"Too little and too late" is a common and handy phrase when inadequate remedies are applied
The opposite appears to have dominated the case of 40-year-old Robert Dziekanski, a Polish traveler who died in October when he went berserk after spending a good part of a day lost in Vancouver International Airport, then was subdued with a Taser.
The Taser is a hand-held device intended to stun individuals who are or appear to be out of control and dangerous. The immigrant died after being stunned by such a weapon, and it is now acknowledged a number of individuals have died in the United States following similar applications. Several such deaths have also occurred in Canada, and a British Columbia man died last month after being subdued with batons, pepper spray, and yes, a Taser.
Naturally, blame is being cast in every direction now that the matter has become a cause celebre.
Regardless of the various individuals or groups at whom fingers might be and have been pointed, at an airport the size of Vancouver's, with aircraft from many countries arriving constantly, it seems elementary that signs in various parts of the facility might direct strangers to information sources in their language.
The Polish Vancouver victim spoke no English. Through a breakdown of communication, his B.C.-resident mother could not find him, and when told he had not been on the flight from Frankfurt, she finally left the airport. I have never heard of anyone else spending six or more hours in an airport. Evidently Dziekanski wandered around several areas of the large airport until he lost his cool and began to pound on windows, and throw around chairs and computer equipment.
Unable to subdue the man, airport security people called for RCMP assistance. Four complying officers found it necessary to resort to the Taser to control him. He subsequently died. While the Mounties do not emerge as living up to capabilities and judgment we ascribe to them, let's remember that in the recent past our national force has lost a number of officers in situations appearing simple at the outset.
For Canadians, relying on air transportation to travel throughout the country, it may seem odd that a man of 40 would be unfamiliar with airport facilities to the extent that he could not find his way to an information desk.
On the other hand, in European countries many people possibly find rail transportation faster and more convenient than aircraft, resulting in persons finding themselves lost too often in procedures of international flight. Notwithstanding this possibility, the fact that a (presumably) unwed man of that age was not resourceful enough to look after himself suggests possible mental deficiency. If this was the problem, the airline and airport authorities ought to have been made aware of special circumstances and needs.
But finally, with an increasing number of persons having died after Taser use, more consideration needs to be given as to who is permitted to use the device, and when.
In Ontario's Peel Country, reportedly, only sergeants are permitted to carry Tasers. Obviously the devices are far from harmless. Are there figures as to how often they are being used? Rarely, or too often -- and too quickly?
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