański during his many hours in the airport. Once he became agitated, security guards made little attempt to communicate with him or defuse the situation.
The Canada Border Services Agency
reported it is reviewing its procedures at airports.
, and one Polish official stated in the weeks after the incident that "we want the matter clarified and we want those guilty named and punished."
On December 12, 2008, the Polish embassy in Ottawa issued a statement stating that the Crown's decision not to charge the RCMP officers was "most disappointing".
In February 2009, it was reported that Canada had unilaterally suspended its mutual legal assistance treaty
with Poland, thus blocking Poland's own investigation of the Dziekanski Taser incident.
Stéphane Dion
, the former Liberal
opposition
leader, has asked the RCMP to review its Taser-use policies.
Canada's Public Safety Minister, Stockwell Day
, said that he has asked the RCMP for a review on Taser use and that a report is being prepared, and pointed out that several investigations of the incident are already underway. Liberal Public Safety Critic Ujjal Dosanjh
said that what was needed was an independent body to conduct a national and public review of the issue, which would lead to national guidelines for Taser use by law enforcement officers. BC NDP Public Safety Critic and Port Coquitlam MLA
Mike Farnworth
called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate the incident, citing concerns of police investigating themselves.
, the first Ontario
police force to adopt the Taser, held a Taser demonstration for reporters to illustrate their safety. Both the Toronto Police
and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
, meanwhile, have put large orders of Tasers for their front-line officers on hold.
was established by the Provincial Government of British Columbia
and headed by retired Court of Appeal of British Columbia
and Court of Appeal of the Yukon Territory
Justice The Honourable Thomas R. Braidwood, Q.C.
to "inquire into and report on the use of conducted energy weapons" and to "inquire into and report on the death of Mr. Dziekanski."
After two delays, the Braidwood Commission began proceedings on January 19, 2009, investigating the circumstances surrounding Dziekanski's death. Commission counsel Art Vertlieb said that the involved RCMP officers, Constable Millington, Constable Bentley, Constable Rundel, and Corporal Robinson, will be summoned to appear before the inquiry and could face findings of misconduct. Constable Gerry Rundel and Constable Bill Bentley testified at the Inquiry the week of February 23, 2009, and Constable Kwesi Millington testified there the following week. The fourth and commanding RCMP officer, Corporal Benjamin Robinson, testified beginning March 23, 2009.
The final inquiry report on the death of Robert Dziekanski has concluded the RCMP were not justified in using a Taser against the Polish immigrant and that the officers later deliberately misrepresented their actions to investigators. The long-awaited report, by retired B.C. Court of Appeal justice Thomas Braidwood, was released Friday June 18, 2010 in Vancouver. Braidwood stated "This tragic case is at its heart a story of shameful conduct by a few officers. It ought not to reflect unfairly on the many thousands of RCMP and other police officers who have, through years of public service, protected our communities and earned a well-deserved reputation for doing so." Braidwood said he would leave any further questions about possible charges against the officers for the Crown to decide.
On June 29, 2010, Special Prosecutor
Richard Peck
released an opinion there was sufficient new evidence to reopen the investigation into conduct of the four RCMP officers. The province's Criminal Justice Branch decided in December 2008 not to charge the officers, saying their use of force was reasonable in the circumstances, but Peck said the inquiry unearthed new evidence and he recommended that the decision not to lay charges should be revisited.
Yet-to-happen investigations:
Status unknown:
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
immigrant to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
who died on October 14, 2007, after being taser
Taser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
ed five times by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) at Vancouver International Airport
Vancouver International Airport
Vancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
.
Full details of the incident came to light because it was filmed by a member of the public, Paul Pritchard. The police initially took possession of the video, refusing to return it to Pritchard. Pritchard went to court to obtain it, then released it to the press.
The final inquiry report released Friday June 18, 2010 concluded the RCMP were not justified in using a Taser against the Polish immigrant and that the officers later deliberately misrepresented their actions to investigators.
