Correcting details of Taser death would have hindered investigation, inquiry hears

[CHIMO]

Source: CBC News

A senior Mountie who oversaw the investigation into the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski chose not to correct misinformation given out to the public about the RCMP's use of a Taser against the Polish immigrant in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, a public inquiry heard Wednesday.

Supt. Wayne Rideout testified that correcting the details police initially gave the media about the number of times RCMP officers stunned Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport and other circumstances surrounding the incident would have jeopardized any potential criminal investigation by opening up a public debate about what happened.

Rideout ordered a blackout on giving the public any more facts about the incident following the initial media briefings, the court heard Wednesday.

Rideout admitted it might look bad and would come at a cost to the RCMP's public relations, but insisted that correcting the record would have put the RCMP in the position of entering into a public debate.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/05/06/bc-rideout-taser-inquiry-testimony.html

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Last Updated: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 4:58 PM PT

Yes.

They only enter debates to influence elections.

[DeepBlueC]

1. horse shit

The RCMP is becoming a national disgrace. In B.C. an officer took a young man to the station for giving a phony name when caught drinking a can of beer in a parking lot and ended up shooting him dead in the back of the head "in self-defense". Officer claims the guy was on top of him choking him, but he declined to demonstrate at a hearing of some sort just how that was physically possible. They took months to investigate this (themselves) and when pressed for facts at one time answered "we don't have to tell you anything."