The Ottawa Police Service has announced its plan to get public feedback on the use of Tasers through a consultation process involving an online survey, ride-alongs with officers and more.
The controversial weapons have become more common in recent years as a non-lethal alternative to officers resorting to pulling guns, but they’ve also been under scrutiny by some who suggest they may be used too frivolously.
"The consultation plan has been designed to raise awareness about the revised guidelines, provide some information on CEWs (Conducted Energy Weapons, also known as Tasers) and their use within the OPS, and ensure that both the public and OPS members have an opportunity to provide feedback," Ottawa Police Supt. Uday Jaswal said in a January news release.
Feedback gathered from the consultations will go into a report, making recommendations for future Taser policies, to be presented to the Ottawa Police Services Board this April.
The announcement follows the November release of new guidelines around the deployment of CEWs. The new regulations allowed local police forces more discretion in terms of which officers can carry them.
The OPS has maintained a cautious stance on the issue, announcing last December that officers would be required to undergo additional training in the use of Tasers, and to report their use more often.
The consultation process will also involve meetings, interviews and targeted focus groups with key local groups, such as mental health professionals, academics and social justice groups.
Joseph Hickey, executive director of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association, says his organization was contacted to participate. He says Ottawa is "lagging behind" Toronto and other cities in consulting the public on Tasers.
But Hickey is worried the process might just be used to keep up appearances.
"I think the police have a responsibility to offer an open consultation process with as much time as needed to fully discuss these issues," he says, "and for it not to be something that’s for show if they’ve already made the decision to go ahead and buy the new weapons."
As of now, only officers who are members of the OPS tactical unit or are front line supervisors are allowed to carry Tasers, but under the new guidelines, the OPS can authorize other officer classes to carry the weapons.
Police Chief Charles Bordeleau has said that he’d like to increase the number of Tasers used in the OPS.
Ronald Melchers worked on the 2009 Braidwood Commission, a public inquiry in Vancouver to study the safety of Tasers in the wake of the much publicized death of Robert Dziekanski, the man Tasered by an RCMP officer at the Vancouver International Airport.
Melchers now studies information collected in all police use-of-force incidents.
"I think it’s a very good way of rolling out these weapons," he says of the planned consultation process. "You need public acceptance."
Melcher says concerns from the public on Taser use will not come unexpectedly, as criticism is a part of every-day operations for police forces.
"Police forces are very criticized, very often," he says. "They’re constantly being held up in court for all sorts of things, so they expend a great deal of resources dealing with complaints."
But Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder thinks the consultation process is an unnecessary delay.
"To hesitate and delay because someone may come forward and argue against, well of course they’re going to," she said at the Jan. 27 Ottawa Police Services Board meeting where the plan was approved. "It’s very rare when you have a public consultation that anyone comes forward that doesn’t disagree."
She said the public has little to worry about when it comes to Taser use.
"We have assurance that all checks and balances will be in place."