Taser killing shows dangers of weapon

Green Party MP Keith Locke says the killing with a Taser of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver airport shows the risks of equipping Police with a weapon that has such lethal capacity.

“The chilling reality is that New Zealand citizens will also be killed if this weapon is made readily available to the Police, once the evaluation of the recent test is released. Robert Dziekanski, the 40 year old Polish migrant construction worker in Vancouver was unable to speak English and became agitated – he was then semi-surrounded by four Mounties, was Tasered fell to the floor in convulsions, and died at the scene," Mr Locke says.

“The danger is that Tasering could easily become a common response here by Police faced with pacifying members of the public who become agitated and disoriented. It has even be used by police in the US as a way of punishing political activists, as we saw with the Tasering of a heckler at a John Kerry speech earlier this year.

“`Arouind 300 people have now died overseas following this weapon being used. We should not have to wait for a similar death in New Zealand before it is recognized that this weapon is an unnecessary and dangerous addition to the Police armoury,” Mr Locke says.