tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post8028141847142377006..comments2024-03-25T16:03:36.810-07:00Comments on The Existentialist Cowboy: Tased Until Dead: The Epidemic of Taser Crazy CopsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-63387149485565162172012-07-18T11:08:24.704-07:002012-07-18T11:08:24.704-07:00yet another case of police misconduct in the Gati...yet another case of police misconduct in the Gatineau city of the Quebec province, Gatineau police cop Pierre francois Blais assaults 73 year old grandmother according to complaint filed.<br /><br />A Gatineau cop violated a man's Charter rights when he shot and killed him in 2008, according to a litany of charges filed under Quebec's Police Act.<br />On June 29, 2011 -- one day past the three-year anniversary of David Leclair's death and just five days after the Leclair family launched a $430,000 civil suit against the officer and the city -- the province's police ethics commissioner slapped Const. Pierre-Francois Blais with 10 charges.<br />Though he remains on active duty, he was unreachable for comment Wednesday.<br />"It'll never bring David back, it never should have happened to begin with," Leclair's sister, Donna told the Sun Wednesday. She is still pressing for a public inquiry into her brother's death.<br />A 35-year-old single father who was well-known to police, Leclair was shot three times outside his mother's Aylmer, Que. home after Blais responded to a domestic complaint involving Leclair's ex.<br />In February 2007, Leclair pleaded guilty and was handed an 11-month sentence for fraud.<br />Separate fraud and assault charges from 2006 were stayed, and he was also due to appear in court later in 2008 on theft and fraud charges.<br />On the day of Leclair's death, Blais had followed him into his mother's home, beat him with a club and pepper-sprayed him before shooting him three times outside, including once in the back. Blais said LeClair grabbed a crowbar in the confrontation but witnesses say he was unarmed.<br />The officer also struck Leclair's then 73-year-old mother, Dorothy, in the leg with his baton and, according to witnesses, threatened to shoot her and LeClair's brother Robert if they intervened.<br />"Personally, I would love him to have jail time, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen at this point," Donna said.<br />Blais, the son of chief justice of the Federal Court of Appeal Pierre Blais, was cleared in 2009 of any criminal wrongdoing after a provincial police investigation. The latest charges, which stem from a formal complaint filed to the police ethics commissioner, allege Blais acted carelessly and recklessly in his dealings with Leclair, used obscene or offensive language, displayed a lack of respect or courtesy, abused his authority, and violated Leclair's Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person.<br />Blais is also charged with using excessive force against Leclair's mother, along with four other charges.<br />"Will this bring us closure? I don't know, but I hope it helps ... Something is better than nothing right now," Donna said. "We'll see how it plays out."<br />No hearing date has been set yet.<br />The charges against Pierre-Francois Blais:<br />1. Acted carelessly and recklessly in his dealings with Leclair <br />2. Using obscene or offensive language <br />3. Displaying a lack of respect or courtesy <br />4. Abusing his authority <br />5. Violated Leclair's Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person <br />6. Using obscene or offensive language in his dealings with Dorothy Leclair <br />7. Displaying a lack of respect or courtesy <br />8. Excessive force <br />9. Making threats <br />10. Failing to prevent or contribute to preventing justice from taking its course <br />Key dates in the aftermath of David Leclair's death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-79481186429535228742008-08-03T23:28:00.000-07:002008-08-03T23:28:00.000-07:00Excited-Delirium.com said... Am I the only perso...Excited-Delirium.com said...<BR/><BR/> <EM>Am I the only person in the world to notice that the training often includes a taser hit TO THE BACK, where on the street the police often aim AT THE CHEST? And there seems to be a statistical surplus of chest hits in the taser-associated deaths.</EM><BR/><BR/>Where I come from shooting someone in the back is cowardly. At the very worst, the person is fleeing --but not a threat warranting his/her being shot.<BR/><BR/>I look forward to a statistical study. The OVERWHELMING number of incidences that have made news are instances in which the person was ALREADY subdued but REPEATEDLY tased. <BR/><BR/><EM>I've explored this issue in depth on my blog. More than 500 posts, aimed mostly at destroying the propaganda from Taser.</EM><BR/><BR/>'Destroying the propaganda' consists in ABSOLUTELY refuting EVERY lie told by the taser manufactuers and the cops. It will also consist of citizens organizing to OUTLAW the manufacture and use of these devices, exact penalties for their use by law enforcement, criminal charges and in some cases murder charges filed against the dumb ass hot dogs who have gotten the mistaken idea that they Bill of Rights no longer apply. LONG TERM PRISON TERMS result in an attitude adjustment.