Questions hang over taser death
He spent 10 hours frustrated by airport bureaucracy. Just 24 seconds later, police shot him with tasers

MARK HUME AND SUNNY DHILLON

From Friday's Globe and Mail

October 26, 2007 at 3:19 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — Dazed and confused after more than 15 hours of travel, unable to communicate in English and scared because he couldn't find his mother, Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was jolted by a taser just 24 seconds after being confronted by police in Vancouver International Airport.

That allegation was made Thursday by a lawyer for Mr. Dziekanski's family who says video evidence will show that the RCMP took him down with a taser jolt moments after approaching him.

"I've been in touch with witnesses. I have viewed a video, which was taken by a bystander, which is not going to be released until at least the time of the inquest. From my observation, the interaction between the police and this individual, who didn't appear to me to be posing a danger to anybody at the time … was 24 seconds, roughly, before he was tasered," Walter Kosteckyj said, adding the airport surveillance videos also won't likely be released until an inquest is held.

A CTV News report Thursday night, based on emergency radio logs, shows police arrived at the scene at 1:28 a.m. and, two minutes later, it was reported a "male has been tasered."

The radio log does not indicate when police first approached Mr. Dziekanski, just that he was down two minutes after they arrived — and that by 1:32 he had lost consciousness.

CTV reported there was a 12-minute delay before medical help arrived. Mr. Dziekanski died shortly after being tasered — only 10 hours after arriving in the country that was to be his new home.

Asked to describe what he saw on the video, Mr. Kosteckyj replied: "I would describe it as something that will be shown to police academies around North America as not the way to intervene in this kind of situation."

Police have described a much more measured response in which officers gave a wildly agitated Mr. Dziekanski two jolts from a taser just to subdue him long enough to put handcuffs on him. The RCMP say they too have videos, but they can't be released because an investigation is under way.

Mr. Dziekanski died not far from dramatic Coast Salish totemic "welcome figures" that had greeted him at the entrance to the Arrivals Hall several hours earlier.

Mr. Kosteckyj described how a journey to a new life devolved into a nightmarish scenario, in which Mr. Dziekanski was left wandering helpless and alone in a busy airport while his mother, Zofia Cisowski, was searching for him nearby.

The waiting mother and increasingly frantic son were separated by glass walls and what appears to be impenetrable airport bureaucracy that somehow failed to help them connect.

"Unbelievably, these people were probably no more than 150 to 200 feet apart for at least five hours, and she was unable to get any message to him. And no one on the other side [of the glass walls] thought to interview him or come outside or vice versa," Mr. Kosteckyj said.

He said he could not explain why no one was able to come to the assistance of Mr. Dziekanski in an airport that handles 17 million visitors a year.

"For all the high-tech stuff they have at the airport, and all the security they have, somehow a guy can sit or be in that baggage area, that immigration area, for a period of nine hours … without anyone really taking much notice of him — as unbelievable as that sounds," Mr. Kosteckyj said.

He said Mr. Dziekanski's journey to Canada began in Poland about 3 a.m., when he left his home town of Pieszyce to get to an airport for his first airplane flight. The 40-year-old construction worker, who had never left Poland before, was immigrating to Canada to join his mother, 61, who lives in Kamloops, about a five-hour drive from Vancouver.

They had arranged to meet at the baggage carousel in the international terminal at YVR. What neither of them seemed to know, however, was that the baggage area is inside a secure area just past Canada Customs and Immigration. There is no line of sight into the Arrivals Hall from the public waiting area, except for a short distance through sliding glass doors.

Mr. Dziekanski arrived at about 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14.

"He made his way to primary customs in the ordinary fashion … he went through there in the normal time frame … he then proceeded through and was directed to secondary customs, which is normal for someone who doesn't speak English and is immigrating to the country," Mr. Kosteckyj said. His papers were in order and he proceeded without difficulty.

But what happened after that was far from normal. For nearly 10 hours, Mr. Dziekanski stayed in the Arrivals Hall, growing increasingly frustrated and eventually becoming frantic.

Outside, in the public area, his mother spent nearly six hours pacing the corridors and, in broken English, asking airport officials for help in locating her son.

Mr. Kosteckyj said she visited one booth in international arrivals "at least three to four times and conveyed to them that she was concerned about her son being in the area and she wanted to get a message to him and how could she do that? They wrote her name down and said that they would make inquiries."

At about 10 p.m., she was told he wasn't there. She made the long drive home, only to find a phone message waiting, saying her son had been found.

"She called back to immigration when she got in, which would have been around 2 a.m., and spoke to someone there and was advised that her son was somewhere in the area and was fine. And she advised, you know, 'Please take care of him because he can't speak English and I'll get there as soon as I can.' And of course he had died, been killed really, some time on or about 1 or 1:30," Mr. Kosteckyj said.

At a news conference, Ms. Cisowski said she had dreamed of opening a small business in Kamloops with her son. "I've lost my only family," she said. "I studied English during the day and at night I saved money to get my son to Canada."

Mr. Dziekanski arrived with three bags, two of which were filled with geography books.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home


Toxicology report on Taser victim comes up clean

The Province
Monday October 29, 2007

The toxicology report on Robert Dziekanski indicates that the man had no traces of drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death.

Dziekanski died after being tasered by RCMP at Vancouver's airport on Oct. 14. Witnesses have said the Polish man was visibly disturbed and behaving erratically when police were called to the scene.

The man's family have hired a lawyer to determine if legal action can be taken in the case.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...afde0ee&k=83780
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/october2007/291007Taser.htm

Canadian stun gun death on video

Video grab courtesy of the CBC
The video shows Mr Dziekanski being pinned down by police. Credit: CBC

Amateur video
Video footage has been released in Canada showing the last moments of an immigrant who died after being stunned with a Taser by police.

