Police Brutality: Fatal Taser Video Released

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Warning: There is a video available on this page that is rather disturbing. It is from an incident back in October when a Polish immigrant died after being tasered by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in the Vancouver BC airport.

I am okay with the police having the taser at their disposal, but these cops showed the world what monsters they are. The video shows this man was no threat whatsoever. There was little attempt to reason with him, no attempt to get a language translator. No within seconds of arriving on the scene they taser him and smother him (one cop can be seen with his knee on the man's neck/head). The RCMP did not even try to revive the poor man once he stopped breathing. They just let him die. I am ashamed of what this world has come to and I have lost most of the respect I may have ever had for the RCMP. Pigs!!!

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[skymedic 0]

I thought canadians are peace loving hippies and they don't have any violence up there. Just ask Skydekker.


after reviewing the tape I honestly don't see what the police did wrong. the man was aggressive towards them. he resisted arrest and they used force against him. It sucks that he died but I don't think they went above and beyond. it's not like they beat him down. he was tazed...he dropped and they cuffed him. Seems like a typical excited delerium to me. I definately believe they should have determined what language he spoke and tried to get a conversation going before being quite as aggressive as they were...but still...he was NOT in his right mind and probably would have not cooperated either way.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Quote

he resisted arrest

Bullshit!!! He did NOT resist arrest!!! The cops killed an innocent man. They are fucking pigs!!!

Quote

he dropped and they cuffed him.

I guess you refuse to see that one of the cops has his knee on the man's head/throat and I guess you also refuse to see that the cops make no attempt whatsoever to revive the man once he stopped breathing.

Yes he was acting irrational, he was scared and he was angry. But the cops did not even attempt to deal with him. They can even be heard on the video when they walk into the room (not the room this man was in already) already deciding they were going to taser him. The video does not tell the whole story of how this man spent 10 hours in the airport and how many many many people at the airport failed to help him. His mother was pleading with the customs/immigration people to go find him and tell him to cross the customs line since he was confused and spent 6 hours waiting in a secure part of the airport that she was not allowed access to. But the customs/immigration people told her that he was not even on the airplane. She then left the airport and when he finally cleared customs he became frustrated and confused and yes he became angry. Sure he needed to be dealt with. But those fucking pigs murdered an innocent man!!! and then they tried to cover it up.

But this video shows the world what monster they are. The cops know CPR.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Erroll 49]

Quote

Do I need to bring up another URL about a murder some members of the RCMP covered up when they shot another unarmed man in the back of the head while in their custody last year? [Red] Some individuals in the RCMP are out of control and as you will soon see they have lost the respect of many people up here.

Better?

[Skyrad 0]

I watched the video and to my mind (obviously without any knowledge of his medical history) it appears to me that the cause of death was most likely not the Tazer charges but postural asphyxiation. If you watch the video you can see that the Polish man is carrying a gut on him and clearly has an abnormal breathing pattern which is shallow and rapid. He is also sweating and is pale in appearance possibly he had a heart problem clearly he is very agitated. All of the aforementioned heighten the risks for postural asphyxia. Just after the RCMP Tazer him he is placed onto his front which would push the fat around his gut backwards and upwards against his thoracic diaphragm making it harder to breath. A policeman then mounts the mans upper back using his weight to push down on the mans thorax reducing the ability of the man to expand and relax his intercostal muscles and rib cage. The policeman’s legs are against the mans neck possibly constricting the vagus nerve and most defiantly hampering the mans ability to breath unimpeded. Finally the catalyst to the mans demise, another policeman places his hand on the small of the mans back and applies pressure further exacerbating the effect of pushing his abdominal contents upwards against the chest cavity. The man looses consciousness and death follows.

I wouldn't be to quick to judge the RCMP on this one. The man appeared to be Tazered twice but for the above mentioned reasons I doubt that that significantly contributed to his death. The man was aggressive and behaving in an irrational manner and had already displayed violent behaviour.
A long time ago before I went off to med school and before postural asphyiation was widely known about in law enforcment circles I was in a similar situation in a riot situation with a large aggressivly violent suspect who I had subdued and place restraints on, I laid him down on his front without pressure on his back, he lost consciousness in under a minute. At first my team and I thought he was taking the piss and trying it on then I suddenly realised what was happening and turned him onto his side so he could breath again and he came around. The speed that this happens is quite frightening and such that if you are not aware of the life threatening situation it is very possible to think that the man who was violent only seconds before is trying to pull a fast one to lure you in or claim brutality.
From what I saw in that video it seems that the RMCP on scene were in that situation, at first they seem to be not sure if the man is really out of it and they remain on top of him for some time after he appears to loose consciousness. As for why they didn't perform CPR, I have been to many MVA/RTC's where the Police dispite having been trained as first aiders either didn't seem to really know what to do or were very reluctant to get involved and would rather wait for the Paramedics to arrive. I think this is most likely a training issue.
Its sad when someone dies alone firghtened and surounded by people they can't communicate with I've seen it a few times and its always sad but this guys death was tragic because I suspect it was avoidable. I'll be interested by the result of the investigation and inquest.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[martin-o 0]

I agree with most of what you write but I would say that the problem in these situations is the total lack of knowledge to handle persons with certain types of mental disorders. I'd guess this guy had some kind of psychotic condition.

