Where’s the moratorium on Tasers?
Posted on November 25th, 2007 in canada, health, politics, rants, vancouver |
The death of Robert Dziekansi, and more recently Robert Knipstrom, possibly due to the use of Tasers, would obviously make any sane person question the use of the stunning weapon. And considering the following numbers, it seems like the public is being reasonable:
- 52% say Tasers are a good alternative to guns; police should keep using them while a safety study is done
- 46% say they want Tasers banned until a provincial public inquiry issues it’s report
- Confidence in the upper management of the RCMP remains steady at 59%
- Credibility of the RCMP’s regular forces has dropped 22 points from 83% in April to 61%
If I were the RCMP, an organization with quite a bumpy history and diminishing support from the public, the answer is quite simple: Put a simple temporary moratorium on Taser usage until the inquiries are completed. And yet, they continue to support it’s usage - apparently oblivious to what such a decision is doing to the RCMP’s reputation. I do not see why they can’t suspend the tool’s usage for a while… After all, it’s just one piece of the arsenal, and they’ll still have batons or pepper spray - tried, tested, and true police instruments.
That’s without even mentioning the UN’s recent announcement that Tasers are a form of torture and are against Universal Conventions.
Why are public official so stubborn? Why can’t they fess up to their mistakes and do the right thing for once? Heck, they might seem more human and actually have a better connection with the public in the long term.
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2 Responses
The best explanation to your eminently logical questions is perhaps an Oscar Wilde quote. He knew the limits of reason quite well:
“Common sense is not so common.”
Or if you prefer something darker, over two hundred years ago Horace Walpole understood the emotions provoked by the world around us: “Life is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel.”
@ Tim. Ah, but we don’t want a common sense revolution, now do we? :P Didn’t work too well in Ontario, and I don’t think it will here, unless of course those issues weren’t actually all that simple to begin with. And thank you, yes, I am quite logical, most of the time.