 |
City of Vancouver  Search Help |
| Back to VPD HOME
|
Highlights from Morning Press Conference In-Custody DeathOn June 23rd at 9:30 pm, Vancouver Police were called to the Continental Hotel at 1390 Granville St. after a tenant locked himself in the 5th floor common washroom. The male was violent, screaming and destroying bathroom fixtures. Patrol and Emergency Response Team members arrived on scene. ERT entered the washroom and the fighting male was eventually tasered. During the handcuffing and arrest process he stopped breathing. EHS responded and attempted to revive him, however, the man died on scene. The deceased is Robert Wayne Bagnell. He was 54-years-old. The Major Crime Section continues to investigate this in-custody death. Investigators are still awaiting the pathologist's report, however, toxicology results showed that Mr. Bagnell's blood concentration contained lethal levels of cocaine, along with other drugs. Statement by Chief Constable Jamie Graham"You have been given the particulars in the regrettable death of Robert Bagnell . I want to talk about what this means for the future use of TASER by our department. My immediate answer to you is that we know that the TASER saves lives and reduces injuries. We also know that it is safe and it works. Joining me today is Fred Dawe, the President of the BC Schizophrenia Society and the past president of the Canadian Schizophrenia Society. We will also be introducing you to Richard Dolman, a director of the society and a widely published advocate of proper treatment for the mentally ill. Richard is also a member of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police Mental Health Committee. And finally, I want you to meet Sgt. Trevor Herrman, one of our first officers to be trained in the use of the TASER and one of the first to train others. But before I relinquish the podium I want to tell you why the TASER is one of the most effective less-than-lethal tools we have ever used. When an officer is faced with death or grievous bodily harm to themselves or others, an officer's options are limited. The TASER is not designed to stop a charging attacker at close range armed with knife or machete, or baseball bat. But many stand-off incidents don't start out posing a deadly threat. The problem is that they can escalate in a heartbeat to the point where a police officer may have to use considerable force or even a gun. The greatest benefit of the TASER is that it stops incidents from escalating to that point. By preventing that escalation, lives of suspects, police officers and innocent people are saved and the number of injuries is reduced. Another primary benefit is that police officers do not have to resort to deadly force when dealing with people who can't think straight because of alcohol, drugs or mental illness. In the time it took me to read this last sentence, a peace officer can go from a quiet chat with someone, to outright terror where a life is taken in self-defense. We know TASERS are safe or we wouldn't be using them. The manufacturer has tested the unit on more than 50,000 volunteers. I have personally been shot by the TASER in a demonstration and I was not injured. But I can assure you, not without pain. And I would remind you, there has never been a coroner in Canada or the United States that we know of who has listed a TASER as the cause of death. In fact, in Vancouver, we now use the TASER specifically because a coroner's jury recommended we deploy it to save lives. We know it works. We're not alone in this knowledge. More than 4,300 law enforcement agencies around the world use it. I understand my colleague Chief Fantino in the Toronto Police Service would like to equip all front-line police officers with a TASER. I know the controversy will continue to rage, but we are strongly committed to saving lives and reducing injuries for those in our custody and for our own members. The TASER is an effective method for doing just that."
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
© 2002 Vancouver Police Department |