Incident
Robert Dziekański was a construction workerConstruction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
by trade, but had also worked as a miner. He was in the process of emigrating from Gliwice
Gliwice
Gliwice is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Gliwice is the west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, to live with his mother, Zofia Cisowski, in Kamloops, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Dziekański's flight was two hours late, and arrived at about 3:15 pm on October 13, 2007. According to official sources, Dziekański required language support to complete initial customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
formalities. After he completed initial immigration processing, his whereabouts between 4:00 p.m. and about 10:45 p.m. remain unclear, though at various points he was seen around the baggage carrousels. Dziekański's mother, Zofia Cisowski, had told him to wait for her at the baggage claim area but it was a secured area where she was not allowed to enter. At 10:45 p.m., when he attempted to leave the Customs hall, he was directed again to secondary immigration as his visa had not yet been processed. Dziekański's immigration procedures were completed at about 12:15 a.m. on October 14. After 30 minutes in an immigration waiting area, he was taken to the international arrivals reception area. Cisowski had been making enquiries of airport staff since the early afternoon. Airport staff told her Dziekański was not at the airport and she had returned to Kamloops at about 10 p.m., believing her son had missed his flight.
When Dziekański left the Customs hall, he became visibly agitated. Bystanders and airport security guards were unable to communicate with him because he did not speak English. He used chairs to prop open the one-way doors between a Customs clearing area and a public lounge and at one point threw a computer and a small table to the floor before the police arrived.
Four RCMP officers, Constables Gerry Rundel, Bill Bently, Kwesi Millington, and supervisor Corporal Benjamin Robinson, arrived and entered the Customs room where Dziekański was pacing about. They apparently directed him to stand near a counter, to which Dziekański complied but picked up a stapler
Stapler
A stapler is a mechanical device that joins sheets of paper or similar material by driving a thin metal staple through the sheets and folding the ends. Staplers are widely used in government, business, offices, and schools....
sometime after being told to place his hands on a counter. Shortly thereafter, about 25 seconds after arriving at the scene, Corporal Robinson ordered the Taser to be used. Constable Millington tasered Dziekański. He began to convulse and was tasered several more times after falling to the ground, where the four officers pinned, handcuffed and continued to taser him. One eyewitness, who recorded the incident on her cellphone, told CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...
that Dziekański had been tasered four times. "The third and fourth ones were at the same time" delivered by the officers at Dziekanski's right and left, just before Dziekański fell. According to B.C. Crown counsel spokesman Stan Lowe, Dziekański was tasered a total of five times. Constable Millington testified that he deployed the Taser four times, but he believed that in some of those instances the probes may not have contacted Dziekański's body. Dziekanski writhed and screamed before he stopped moving. Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson stated he then checked for a pulse, but his heart had stopped. Testimony from the other RCMP officers state they never saw anyone including Robinson check for a pulse. Dziekański did not receive CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency procedure which is performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person in cardiac arrest. It is indicated in those who are unresponsive...
until paramedics arrived on the scene approximately 15 minutes later. They were unable to revive him and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Video
Before the video was released to the public, the RCMP repeatedly claimed that only three officers were at the scene. There were actually four officers at the scene. The RCMP also said that they did not use pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
because of the risk it would have posed to bystanders. The video, however, suggests the incident occurred in an area separated from bystanders by a glass wall. The actual location of the incident was inside the international arrivals area, which is separated by glass. Those waiting to greet arriving international passengers can view the area from the waiting lounge on the other side of the glass. An RCMP spokesperson also stated that batons were not used, which was also contradicted by the video.
Criticism of the officers and the RCMP
The RCMP officers involved in the Dziekański death, Constables Gerry Rundel, Bill Bently, Kwesi Millington, and supervisor Corporal Benjamin Robinson, have been widely criticized for their handling of the incident. A retired Vancouver PoliceVancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
superintendent commented after viewing the video that Dziekański did not appear to be making "any threatening gestures" towards the police and he did not see why it became a police incident. Particularly contentious is that the RCMP officers made no attempt to defuse or gain control of the situation before resorting to the Taser.
It is noteworthy that in August 2007, before Dziekański's death, RCMP changed its protocol on Taser use, suggesting that multiple Taser shocks may be recommendable under certain circumstances.
The RCMP's handling of the incident led to charges that they misrepresented the facts to portray the RCMP in a favourable light. The BC Civil Liberties Association has filed a complaint arguing that the evidence shows that the Taser was not used as a last resort and condemning the RCMP for its attempt to suppress the video and for casting aspersions on the character of Dziekański.
An RCMP spokesman, Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre, was heavily criticized for providing a false version of events prior to the public release of the video. He stated that Dziekański "continued to throw things around and yell and scream", after the arrival of the police officers, which was later revealed by the video to be false.
On December 12, 2008, the Criminal Justice Branch of British Columbia issued a statement, finding that although the RCMP officers' efforts to restrain Dziekański were a contributing cause of his death, the force they used to subdue and restrain him was reasonable and necessary in all the circumstances; thus there would not be a substantial likelihood of conviction of the officers in connection with the incident and accordingly criminal charges were not approved. Three of the officers remain on duty elsewhere in Canada, while the supervisor, Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson, is suspended with pay awaiting trial on charges of impaired driving causing death, stemming from the death of a 21-year old Vancouver man.
