Report says RCMP shouldn’t have used stun gun on young girl
Tasers—and their misuse—are back in the spotlight again. A new report says the RCMP was out of line when it used a Taser on a 15-year-old girl in 2007. What’s more: the report, written by the force’s federal watchdog, claims the RCMP in Inuvik, N.W.T tried to cover up the incident afterwards. The teenage girl, known to the press only as “Miss X”, was an inmate at the Arctic Tern Young Offenders Facility in Inuvik at the time of the assault. When the “combative” girl began acting out one day—swearing at facility workers, and “pulling and kicking”—she was handcuffed and held down on the floor. Officers then used a 50,000-volt stun gun for “a full five-second cycle, causing Miss X to co-operate.” “The manner in which the RCMP handled this matter was at best negligent and at worst biased,” says investigating commission chairman Paul Kennedy