Not that these two things are connected, but a day after a cop in Philadelphia took down a Phillies fan with a Taser gun in front of 40,000 people, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police unveiled new regulations on officers’ use of Tasers up north.
According to the CBC, “The RCMP are now limited to using their stun gun in cases where a person is causing bodily harm or an officer has “reasonable grounds” to believe a person will “imminently” harm somebody, according to new policy restrictions, which were released Tuesday in Ottawa.
“This clearly defined threshold requirement for Taser use should help reduce the risk of ‘usage creep,’” Ian McPhail, the interim commission chair, said in a statement. “This change, along with the recognition that additional precautions must be taken before using the weapon, is a prudent move on the part of the RCMP.”
That last part of the quote refers to a new part of the policy that also requires officers to request medical assistance, if feasible, before even deploying their Tasers.
We’re going to kick off a new feature here at Canadian of the Week, bringing you bite-sized pieces of Canadian history that folks up north have been watching for nearly 20 years.
Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that are shown in between some TV shows in Canada — and they’re amazing.
These things bring a kind of shock-and-awe drama that puts “Grey’s Anatomy” to shame, and they’ve also been the targets of parodies on comedy shows in Canada. And you’ll see why.
We’re planning to bring you a “Heritage Minute” every Wednesday on COTW, and what better way to start it than with the story of Sam Steele, the North West Mounted Police superintendent tasked with keeping the Klondike region (yes, “Klondike,” like the ice cream bars) free from gun-toting, drunken, and otherwise debaucherous gold seekers from the United States in the late 1890s?
You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Superintendent Steele utter the words, “Men don’t wear pistols in Canada.”
Check it out below, and to learn more about Steele, click here.
Not that these two things are connected, but a day after a cop in Philadelphia took down a Phillies fan with a Taser gun in front of 40,000 people, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police unveiled new regulations on officers’ use of Tasers up north.
Thank you, YouTube.
