Front-line officers training with tasers

After police shooting deaths like Steve Mesic and Toronto’s Sammy Yatim, there was a public push to arm more officers with tasers. The provincial government announced last August that for the first time, frontline officers in Ontario would be allowed to carry stun guns. In December, Hamilton became the first police service to get the approvals in place.

A representative from Hamilton police says training of all front-line officers in taser use will be completed by the end of this month.

Staged deployment begins in September. And within that month, 50% of front-line officers in Hamilton will carry conducted energy weapons or CEW’s. Ontario’s police chiefs had been advocating for the expanded us of tasers for years. Prior to last summer, only supervising and specialized officers were allowed to carry them. While the province approved stun guns for front line officers there was no funding attached. So it is up to forces to finance their own projects. In December, Police Chief Glenn deCaire said the majority of the 1.4 million dollar cost of purchasing 150 CEW’s in Hamilton can be covered through a surplus in the police pension.

Reports earlier this year say Niagara Regional Council agreed to put 670-thousand dollars into the police budget to go toward tasers for frontline officers. Windsor also plans to expand its program. No information was available for Halton police.