Had the police officers known how to handle this person they might not even have had to put him on the floor. The police (and society in generall) are so afraid of these persons, and it is without real reason. It is true that these patients have a somewhat greater risk for being violent but it really is not that much greater than for anyone else.

I've worked on a psychiatric ward for detainees, and it's amazing how someone could barely be carried in by 8 big guys in full armor suits and when they arrive to the ward and the nurse greets the person and offers a cup of coffee they seems to just calm down in a second and from there on the nurse handles the patient by herself/himself.

In part I have to agree with Canuck in that these officers acted way more hostile than necessary.

[jenfly00 0]

Quote

I agree with most of what you write but I would say that the problem in these situations is the total lack of knowledge to handle persons with certain types of mental disorders. I'd guess this guy had some kind of psychotic condition. .

Man! You guys are good! Preexisting conditions, cause of death ...and all from a shaky video from 30 feet away!!!!

I'm guessing tricuspid valve vegetation and bacterial endocarditis.

-----------------------
"O brave new world that has such people in it".

[martin-o 0]

Well... Of course it's a wild guess. But building a little fortress of chairs and tables in the middle of a mall seems to indicate a somewhat distorted perception of the surrounding world don't you think?

I think your totally out of line with the tricuspid valve vegetation diagnosis. It most certainly must be a bicusp valve disorder...

[popsjumper 2]

"I wouldn't be to quick to judge the RCMP on this one. The man appeared to be Tazered twice but for the above mentioned reasons I doubt that that significantly contributed to his death. The man was aggressive and behaving in an irrational manner and had already displayed violent behaviour. "

Unbelievable...laying off blame on the guys medical or physical condition. You must be a cop.

Never mind they had him surrounded 4 against 1. Never mind that they tasered him multiple times. Nevermind that they all piled on him with knees and weight on his throat/head. Nevermind that they did nothing to revive him.

Unbelievable.

Aggressive? What? Against a small table and a computer? Against the automatic door opener for standing in the doorway making the door swing open and shut? Funny how the lady didn't seem to feel threatened but the cops surely did.

He was cooperating. Simply standing there when they unloaded on him with the tasers and piled on.

From your opinion I see that I can find some poor sucker with a medical condition taking his anger out on an inanimate object and kill his ass, stand around and watch him die and then be exhonerated. Cool!

Just freakin'

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[popsjumper 2]

I couldn't agree with you more.

People. Pffft. We're all a bunch of sheep.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Skyrad 0]

Quote

Quote

I agree with most of what you write but I would say that the problem in these situations is the total lack of knowledge to handle persons with certain types of mental disorders. I'd guess this guy had some kind of psychotic condition. .

Man! You guys are good! Preexisting conditions, cause of death ...and all from a shaky video from 30 feet away!!!!

I'm guessing tricuspid valve vegetation and bacterial endocarditis.

Guess you missed this bit

'(obviously without any knowledge of his medical history)'

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Skyrad 0]

Quote

Nevermind that they all piled on him with knees and weight on his throat/head.

Clearly you either didn't read my post or didn't understand it seeing as the above is what I suspect was the cause of the mans death.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[pop 0]

Quote

I thought canadians are peace loving hippies and they don't have any violence up there. Just ask Skydekker.

This is pretty rare in Canada. This happens quite often right here in our back yard.

7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer

[Richards 0]

Quote

I'm guessing tricuspid valve vegetation and bacterial endocarditis.

Yep....that is precisely what I was thinking

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

What pisses me off the most about this incident is that those RCMP pigs just let this man die with no effort at all to revive him. This man would still be alive had they just performed CPR on him (no guarantees but it is worth the try) or had they just drawn their firearms on him instead of tasering him. Oh and they decided they were going to taser him before they even entered the room he was in and they tasered him within seconds once they reached him. Oh and this man would still be alive if those asswipes at immigration/customs had gotten off their lazy asses and located the man who was waiting 6 hours in the secure customs gathering area of the airport instead of telling his mother than he never was even on the airplane.

No I am afraid this is just another notch on the increasing list of incidents involving their RCMP where they used extremely poor judgement and they appear to have extremely poor training. Check this other RCMP incident out. Shot in the back of the head at close range after being released from police custody. Who fights with the cops after they are being released from jail? Plus how convenient that the RCMP investigates RCMP incidents. WTF?

No I am sorry, my respect for the RCMP is at an all time low right now.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Richards 0]

Quote

Quote

I thought canadians are peace loving hippies and they don't have any violence up there. Just ask Skydekker.