The officers have been subject to public criticism, both in the media and in formal proceedings before the Braidwood Commission of Inquiry
Braidwood Inquiry
The Braidwood Inquiry was a public inquiry conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, examining the safety of Tasers and the death of Robert Dziekanski. The two-stage inquiry is being conducted by retired Court of Appeal of British Columbia and Court of Appeal of the Yukon Territory Justice...
. The officers were served notices of misconduct by the commission forewarning them the commissioner may include a finding of misconduct in its final report. The warnings allege specific but overlapping grounds for each of the four. The collective allegations are that they failed to properly assess and respond to the circumstances in which they found Mr. Dziekanski. They repeatedly deployed the taser without justification and separately failed to adequately reassess the situation before further deploying it. The notices allege that afterwards they misrepresented facts in notes and statements, furthered the misrepresenting before the commission and provided further misleading information about other evidence before the commission. The four officers each sought judicial review to prevent the commission from making findings based on the notices. The petitions were dismissed. Three of the officers appealed and lost.
Taser debate
The incident has revived debate concerning police use of TaserTaser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
s. This was the 16th death following the police use of Tasers in Canada since 2003 and civil liberties groups have called for a moratorium on Tasers until training and procedures can be developed and implemented to minimize the risks. The human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
group Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
repeated its call for Taser use to be suspended until an independent investigation into the medical and other effects has taken place. Meanwhile, Canada's seventeenth Taser-related death occurred less than a week later when Quilem Registre died after being tasered by police in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
The police and the manufacturer have claimed that such deaths are the result of pre-existing medical conditions, not the electrical shock of the Taser. In the Vancouver case, police have suggested that Dziekański died from a condition described by RCMP informally as “excited delirium
Excited delirium
Excited delirium is a condition that manifests as a combination of delirium, psychomotor agitation, anxiety, hallucinations, speech disturbances, disorientation, violent and bizarre behavior, insensitivity to pain, elevated body temperature, and superhuman strength...
.” A statement from TASER International
TASER International
Taser International, Inc. is a developer, manufacturer, and distributor of the Taser less-lethal electroshock guns in the United States. It is based at Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Taser is the most common brand of electroshock gun.-History:...
, the company that makes the weapon, asserts that Dziekański's death "appears to follow the pattern of many in-custody deaths following a confrontation with the police. Historically, medical science and forensic analysis has shown that these deaths are attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser."
Critics, however, point out that "excited delirium" is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
and claim that police overuse such so-called conditions as a matter of convenience. While some psychologists argue that excited delirium is indeed a bona fide but rare condition that can cause sudden death, experts say that delirium
Delirium
Delirium or acute confusional state is a common and severe neuropsychiatric syndrome with core features of acute onset and fluctuating course, attentional deficits and generalized severe disorganization of behavior...
(without the "excited" modifier) is a well-known condition, but that it is usually triggered by factors such as drugs or a pronounced mental or physical illness and that it is extremely rare for those afflicted to suddenly die. Toxicology
Toxicology
Toxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...
tests found no drugs or alcohol in Dziekański's system. An autopsy for the British Columbia Coroner’s Service did not determine the cause of death, citing no trauma or disease, nor pre-existing medical conditions.
The report by forensic pathologist Charles Lee, of Vancouver General Hospital
Vancouver General Hospital
Vancouver General Hospital is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre group of medical facilities...
, listed the principal cause of death as "sudden death during restraint", with a contributory factor of "chronic alcoholism".
Criticism of airport
The airport has also been criticized over the incident, particularly regarding security cameras that were not functioning, no translation services available for communicating with non-English speakers, the airport supervisor's failure to call the airport's own paramedics resulting in a twelve-minute wait for city paramedics to arrive, and for staff not helping Dziekański's mother locate her son.Airport security has been roundly criticized for not assisting Dziekański during his many hours in the airport. Once he became agitated, security guards made little attempt to communicate with him or defuse the situation.
The Canada Border Services Agency
Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement and customs services....
reported it is reviewing its procedures at airports.
Political reaction
The incident has had significant coverage in Poland. The Polish consul general demanded answers about Dziekański’s death. Canada's ambassador in Poland was invited to discuss the incident with officials in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, and one Polish official stated in the weeks after the incident that "we want the matter clarified and we want those guilty named and punished."
