Vancouver Taser Death: No Mere Statistic This Time as B.C. Announces Full Public Inquiry
Had Robert Dziekanski’s Taser death not been recorded in unsparing horror for the world to see, his death might have been another statistic to gloss over. But in this painful aftermath:
The B.C. government has announced a full public inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who died after RCMP officers shocked him with a Taser at Vancouver International Airport.
“We’ve decided it’s in the public interest that a public inquiry should be held into the matter at YVR,” Solicitor General John Les said at the B.C. legislature.
“What we’re saying today is we intend to address this in a way that is fully public.”
Les said the inquiry will also examine how Tasers are used by police departments across the province.
Meanwhile, Les and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell offered a public apology to Dziekanski’s mother.
“I’m glad to apologize for what took place,” said Campbell. “That was something that was devastating to her in more ways than I can even begin to imagine.
“I’m sure the RCMP would be glad to apologize. So I’m glad to apologize on behalf of people in British Columbia for what took place.”
Les said the province would appoint a commissioner to look into the circumstances surrounding Dziekanski’s death, as well as the policy governing the use of stun guns by police in the province.
Further humanizing this tragedy, is a poignant interview with Dziekanski’s widow, Elzbieta Dubon.
Ms. Dubon described Mr. Dziekanski, 40, as a “great man” and an animal lover who adored his mother, was respected by friends and had a “fanatic” passion for geography.
She said the police asked Mr. Dziekanski’s mother why his suitcase was packed with geography books and atlases. “It was because those textbooks were his life,” Ms. Dubon said.
She said she might have joined Mr. Dziekanski in Kamloops, even though others have said he went to live with his mother to escape a toxic existence on the ground floor of this derelict, century-old apartment building.
It is a grim place in which to live. A vodka bottle lies on the floor beside a coffee table featuring a half-eaten breast of chicken, an overflowing ashtray and large photographs of Mr. Dziekanski’s final hysterical moments before dying in the grip of Taser-wielding Mounties in Vancouver.
“He looks like a terrorist in these pictures, but he was scared,” she explained.
“Robert was at a breaking point. He could show his desperation in no other way. He wanted someone to help him.”
Dziekanski’s memorial service, held on Saturday, was attended by numerous strangers who sought to offer sympathy and support to Dziekanski’s mother, Zofia Cisowski, and to protest of the Taser use, as reported by CBC News.