Thomas R. Braidwood, QC, Commissions of Inquiry
COMMISSIONER’S COMMENTS ON PHASE ONE REPORT OF BRAIDWOOD INQUIRY
INTO TASER USE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
July 23, 2009
VANCOUVER – Retired British Columbia Appeal Court Justice Thomas R. Braidwood, QC, has
made 19 recommendations to the provincial government regarding the appropriate use of
conducted energy weapons (tasers) by law enforcement agencies in the province.
Speaking at a media conference in Vancouver today following the tabling in the B.C. Legislature
of the report of the first phase of the Braidwood Inquiry into taser use in B.C., Mr. Braidwood
said his report “bluntly states” that the provincial government has abdicated its responsibility to
establish province-wide standards for the use of tasers.
“In my view, it is the province’s responsibility to set the rules about conducted energy weapon
use and officer training. It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to train their officers and
deploy the weapon in accordance with those policies,” he said.
The centrepiece of the report is that government should authorize policing agencies to continue
to use conducted energy weapons, but the threshold for use should be significantly revised from
“active resistance” to the much higher standard of “causing bodily harm.”
While Mr. Braidwood was specifically directed to exclude the RCMP from the first phase of the
inquiry because the provincial government does not have jurisdiction over the force, he said
today that his recommendations should also apply to the RCMP as a pre-condition for the B.C.
government entering into new policing agreements with the RCMP in 2012.
“Seventy per cent of British Columbians live in communities policed by the RCMP. If the
government accepts and implements my recommendations, it would be incongruous that the
recommendations not apply in most areas of the province,” he said.
Mr. Braidwood was appointed in February 2008 by former B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal to
head two commissions of inquiry. The first was a “study” commission into the use of tasers in
B.C. by police forces other than the RCMP. The second phase is a “hearing and study”
commission into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International
Airport in October 2007.
The report tabled today deals only with the first phase of the inquiry. A report into the second
phase is expected to be delivered to the provincial government early next year.
Inquiry website: http://www.braidwoodinquiry.ca/
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For more information, please contact:
Chris Freimond: 604-990-1378 or 778-840-2428 (cell)