THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER - The RCMP are pulling older-model Tasers across the country after testing for the B.C. government found the weapons failed to meet manufacturer's specifications 80 per cent of the time, the national police force said Monday.
The Mounties said all of its M26 Tasers - a total of about 1,600 stun guns - will be removed from service until each unit is tested and, if necessary, repaired. That will leave about 1,500 newer-model X26 units in use.
The announcement came hours after the B.C. government ordered the RCMP to stop using the older Tasers in the province.
Independent testing completed for the province last month showed M26 Tasers used by municipal police forces, sheriffs and corrections officers had an 80-per-cent fail rate, more often than not delivering less electrical output than expected.
"I think that we want to make sure that the weapon ... does what it is that our officers should expect it to do," RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said outside a Senate committee hearing in Ottawa.
"The results writ large raise significant concerns and therefore we are doing the prudent thing and taking the device out of service."
Results from the first round of testing in B.C. were released in April, suggesting the weapons failed to meet specifications 10 per cent of the time. Similar results were found in other provinces.
But the most recent results found a much higher failure rate.
Of the 128 units that were tested, 102 failed to meet specifications. All but one of those had output below the manufacturer's specifications.
Last year, B.C. pulled 82 stun guns purchased before Jan. 1, 2006, after tests showed them misfiring. Now the province has expanded the ban to include the national police force operating within its boundaries.
In a news release, the RCMP noted most of the malfunctioning Tasers produced less, not more, electrical output, and insisted Tasers contribute to "the safety and security of the public and police."
Yet the statement said even Tasers that produce less-than-expected output pose a potential risk to officers and the public.
That's not how the weapon's manufacturer sees it.
Taser International issued a statement suggesting the malfunctioning Tasers were safer, not more dangerous.
"A lower energy output equates to a higher safety margin and therefore, the medical safety of these devices is not in question," said the statement, which also suggested the testing may be flawed.
The company said the suspect devices should not be destroyed, so that they can be re-tested by other labs and by the company itself.
Elliott told a Senate committee Monday that the force is sorry for Dziekanski's death, reiterating the words of deputy RCMP commissioner Bill Sweeney, who appeared before the senators last month.
But Elliot stopped short of accepting blame on behalf of the force for Dziekanski's death.