On December 12, 2008, the Polish embassy in Ottawa issued a statement stating that the Crown's decision not to charge the RCMP officers was "most disappointing".
In February 2009, it was reported that Canada had unilaterally suspended its mutual legal assistance treaty
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty
A mutual legal assistance treaty is an agreement between two countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public laws or criminal laws...
with Poland, thus blocking Poland's own investigation of the Dziekanski Taser incident.
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...
, the former Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
leader, has asked the RCMP to review its Taser-use policies.
Canada's Public Safety Minister, Stockwell Day
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...
, said that he has asked the RCMP for a review on Taser use and that a report is being prepared, and pointed out that several investigations of the incident are already underway. Liberal Public Safety Critic Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal Dev Singh Dosanjh, PC, QC, is a Sikh Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as 33rd Premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011 including a stint as Minister of Health from 2004 until 2006 when the party lost...
said that what was needed was an independent body to conduct a national and public review of the issue, which would lead to national guidelines for Taser use by law enforcement officers. BC NDP Public Safety Critic and Port Coquitlam MLA
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
Mike Farnworth
Mike Farnworth
Mike Farnworth is a New Democratic Party politician from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. He is the current MLA for the riding of Port Coquitlam....
called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate the incident, citing concerns of police investigating themselves.
Law enforcement response
The response from law enforcement has been mixed. Law enforcement professionals have featured prominently in the media criticizing the RCMP’s handling of the situation and the aftermath. The Ottawa PoliceOttawa Police Service
The Ottawa Police Service serves the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.-History:The OPS roots come from the formation of the "Bytown Association" in 1847. In 1855 Roderick Ross was the first Chief Constable for the newly formed City of Ottawa...
, the first Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
police force to adopt the Taser, held a Taser demonstration for reporters to illustrate their safety. Both the Toronto Police
Toronto Police Service
The Toronto Police Service , formerly the Metropolitan Toronto Police, is the police service for the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Canada and second largest police force in Canada after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...
and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is a police force in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It provides policing to the communities of St. John's and the Northeast Avalon Peninsula, Corner Brook, Churchill Falls, and Labrador City....
, meanwhile, have put large orders of Tasers for their front-line officers on hold.
Braidwood Inquiry
The Braidwood InquiryBraidwood Inquiry
The Braidwood Inquiry was a public inquiry conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, examining the safety of Tasers and the death of Robert Dziekanski. The two-stage inquiry is being conducted by retired Court of Appeal of British Columbia and Court of Appeal of the Yukon Territory Justice...
was established by the Provincial Government of British Columbia
Executive Council of British Columbia
The Executive Council of British Columbia is the cabinet of that Canadian province....
and headed by retired Court of Appeal of British Columbia
British Columbia Court of Appeal
The British Columbia Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of British Columbia and a number of boards and tribunals. The BCCA also hears criminal appeals from the Provincial Court of British...
and Court of Appeal of the Yukon Territory
Court of Appeal of the Yukon Territory
The Court of Appeal of the Yukon Territory is the highest appellate court for the Yukon Territory. It hears appeals of both criminal and civil cases from the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory and Yukon Territorial Court....
Justice The Honourable Thomas R. Braidwood, Q.C.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
to "inquire into and report on the use of conducted energy weapons" and to "inquire into and report on the death of Mr. Dziekanski."
After two delays, the Braidwood Commission began proceedings on January 19, 2009, investigating the circumstances surrounding Dziekanski's death. Commission counsel Art Vertlieb said that the involved RCMP officers, Constable Millington, Constable Bentley, Constable Rundel, and Corporal Robinson, will be summoned to appear before the inquiry and could face findings of misconduct. Constable Gerry Rundel and Constable Bill Bentley testified at the Inquiry the week of February 23, 2009, and Constable Kwesi Millington testified there the following week. The fourth and commanding RCMP officer, Corporal Benjamin Robinson, testified beginning March 23, 2009.
The final inquiry report on the death of Robert Dziekanski has concluded the RCMP were not justified in using a Taser against the Polish immigrant and that the officers later deliberately misrepresented their actions to investigators. The long-awaited report, by retired B.C. Court of Appeal justice Thomas Braidwood, was released Friday June 18, 2010 in Vancouver. Braidwood stated "This tragic case is at its heart a story of shameful conduct by a few officers. It ought not to reflect unfairly on the many thousands of RCMP and other police officers who have, through years of public service, protected our communities and earned a well-deserved reputation for doing so." Braidwood said he would leave any further questions about possible charges against the officers for the Crown to decide.
