Happy Spring....and Tazers

Hello everyone! Happy Spring. We survived another winter! Sorry (as I have apologized SO many times before) for the long hiatus between posts. I find myself rejuvenated with the lenghtening days and general spring energy (might it be ... hormones?!).

I have purchased a home in the Okanagan. I ran the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 4th. All's good.

I hope to have enough cash left over so that I can go to Ottawa for the Can. Assoc. of Pathologists, PA Section meeting in July but quite frankly, I am digging SO deep for the down payment on my new abode that I am somewhat doubtful as to whether I'll be able to afford the air fare, the various fuel surcharges, airport improvement taxes, PST, GST, car rental, etc. I WILL try very hard to go to Ottawa, as much as to attend the meeting as to visit with family and friends.

OK...to the point: what the heck is happening in this country in regards our constabulary? I simply cannot believe the crap that is being flung at the public (roughly equal quantities from the RCMP and the manufacturers of the tazer) regarding the use of these...what are they called?... Directed Energy Weapons. The problem is NOT with the weapons; the problem is with those who use them. The problem is NOT with training; the problem is with the individuals who we, as a society, hire to protect us. We are to blame; not the individual RCMP officer who, first consulting with his superior officer, uses the weapon. I do not profess to be acquainted with the RCMP's criteria for using the weapon but I can't help but think that there is some considerable room for refining the list. What ever happened to simple restraint and disarming the perpetrator using physical force (something which gets used in ample amounts anyway)? Surely the public agrees with me that three RCMP officers tazering an 80 year-old patient IN THE HOSPITAL is grounds for wondering whether we may have given our police too much leeway in the use of these weapons. What, if the poor guy had died (and he may yet die), would the Coroner have to say, I wonder? How about we have the police check their weapons, tazers included, at the door when they come into the hospital? How about we refine the criteria for the tazer's use? How about we train the police (and their superiors) better (they are clearly NOT thinking for themselves and training with clear rules is obviously needed).

How is this issue different from the exposure of our troops treating detainees in questionable ways (if not killing them)? I contend that our police and military behave in exactly the manner in which we permit, if not encourage, them to behave. We, the public, are responsible (not Tazer International; not the RCMP) for how our police behave. Make your feelings known. Call your MP.