Maritime Morning - Andrew Krystal

The recent “tasering” of a Dartmouth teen with no criminal record in her bedroom by three Police officers raises some interesting questions: the use of tasers by officers at all; the use of tasers as weapons of “compliance;” police frustration during the course of arrests; the expectations of citizens when it comes to the use of force.

The incident involving the Dartmouth teen went to court this week and the judge ruled that the Police conducted an illegal arrest, that there were no legal grounds, no one had been threatened, and there was no damage to property.

I have been told that some members of the Halifax police are furious with the judge and her ruling. The police claim that the media do not know all of the facts and that an appeal to this ruling is underway by police.

Today on my broadcast, I had the aunt of the tasered teen girl in question on the air with callers. She took on all comers, and never backed down once. Her voice was full of defiance and anger and outrage when she stated that she burst into the bedroom after her niece had been tasered, and was horrified. On the phone her voice trembled with emotion and her words sailed and hissed out of her. She told me that she was still boiling.

I suspect today that police officers were also calling in, giving just first names, and making their observations and criticisms directly to the girl’s Aunt. She derided, in clear, colorful street language, those officers who have an aversion to physical confrontation — “break a nail instead of using tasers.”

The whole thing began when the girl’s mother called the cops because her daughter wouldn’t leave the house after an argument. When the girl refused to leave, that’s when all hell broke loose. The aunt maintained on air that “you should be able to call the police without having to worry about that sh@#t happening. In fact, parents using force themselves on their teens can sometimes be charged. That’s what police are paid for: to do that which the citizen, legally, cannot.

Other callers said you should obey the police and if you kick at them when you are resisting arrest you deserve what you get. The problem, however, with that approach is that the taser can be deadly. Even a baton is easier on the heart than a taser.

I think we all know what happens with tasers. They are used because police are either unwilling to mix it up (the Vancouver airport), or they are afraid, or they have gotten hurt during an arrest and are angry and want to hurt back.

Go ahead, tell me differently.

We are all in trouble if two male officers and one female officer are afraid for their lives against an unarmed 17-year-old girl in her bedroom.