Young people can drive alone at 16, drink alcohol at 18, vote at 18 and, on the not-so-fun-side, face criminal charges at age 12.
And now for something new — Tasers can be used on them at the age of 11.
On Thursday, RCMP in Prince George, B.C., used a Taser on a boy just that age. He may be the youngest person in Canada to ever be on the receiving end of a stun gun. Needless to say, it’s creating some serious concerns.
Details that have emerged so far indicate the boy — under government care and living in a group home — allegedly stabbed a 37-year-old man at the group home.
Police located the boy at a nearby residence and convinced him to come outside. At this point, an RCMP officer used a stun gun on him. He was then taken to hospital in a police car. The stabbing victim is in good condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
Exactly how the incident unfolded hasn’t been revealed. RCMP aren’t talking. Was the boy holding a knife and threatening himself, or others, when he came out?
Police often argue that Tasers actually save lives by disabling people before they do harm to themselves or others. The devices deliver an electric shock to subjects, temporarily disabling them.
They probably do save lives, but stun guns have also been involved in the cases of at least 25 people, all adults, who died in Canada.
Here in Red Deer, in 2006, Jason Doan, 28, died after he was jolted three times by police following a complaint to RCMP about a man smashing car windows. He was in a coma for 20 days in hospital before he died.
The most infamous case in Canada was that of 40-year-old Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died shortly after he was stunned several times with a Taser by RCMP at Vancouver International Airport in 2007. Two subsequent sets of public hearings related to Dziekanski’s death were supposed to have resulted in tighter restrictions on Taser use by the RCMP.
Now, an officer is only supposed to use a stun gun when in personal danger or if the public is at risk.
“Members’ actions must be reasonable and the force used must be necessary in the circumstances,” according to the revised policy.
The old policy allowed officers to use Tasers at their discretion.
RCMP Commissioner William Elliott has also acknowledged that stun gun use can lead to death, especially when fired on acutely agitated individuals.
Mounties are no longer allowed to Taser suspects who are merely resistant.
Neither of the B.C. hearings delved into the use of Tasers on children, although one report from one of the hearings did say that children could be at an elevated risk because of their size.
The RCMP doesn’t have a specific policy on the use of Tasers on children. They need one — yesterday.
Two West Vancouver police detectives are in Prince George investigating the circumstances that led to the incident. B.C.’s children’s watchdog may also launch an investigation.
A Simon Fraser professor of criminology, David MacAlister, told media that using a stun gun can be harmful, especially if the individual is thin and zapped in the chest, because the distance between the heart and skin is much smaller, thus increasing the danger.
There are varying charts for 11-year-old boys, but the average male this age weighs around 36 kg (80 pounds) and is about 1.4 metres (five feet seven inches) tall. We don’t know the size of the 11-year-old in Prince George.
The most controversial tool that police use today is the Taser. Police should be compelled to use the available option on Tasers — digital video cameras. It would help provide information when investigations into their use are ordered.
Any further using of Tasers on children should be immediately forbidden. Police must try other means, like negotiation, a canine unit, or how about using disarming and self-defence tactics learned in police training — simply tackle the kid?
What would have been next if the Taser hadn’t worked?
Mary-Ann Barr is the Advocate’s assistant city editor. She can be reached by email at barr@www.reddeeradvocate.com or by phone at 403-314-4332.