Dziekanski and Taser Gun

By now, the whole world has watched the news that Dziekanski, a new immigrant from Poland to Canada, was tasered to death at the Vancouver Airport.

This is my arbitrary dissection of Dziekanski's name, which spells his own fate: can you see ' die ' in Dzie ? Also, the Z is the last alphabet, the end. 'Kan' means 'Kanada', the transliteration of Canada. 'Ski' refers to a sport or popular activity in a cold country with snow. His name means he will die in Canada.

My dissection of the name is rather arbitrary. I admit it is a play of letters and words. It has nothing to do with Science or Religion. It has nothing to do with prophecy or astrology. It just happened that the name Dziekanski kept coming back to my mind, when I thought about police brutality or use of excessive force. The letters of the name separated themselves, showing repeatedly in my head the fragments of Die, Z, Kan and Ski, and I was trying to make some sense out of it. Call it a co-incidence, fate, or whatever, but my concern is not about the name of Mr. Dziekanski. My concern is about Police bruatality or use of excessive force.

Canada is not a bannana republic. It is a democratic and free country. The R.C. M.P. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) are well regarded. It is a positive symbol of Canada. However, no country is perfect in this world. You can find corruption and failure everywhere, yes, even in Canada.

In this particular incident, the man was tasered by the Canadian Police more than once. My opinion is that the Police used excessive force against this new immigrant from Poland. Poor man, he was an emigrant to Canada with the shortest life ! As soon as he had landed in Canada, as a new immigrant, he died. Maybe, the taser was not a direct cause of his death, I don't know, but it would be a reasonable presumption, that the use of taser on him would have expedited or indirectly caused his death. If you used the taser, or stun gun, on a person with poor health, you would cause the death of that person, either directly or indirectly.

It looked rather stupid, for the police to defend themselves, by saying that Mr. Dziekanski held up his hands, as if he was telling the police that he didn't care, hell with you guys ! The police even said that he was holding a stapler, as if he was trying to use it as a weapon to attack them. My views ? Holding up one's hands could mean different things. To the police defending themselves, it could mean " I don't care, go to hell you guys ! ", but to others, it could mean " I surrender ", or " What do you want from me ? I am giving up. I am not a dangerous man. I am only a new immigrant."

I watched the news about this Dziekanski incident many times. The man did not look dangerous to me. He looked tired and confused. He could be frustrated, even frightened and culture-shocked coming to a new country. Perhaps he didn't speak English, and was not able to communicate with the police effectively. Just imagine you were the man, who came to a new country, and suddenly four policemen appeared and came after you. What would you do ? What could you do if you didn't know how to speak the language of your adopted country ? All these factors must be taken into consideration, before jumping to conclusion that he was a dangerous man trying to attack the police. I look at the incident the other way around: the man was not trying to attack the police or anyone. He held the stapler, just in case, to protect himself, to fight back, if the police would attack him. He was frustrated, tired and confused, and nobody came to help him.

If I were the judge, I would not accept the police's excuse or presumption that the man was dangerous, holding a stapler, trying to attack them, or it would cause serious danger to the public. If he were holding a knife, it would be different. It would justify the police in using the taser on him. If he were holding a gun, it would justify the police in using not only a taser, but a real gun.

The point I want to make is this: don't tell me that 4 policemen would not be enough and able to control and subdue one man !!! It would be incompetence, don't you think ?

Well, I don't think the police should be charged with murder. They would not have an intention to kill the poor man. They were probably thinking of only doing their job, but sadly, they were being overly enthusiastic. It was an 'overkill' that they over-used their authority by using the taser and excessive force. The poor man was tasered not just once, but a few times. I think the family of the dead man should be allowed to sue the police for being negligent and using excessive and unnecessary force causing death.

The Police should change their policy, in disallowing or restricting the use of taser on unarmed people, who post no immediate danger to the police or the public.

What is your opinion ?

Edi Lee