You obviously missed the thread where we discussed our planned invasion of the USA.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[Zipp0 1]

It seems like cops have turned from men into taser wielding pussies. Any cops here want to get in a ring? I bet I kick your ass!

No tasers, and you can't have 6 of your buddies jump on me.

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

It seems like cops have turned from men into taser wielding pussies. Any cops here want to get in a ring? I bet I kick your ass!

No tasers, and you can't have 6 of your buddies jump on me.

what if his 'buddies' are the Swedish bikini team?

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I am of mixed mind on this one.
International airports are a bad place to confront police. Everybody seems to be in a heightened state of anxiety all the time.
You can hear someone say "Cathay is coming in five minutes." That would be Cathay Pacific and it will be a 747. The people there really do not want 450 tired, cranky intercontinental passengers coming down that hall to meet this situation. I am not positive which side of Customs and Immigration they are on but I think they are just upstream. Effectively they have run out of time to find a translator, especially since they obviously don't know what language they are looking for.
The police are there to resolve the situation, and resolve it quickly; aircraft plugging up gates, not offloading their passengers because of one minor troublemaker is not an acceptable outcome.
That said using the taser was in my opinion, not appropriate. The taser was given to the police as a non-lethal replacement for deadly force. The question seems to be therefore: If the officer did not have a taser, would he have drawn his firearm at that point. The obvious answer is no. The police should have used physical force to subdue the subject. It is becoming obvious that tasers carry a real possibility of death and are not an acceptable replacement for physical take-down techniques.
When you incapacitate a person you become responsible for them; the cops clearly failed to take care of this guy after he was down.
Don't fuck around at international borders!

[BillyVance 34]

I'm not sure the taser itself caused this death. It looks like the way the police positioned him on the floor to the point he couldn't breathe properly because of his obesity is what killed him.

That said, airports are still the worst place to go nuts, police aren't just going to take any chances.

Oh and by the way, how do you say "don't tase me bro!" in Polish???

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[skycop 0]

This man would still be alive had they just performed CPR on him (no guarantees but it is worth the try)

Quote

I agree with that however you or I don't know if they did CPR or not.

or had they just drawn their firearms on him instead of tasering him.

WTF? Draw their firearm, did you want them to shoot him, instead of fight him?

I love the notion of some on here that "it took four of them", THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA, I DON'T WANT A FAIR FIGHT, I WANT TO WIN, that's how I go home at night.

The alternative to the tazer here was drawn, but not used. On of the officers has his ASP out, it's a collapsible baton. If he would of struck this guy with that you'd be on here bitching how they beat him down.
Hate to say it, could this have been handled better, maybe. Was this by the numbers, yes. Reality is an ugly thing.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[pop 0]

Quote

WTF? Draw their firearm, did you want them to shoot him, instead of fight him?

Yes fight him, NOT taser him. There are 3 or 4 cops there, but they choose the easy route out. when you have 4 on 1 you dont need weapons. The guy was being rediculous, but that ituation didnt call for 4 cops to use a taser on 1 man. Cops are crooks and cowards, but we need them, so we tolerate them.

7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer

[billvon 2,426]

>WTF? Draw their firearm, did you want them to shoot him, instead of fight him?

If the taser is intended as a less-lethal substitute for a firearm, then that's sorta the point. If shooting him is absurd, then tasering him should be seen in the same light. Tasering DOES kill people, just far less often than shooting them does. It should be used when an officer's life (or the lives of others) are at stake; it should not be used as a means to get someone to shut up and move along.

>THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA, I DON'T WANT A FAIR FIGHT, I WANT TO WIN . . .

Then why not kill anyone who poses any sort of a threat? I guarantee you'll be safer overall.

To answer my own question - because overall a cop's safety is NOT the most important consideration. Face it, if safety were the #1 issue, cops would stay in the station all day. There has to be a balance between police safety and public safety.

[livendive 8]

Quote

The alternative to the tazer here was drawn, but not used.

I don't remember seeing an interpreter in the video.

Quote

Hate to say it, could this have been handled better, maybe. Was this by the numbers, yes. Reality is an ugly thing.

By the numbers includes deadly force on a guy who is not threatening the police? He was simply standing there when they tazed him. The thrashing on the floor isn't exactly unexpected after they've tazed him twice and he STILL doesn't know what the fuck they want. All he knows is they're hurting him.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Quote

Quote

The alternative to the tazer here was drawn, but not used.

I don't remember seeing an interpreter in the video.

Quote

Hate to say it, could this have been handled better, maybe. Was this by the numbers, yes. Reality is an ugly thing.

By the numbers includes deadly force on a guy who is not threatening the police? He was simply standing there when they tazed him. The thrashing on the floor isn't exactly unexpected after they've tazed him twice and he STILL doesn't know what the fuck they want. All he knows is they're hurting him.

Blues,
Dave

There is no interpreter there. If they had gotten one they would have been Russian rather than Polish anyway. The hard fact was that they did not have time to find one. Holding up that flight from Asia was not an option warranted by this guy's actions.