On June 29, 2010, Special Prosecutor
Special prosecutor
A special prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an attorney general or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have...
Richard Peck
Richard Peck (lawyer)
Richard C.C. Peck, QC is a British Columbia lawyer who has been counsel in many significant criminal cases at all judicial levels including the Supreme Court of Canada and has been appointed by provincial governments to serve as a special prosecutor.He graduated from the University of British...
released an opinion there was sufficient new evidence to reopen the investigation into conduct of the four RCMP officers. The province's Criminal Justice Branch decided in December 2008 not to charge the officers, saying their use of force was reasonable in the circumstances, but Peck said the inquiry unearthed new evidence and he recommended that the decision not to lay charges should be revisited.
Other Investigations
Investigation completed:- A review of Taser use by police in Manitoba (15 November 2007)
- Canada Border Services AgencyCanada Border Services AgencyThe Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement and customs services....
(26 November 2007) - Vancouver International AirportVancouver International AirportVancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
Authority (7 December 2007) - Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP interim report (12 December 2007)
- The final report of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMPCommission for Public Complaints Against the RCMPThe Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP is an independent Canadian government agency responsible for complaints, as well as complaints from members of the RCMP, of improper conduct of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police....
concerning the RCMP's use of the conducted energy weapon (2008-06-18) - A review of Tasers by the Government of Nova ScotiaExecutive Council of Nova ScotiaThe Executive Council of Nova Scotia is the cabinet of that Canadian province....
after Halifax Regional PoliceHalifax Regional PoliceThe Halifax Regional Police is one of a number of law enforcement agencies operating in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia; the other primaries being the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Forces Military Police...
tasered a man (5 March 2008) - RCMPRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) (Internal Investigation 18 June 2008) - The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP Final Report concerning the RCMP's use of the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) (18 June 2008)
- Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security of the House of CommonsCanadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
(19 June 2008) - Compliance Strategy Group (Kiedrowski's Report) conducted an independent review of the adoption and use of Conducted Energy Weapons by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in June 2008 and released under the Access to Information and Privacy Act .
Yet-to-happen investigations:
- British Columbia CoronerCoronerA coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
’s Service - On November 8, 2007, the chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP initiated a complaint concerning the incident. In a subsequent report dated November 30, 2007, it was noted that the Commission for Public Complaints "will continue its review of the incident in accordance with the terms of the Chair-initiated complaint initiated on November 8, 2007". The CPC released its report on December 8, 2009, highlighting 23 findings and 16 recommendations. Among its findings were that while the officers were in the lawful execution of their duties, they failed to adopt an appropriate response. It deemed their use of tasers were "premature and inappropriate" with no warnings given prior to use and their versions of events given to investigators were "not deemed credible" by the CPC.
Status unknown:
- Polish Ministry of Justice Prosecution Service of Gliwice
Apology
Almost two and a half years after the incident, the RCMP issued an apology to Dziekański's mother, Zofia Cisowski. Gary Bass, the RCMP deputy commissioner of the Pacific region formally apologized during a news conference at the Vancouver International Airport on April 1, 2010. Cisowski accepted the apology, confirmed she had accepted a financial settlement as compensation for her son's death and that she will drop the lawsuit she filed last year against the federal and provincial governments, the airport and the four RCMP officers who fired the stun gun at her son.See also
- Taser safety issuesTaser safety issuesTASERs represent a safer and less lethal alternative to handgun usage in law enforcement situations. While there have been deaths related to TASER usage, they are generally considered a less lethal form of weapon than the standard issue police sidearm....
- Scandals surrounding the RCMPScandals surrounding the RCMPWhile the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has a history dating back to 1873 and has been involved in several high-profile controversies during that time, particularly in the 1970s.- Early controversies:...
- UCLA Taser incidentUCLA Taser incidentThe UCLA Taser incident occurred on November 14, 2006, when Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a fourth-year UCLA student, was stunned multiple times with a Taser by campus police, for allegedly refusing to be escorted out of the College Library Instructional Computing Commons lab at Powell Library...
- University of Florida Taser incidentUniversity of Florida Taser incidentOn September 17, 2007, U.S. Senator John Kerry addressed a Constitution Day forum at the University of Florida in Gainesville, which was organized by the ACCENT Speakers Bureau, an agency of the university's student government...
- Iman Morales Taser incidentIman Morales Taser incidentOn September 24, 2008, 35 year old Inman Morales died after falling off a building ledge from being tasered in Brooklyn, New York.-The incident:...