VANCOUVER - The RCMP's independent watchdog says the four RCMP officers who confronted Robert Dziekanski "fell short" of expectations and their repeated used of a Taser was "premature and inappropriate."
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has released a harshly critical report into what happened the night Dziekanski died after he was repeatedly stunned with an RCMP Taser.
Commission chairman Paul Kennedy's report says the officers who were called to the airport made no meaningful attempt to de-escalate the situation or approach Dziekanski with a measured or appropriate response.
Kennedy says one of the officers used the Taser without warning when it wasn't appropriate to do so, and kept firing the weapon without determining whether later deployments were necessary.
The officers told a public inquiry in B.C. that they fired because they felt threatened by Dziekanski, who was holding a stapler, but Kennedy says he doesn't find any of the officers' statements credible.
The report repeats Kennedy's earlier recommendations that the force tighten its policies on Taser use and create an independent body to investigate officers in serious cases, such as those involving a death.
