Critics took aim at the RCMP Thursday in the wake of a new video showing a man die after he was Tasered by Mounties last month.
Amnesty International says it wants a full investigation into what happened after Polish national Robert Dziekanski arrived at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14.
Dziekanski was held in a secure area of the airport for nearly 10 hours. He became agitated and frustrated and airport security called police.
A video by a witness shows him throwing a chair at a glass wall and yelling. But by the time police arrived, the video also shows that Dziekanski had appeared to have calmed down.
"For me, it (the video) raises a lot of questions as to how decisions were made going into that incident because what you appear to see is that they show up and move to Taser somebody,'' Hilary Homes of Amnesty International said.
In the video, Dziekanski backs away from police and raises his arms, as if to capitulate to the officers.
But within seconds he was zapped with a Taser, an electric stun gun. He flails in pain, is pinned by the officers, appears to have been Tasered again, and passes out. He later died.
The events on the video appear to contradict what the RCMP said about the event a day after it occurred, before the video was seen by the public.
"They found the man in the secure area with his luggage cart and chairs set around him," said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre right after Dziekanski's death.
"They tried to do the same thing, communicate with him. Chairs went flying, he grabbed the computer off a desk and threw that. They weren't getting through to this guy and the violence, again, escalating."
But in the video, the RCMP are no where to be seen when the chair is thrown. They had not yet arrived on the scene.
At no time on the video does Dziekanski grab a computer when the police are there. He had picked one up and then set it back down earlier in the video, but that was well before police had arrived.
When they do arrive, Dziekanski appears to be calm. He backs away and appears to be in the process of handing himself over to police when he is Tasered, a mere thirty seconds after police arrive.
Amnesty International wants all police departments to stop using Tasers until they have been thoroughly studied.
A professor of ethics says the RCMP will now have to work hard to win back public trust.
"Those who are involved are going to have to give a clearer account of what occurred than that at the present seems to be what's forthcoming," said Mark Wexler of Simon Fraser University.
He added that there will have to be a "stronger emphasis upon training (and) de-emphasis on keeping the public out of the way."
Police reaction
On Thursday, police said they believed the information they gave after the incident was accurate to the best of their knowledge. They had no further comment.
Earlier, Cpl. Dale Carr, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said judgment should not be cast until all the information has been gathered.
"Our reaction is that our testimony will come out at the coroner's inquest and it will offer perspective on what the police officers were going through and what all the other witnesses were going through at the time and they'll be testifying under oath," Carr told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.
He said a much more complete picture will develop as the result of the police investigation, which is still ongoing, and a coroner's inquest that will probe the circumstances of Dziekanski's death.
Emergency radio logs leaked to CTV British Columbia show a 12-minute gap from when Dziekanski lost consciousness and when B.C. Ambulance arrived.
The airport has its own paramedics who could have been at the scene within two minutes, but the airport supervisor did not call them, CTV British Columbia reported.
For reasons that are still not clear, it took 10 hours for Dziekanski to clear customs. He and his mother never connected, and she left the airport to return to Kamloops.
The Polish government has called for a full probe of the tragedy.
Paul Pritchard, the witness who taped the incident on his video camera, told Canada AM on Thursday that Dziekanski appeared scared and seeking help when police arrived. He said he never felt threatened by the man.
"He was acting irrationally, but in my opinion he was acting scared," Pritchard said.
He said Dziekanski even put his arms out in a gesture of defeat and showed no signs he was going to resist arrest.
He said the four officers seemed intent on using a Taser despite Dziekanski's apparent willingness to surrender. The situation escalated quickly once they did.
"It became a real situation all of a sudden. I was just filming for the sake of an entertainment standpoint, but once they Tasered him you heard this bloodcurdling scream. I still think about it," Pritchard said.
Another cellphone video of the fatal confrontation had been released previously but this latest video is of much higher quality.
Other witnesses also said they didn't feel threatened by Dziekanski.
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has filed its own complaint about the case. The RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is also investigating the incident.
Liberals call for national review of Tasers
During Thursday's question period, public safety minister Stockwell Day said in addition to the coroner's inquest and two police reviews, he has also ordered a review. He did not give details of what type of review it would be, how it would be conducted, or who would conduct it.
The Liberals said nothing short of formal national review of Taser use by police officers is required. The party's public safety critic, Ujjal Dosanjh, said in a press release that the review should be commenced in light of Dziekanski's death "and the release of video of that incident."
"While we understand the need of law enforcement to be able to subdue suspects in dangerous situations, Mr. Dziekanski's tragic death and other incidents have led to questions about whether Tasers are being used appropriately," said Dosanjh.
Dosanjh said the government must appoint an appropriate body to look into Taser use and consequences. He suggested that the RCMP Public Complaints Commission may look into the matter. It's already investigating the Dziekanski death.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said he hasn't seen the Dziekanski video and stopped short of calling for an outright ban of Tasers. But he said he wants the RCMP to review its use of the weapon.
A Mother's Reaction
The mother of a Polish immigrant who died after RCMP officers used a Taser on him can't understand why police didn't simply arrest her son before using force.
Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Zofia Cisowski, said his client was stunned after watching a video of the confrontation that resulted in her son's death.
"Her position is basically this: 'I see my son lost, looking for help. When he sees the police he's calling out for them, I tried to get help, he tried to get help and this is the way things have ended up.'"
Kosteckyj said his client doesn't understand why police apparently acted with such force. He said the four officers arrived on the scene and headed straight to the suspect without securing the scene, asking questions or getting background, or even moving a nearby witness -- steps he suggested could have resulted in a peaceful end to the confrontation.
Dziekanski will be buried on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Kamloops.
