Welcome to Canada - ZAP!

My view will probably be different because I have family in the military and police force, but I see nothing wrong with what was done.

First the language issue. Our official languages are English and French, thats it, that is all we are required to provide service in. People are saying we should have brought in an interpreter to help, but are we suppose to have an official police interpreter for every language at every airport? be more realistic.

Second, the 10 hour wait. While this fault falls on several parties, it was no single persons fault. It was miscommunication or something, but even his mother is partially at fault.

As for his actions, no matter what they were not justified. If I traveled to a country that had no support for my language, I know it's going to take awhile. Sure, after 10 hours I would be very agitated, but I know that throwing a temper tantrum , destroying property while shouting in a language they don't understand is NOT going to help, and would fully expect the police to show up and take me down.

Lastly, the Taser. Too damn bad is what I am going say. He was out of line... If he was some 10 year old I could understand, but he was 40. A rational adult should be smart enough to figure out when someone is trying to tell them to calm down, even in a different language, by simply reading their body signs. What he was doing not only damaged property that wasn't his, but it was putting others in danger. People tried to calm him down to no avail. So the police walked in and took him down in a manner that minimizes injury to innocent civilians, and to themselves. Sure, the 4 officers could have used brute physical force to take this guy down, but there would have been a few issues with that.

1. Others around might have gotten hurt

2. The officers didn't know if he was or was not under the influence of some drug, perhaps one with muscle/adrenaline enhancing properties that may also surpress pain. What then? What if they had to beat him down real hard since he couldn't feel anything just to prevent his fit of rage? Then we'd be sitting here discussing "well they should have jabbed when they punched instead, that's police brutality for you, beating him until he couldn't move". which leads to...

3. Using physical force might result in permanent damage, where as a taser is typically not. If any physical damage were to result, you know full well a lawsuit would be in the works.

4. The police have the right to protect themselves, they have families and friends just like the rest of us. If some had it their way, police would not be allowed to use ANY means to take down offenders. It's almost like people expect them to throw themselves on top of offenders wielding uzi's, while of course wearing soft padded pillows as to not hurt the criminal.

It was an unfortunate situation, but it happens. The man went out of line, and the standard taser did more harm than it was suppose to, perhaps due to a heart problem, or increased stress levels etc..., it doesn't matter. I am sure it would be a different story if some unknown person started trashing your house, while shouting in a language you can't understand, you wouldn't sit there for over an hour trying to calm him down with words. What would you do if he throws something that hit your wife/child/husband etc.. and seriously injured them?

Amazing how *noble* people are until they are faced with the situation.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Free.User

Hey, did you know the guy DIED? Also, don't say it doesn't matter, because it does. That is the whole point of the issue. It wasn't due to a heart problem. He was tasered FOUR times, and the police did NOT try to calm him down. Get off your high military horse; The fact that the Police force is in a position to protect civilians doesn't give them the right to abuse their power.

I said it doesn't matter because in the end, he died. Yes, it was unfortunate, I am just not claiming to know the reason why the taser caused death in this situation.

The airport security already tried to calm him down, as did others. He was a danger to himself and others.

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I don't know where you live, but in Canada, tasering a man 4 times out of the blue does not minimize damage. I'm sure if this was your son, you would have a different opinion, but it's probably just some "retarded Polish guy".

I never stated he was "retarded", infact, in all my arguements I spoke of him as a normal person. You are the one bringing this idea to the table. Perhaps he was, but that doesn't matter, he was a human being in my eyes. Still doesn't give him any special rights if he was mentally challenged. People always manage to find something to add in these situations, whether it be gender/race/age, or in this case their mental maturity.

I live on Ottawa just for the record.

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You also have to remember that the man may have had small mental problems. At his age he lived with his mother, and had never been out of the country before. Toss that in with jet-lag and a 10-hour wait, and you will obviously have some distraught behavior. Maybe you should do a little bit of research into the matter before you jump to conclusions.

Perhaps he did have mental problems, but what does that matter? If things were that bad, they should have had either a family member or friend fly with him, or a flight attentend watch over him, much like you would a child. If this is the case, then I blame the mother, as it was completely foolish to let a 40 year old *child*, whom she KNEW would not be able to communicate with anyone in Canada to fly alone without making special arrangements.

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I'm not saying that he was excusable, because he wasn't. However, we really need to review some of the practices of our police force.

As i said, no one will ever be happy with the way police handle things until they start throwing non-scented extra soft paper towel at people.

Do not get me wrong, in no way do I enjoy seeing others die or live in misery. However I am getting tired of this whole thing with blaming everything on the police. Kid steals a car, cops find him, kid tries to get away in car, cops follow, kid rolls the car, suddenly the cops are at fault.

There's nowhere I can't reach.