Robert Dziekanski, 40, of Pieszyce, Poland, was restrained by police after becoming agitated at Vancouver International Airport on 14 October.

Mr Dziekanski, who spoke no English, was declared dead at the scene by an emergency medical team.

The incident is being investigated by police, the airport and the coroner.

See how a Taser works

Police spokesman Cpl Dale Carr said the video was just one piece of evidence, and urged people to wait for the results of the inquest.

Mr Dziekanski, a construction worker, was emigrating to Canada to join his mother, who lived in the western province of British Columbia.

The incident has prompted a debate about the use of Taser stun guns by police in Canada.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says up to 18 people have died after being stunned by a Taser in Canada since 2003.

Screams

The video was shot by Canadian traveller Paul Pritchard and handed over to police, and has only just been returned to him.

It starts before the police arrive, with Mr Dziekanski seen through a glass wall in a customs area. He appears agitated, sweating and breathing heavily. Airport security officials and passengers watch from the other side.

Video grab from CBC
Mr Dziekanski was agitated and sweating. Credit: CBC

Having landed 10 hours earlier, he is seen pacing back and forth through an automatic door, standing briefly in the doorway with a small folding table, and then later with a chair.

At one point, he takes what looks like a laptop computer off a counter and throws it to the ground, and then throws the small table against the glass wall.

Four policemen then walk into view. They walk through the glass doors towards Mr Dziekanski, who turns his back on them. Witnesses say he appeared to pick up a stapler.

Seconds later, Mr Dziekanski is stunned by a Taser and falls down screaming and convulsing.

He is stunned a second time, and then the police officers restrain him on the floor. Mr Dziekanski's screams die down, and he is seen lying still.

A voice is heard saying "code red", which is code for a medical emergency.

An autopsy found no sign of drugs or alcohol in Mr Dziekanski's system, and failed to pinpoint the cause of death.

Airport mix-up

Walter Kosteckyj, the victim's family lawyer, said Mr Dziekanski's mother had seen portions of the video and had approved its release to the public.

"She had a son in distress, he was looking for help, he was frightened, and he didn't get that help," Mr Kosteckyj said.

He said he was disturbed by the video because Mr Dziekanski was not violent.

"I was expecting to see a confrontation, a discussion and things go sideways, then the tasering... That's not what you see," he said.

Zofia Cisowski
Mr Dziekanski was coming to Canada to be with his mother, Zofia

Mr Dziekanski, who had not flown before, had boarded a plane a day earlier in Germany, and arranged to meet his mother at the baggage carousel in the international terminal.

Neither of them knew the baggage carousel was inside a secure area, with no view of the public arrivals hall area, except for a short distance through sliding glass doors, Mr Kosteckyj said.

No airport, customs or security employees at the airport apparently tried to help either of them, he added.

Eventually Mr Dziekanski emerged into the public area, but his mother had left after six hours and Mr Dziekanski apparently panicked, the lawyer said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7095875.stm

Canada in pledge over Taser death
Alain Jolicoeur, president of the Canada Border Services Agency, at a news conference in Vancouver 26.11
The CBSA oversees customs and immigration procedures
Canada's Border Services Agency says it will change its operation at Vancouver airport following the death of an immigrant stunned with a police Taser.

Robert Dziekanski's final moments were captured on video by another traveller and the recording sparked outrage when it was broadcast two weeks ago.

Mr Dziekanski, 40, was Polish and spoke no English. He was declared dead at the scene by an emergency medical team.

It is the first time the agency has spoken about the 14 October incident.

See how a Taser works

The agency's president, Alain Jolicoeur, expressed his condolences to Mr Dziekanski's family and said that an internal investigation had recommended a review of services provided to international travellers and those waiting to meet them.

More cameras will be installed to cover areas under the agency's control.

Video grab courtesy of the CBC
The video shows Mr Dziekanski being pinned down by police

The agency will also increase security and ensure that people get to customs without long delays.

The agency is also updating its list of employees who speak languages other than English and French, and reviewing interpreter services to make sure interpreters are provided as quickly as possible.

"The CBSA is committed to implementing these recommendations without delay here at Vancouver International Airport and at other international airports as appropriate, to further secure and safely facilitate travellers' entry," Mr Jolicoeur said.

Airport mix-up

The CBSA report is one of several investigations into Mr Dziekanski's death currently underway.

Mr Dziekanski, a construction worker, was emigrating to Canada to join his mother, who lived in the western province of British Columbia.

Mr Dziekanski, who had not flown before, had boarded a plane a day earlier in Germany, and arranged to meet his mother at the baggage carousel in the international terminal.

Neither of them knew the baggage carousel was inside a secure area, with no view of the public arrivals hall area, except for a short distance through sliding glass doors.

Mr Dziekanski's mother waited for him for five hours in the airport's public arrivals area but eventually went home after a call to an immigration official, who told her partner that no person fitting her son's description was in the immigration area.

After spending 10 hours in the secure part of the international arrivals area Mr Dziekanski apparently panicked when he finally emerged into the public area and could not find his mother.

Police were called when he began throwing furniture and shouting.

He died shortly after being stunned at least twice with a Taser, seconds after police arrived.

A debate about the use of Tasers - promoted as a non-lethal alternative to guns - is ongoing in Canada after a series of incidents, including the death of an inmate at a Nova Scotia prison last week.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says more than 18 people have died after being stunned by a Taser in Canada since 2003.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7114519.stm