Braidwood inquiry delivers Taser report to B.C. attorney general

Former B.C. Court of Appeal judge Thomas Braidwood today (June 22) submitted to Attorney General Michael de Jong his report on the first phase of his inquiry into the use of Tasers.

But the contents of Braidwood’s report won’t be made public immediately, according to Shawn Robins, spokesperson for the Ministry of Attorney General.

Robins told the Straight that it may take “a number of weeks” before the report is released.

The Public Inquiry Act authorizes the cabinet to suppress certain portions of the report.

The Braidwood inquiry consists of two commissions.

The first is a study commission to inquire into the use of stun guns by police forces in British Columbia (other than the RCMP), sheriffs, and other authorized persons under the Correction Act.

The second inquiry deals with the 2007 Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after he was zapped repeatedly with the electric weapon by an RCMP team at the Vancouver International Airport.

The Braidwood inquiry was supposed to start receiving closing submissions for the second inquiry on June 19 but the commissioner adjourned the hearings till September 22 following the disclosure of a crucial e-mail between two ranking RCMP officers.

The e-mail suggests that the four RCMP officers who confronted Dziekanski actually discussed using a Taser before coming face to face with the Polish man.

The four Mounties previously testified at the inquiry that they didn’t have a plan to deal with Dziekanski, and that one of the officers zapped the man after he grabbed an office stapler and seemed to pose a threat to their safety.

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