The RCMP will restrict the use of Tasers under new guidelines which recognize that the stun guns can cause death, especially when a suspect is "acutely agitated."
The policy also aims to end the practice of Tasering suspects deemed uncooperative by police, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said Thursday.
"We've now made it very clear that the only time the use of a Taser can be justified is when there is a threat, either to our officers or to members of the public," he said.
The new regulations were announced to the Commons public-safety committee on Thursday and come after several high-profile deaths involving the stun guns.
In the past, police have been told to use the stun guns when a suspect is in state of "excited delirium," which would allow the suspect to get medical attention.
However, critics of Tasers have said that "excited delirium" is a vague, quasi-medical term with little scientific basis.
The term has since been taken out of the RCMP's training literature.
Elliott added that there was a "distinct possibility" that the use of Tasers may have contributed several deaths in Canada.
"I'm not saying there is a strong correlation, I'm saying that we have had incidents, I believe a total of 11, that shortly after being Tasered, individuals died," he said.
"Being Tasered comes with a considerable application of force, and the application of force certainly entails risk."
Additionally, the RCMP will bulk up the reporting system for Taser use and will issue quarterly public reports. Officers must also report Tasering incidents - including times when they've pulled out the weapon - by the end of their shifts.
RCMP officers will also be subject to Taser training every year, instead of the current training schedule which occurs every two years.
Still, Elliott said that the stun guns are much safer than traditional police firearms and he said that Tasers can actually save lives when used in the right circumstances. Additionally, the RCMP has not reclassified the Taser as an "impact weapon," as had been recommended by the committee.
Police commissioner is out of touch, says officer
But according to Sgt. Scott Warren, the chair of the RCMP's Officer Safety Committee, the so-called new regulations have been drawn up by officials who are out of touch with the realities of street-level policing.
In an interview with CTV's Power Play, Warren also said that the regulations don't adequately address the split-second decisions police must make everyday.
"Sometimes I think the commissioner is in over his head," said Warren, referring to Elliott, who is the first-ever civilian to head the national police force.
Warren said that the previous policy governing Taser use was broad and trusted the judgment of individual police officers.
The new guidelines come after several controversial incidents involving the stun guns.
Currently, a public inquiry in B.C. is probing the death of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish man who became disorientated at Vancouver's airport.
Dziekanski, who could not speak English, became agitated after spending several hours wandering through the airport.
Dziekanski died after he was subdued by the RCMP and shocked with a Taser, which was captured during several minutes of disturbing video footage.
The American manufacturer of the stun gun, Taser International Inc., maintains that their product is safe and is fighting a U.S. judicial ruling which ordered the company to pay out $1.4 million in legal fees relating to the death of a man in California. The death occurred after police shocked the man more than 20 times.
A judge ruled that the company had not sufficiently warned police of the risk of repeated shocks, marking the first time Taser International Inc. has been found negligent in case relating to a stun gun deployment.
The man's family was awarded $5 million in damages for the incident.
With files from The Canadian Press