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-87648666569557836322008-08-03T19:05:00.000-07:002008-08-03T19:05:00.000-07:00In my view the whole problem starts with Taser. Th...In my view the whole problem starts with Taser. They falsely claim essentially a perfect degree of safety (with respect to internal risk factors, such as cardiac). This is reflected in the training, where trainees are brainwashed into believing that the taser is essentially perfectly safe. And thus the overuse, misuse and abuse.<BR/><BR/>Am I the only person in the world to notice that the training often includes a taser hit TO THE BACK, where on the street the police often aim AT THE CHEST? And there seems to be a statistical surplus of chest hits in the taser-associated deaths.<BR/><BR/>I've explored this issue in depth on my blog. More than 500 posts, aimed mostly at destroying the propaganda from Taser.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-12527586985256516532008-07-26T11:56:00.000-07:002008-07-26T11:56:00.000-07:00opit said...But how can police properly intimidate...opit said...<BR/><BR/><EM>But how can police properly intimidate and publicly torture without free recourse to sadistic measures ? </EM><BR/><BR/>As wise heads have opined: the wrong folk are behind bars! As a hardbitten reporter, I came to think of cops as criminals with badges. Sad when you think about it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-23213941083015794792008-07-26T11:32:00.000-07:002008-07-26T11:32:00.000-07:00But how can police properly intimidate and publicl...But how can police properly intimidate and publicly torture without free recourse to sadistic measures ? There's some pushback<BR/>http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080725/national/sask_no_tasersopithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01621946866211400380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-92077051467021331452008-07-26T10:52:00.000-07:002008-07-26T10:52:00.000-07:00SadButTrue said...How does that gibe with police p...SadButTrue said...<BR/><BR/><EM>How does that gibe with police policies that the device is only to be used when the person in custody poses a threat to the officer's safety? The fact that murder charges have not been laid against this officer and others sends a chilling message: "in a police state, the police are never policed." </EM><BR/><BR/>That's hits the target precisely and it is the reason this is such an important issue. If cops are out of control --and clearly they ARE --then the nation has descended into lawlessness. The 'taser' is just one of more overt symptoms of POLICE STATE!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-65104668447895834102008-07-26T08:26:00.000-07:002008-07-26T08:26:00.000-07:00These weapons are being used as a supposed alterna...These weapons are being used as a supposed alternative to deadly force. Well, if they kill people, (and not all that rarely) doesn't that make them a deadly weapon? <BR/><BR/>The case of Baron Pikes that you cite looks to me like a clear case of murder. The coroner's report says that he was probably already dead when the last two shocks were administered. How does that gibe with police policies that the device is only to be used when the person in custody poses a threat to the officer's safety? <BR/><BR/>The fact that murder charges have not been laid against this officer and others sends a chilling message: "in a police state, the police are never policed." If you want to have recurring nightmares just imagine the Blackwater and KBR thugs rotated back from Iraq and serving the Cheney agenda. <BR/><BR/>Despite tasers being responsible for a number of unnecessary and infamous deaths here, <A HREF="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/07/25/selkirk-taser.html?ref=rss" REL="nofollow">it's still being used in Canada too</A>. Is there a sane safe haven anywhere on the planet?SadButTruehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977090207448656065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-85820209695562662822008-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:002008-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:00anonymous sez...Unfortunately "Taser" is a PR devi...anonymous sez...<BR/><BR/><EM>Unfortunately "Taser" is a PR device to make such things seem new, and to force one to create new laws about the use of the thing.</EM><BR/><BR/>Only extremists support this abuse of 'tasers'. And --as you point out --'taser' is the product of a focus group. For this mindset, there is no crime so heinous that it cannot be made palatable with a euphemism.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-82172891491478210472008-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:002008-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:00Why don't we fight back by calling Taser (a brand ...Why don't we fight back by calling Taser (a brand name) by something more in keeping with its historical precedents?<BR/><BR/>How about "the lash" (my vote) or "the whip". Because then you could put it in the context of a society in which punishment itself is administered by authorities before any adjudication of the offense. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately "Taser" is a PR device to make such things seem new, and to force one to create new laws about the use of the thing. I am sure the caselaw of this nation and that of our common law ancestor, England, has much to say for centuries about the use of this device. Let us open the books on the rise and fall and revival of this brutal instrument.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com