Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today. My name is Darrell LaFosse, and I am proud and honoured to be the assistant commissioner in charge of Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services, or CCAPS, which is the national policy centre for provincial and territorial policing.
Our purpose today is to provide you with information on the conducted energy weapon, how the RCMP came to adopt it, what role it plays in police work, how it works, what its effects are, and what policies and guidelines we have developed to manage its use.
I am very pleased to have with us today several experts in the field of training, policy development, and research around the CEW. What's more, most have direct, street-level policing experience that informs everything they do and provides a real-world context that is so important to this issue.
The men and women of the RCMP, and of all police agencies, in fact, have chosen this career for the most part because they have an affinity towards people and they want to help. Keeping our homes and communities safe is behind everything we do.
A policing career means meeting thousands of law-abiding citizens and most of the time working on positive initiatives such as crime prevention and community projects. I'm compelled to state that the vast majority of Canadians support and are proud of our various police forces. Police work, however, also requires stepping into the path of danger. It's a risky business. Those of us in leadership positions in Canada's police forces must ensure that our members have the best training and equipment possible to do their work. Even then we will be spat upon, jeered at, injured, assaulted, and, unfortunately for some of us, killed because of our chosen career path.
So how do we prepare RCMP members? At the RCMP training academy in Regina, cadets are put through the paces with such subjects as physical fitness, self-defence, scenario-based training, and foot drill. They learn about Canada's laws, the Criminal Code, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and all the legislative issues that affect their work. They learn about themselves and about discipline and how resilient they can be in the face of adversity. They learn how to deal with mentally disturbed persons, the elderly, youth, and also people who simply do not want to cooperate.
When they are finally posted to detachments across the country, everything they learn in Depot is applied on every call. In addition, they are assigned field trainers to be their mentors as they launch their careers.
The tools and equipment we provide to our members are selected following extensive research and testing. We study fabrics for their uniforms, not only for comfort and appearance but for safety. We research ballistic qualities of their soft body armour. We examine reflective material to increase visibility of police vehicles. We track developments in police tools of all kinds to ensure that our members have the best equipment available.
The conducted energy weapon is one of many tools that we have researched for our members' use. It was adapted in 2002 after pilot projects and testing, and since that time training programs have been offered in its use across Canada. To date, some 9,000 RCMP members have received this training.
Often when RCMP members are called to an incident, things are highly charged. That's usually the time when people decide to call the police. Our members come into situations of danger and violence, and people look to them to take control and calm things down. That is simply our duty.
In a matter of seconds, a member must assess the situation and choose a response that will restore order, using only as much force as necessary. Protecting innocent people is paramount. Ensuring the safety of the police officer is essential as well, so that they can continue to defuse the situation.
You will hear much this afternoon of the incident management intervention model, the model on which our members base their decisions. If this model indicates that some level of force is required, the police officers are compelled to make a choice on how to react. Before the CEW was available to them, they could choose pepper spray, the baton, or physical holds and moves to gain control of a combative individual. If the officer risked serious bodily harm or death, their ultimate decision would be, and still remains, lethal force.
Much has changed in my 31 years of service, and there's been rapid change, I would suggest, in recent times. Frankly, the equipment and training I received in Depot in 1977 would simply not meet the needs of police officers working in Canada today.
Remember, all this decision-making relative to the use-of-force continuum could be happening in a chaotic situation where people are screaming, resisting, violent, and capable of anything. On the other hand, a situation that to the untrained eye looks completely benign, such as a highway check, can instantly turn deadly. Either way, the officer has to bring every scenario he or she has ever practised into mind and be ready.
The adoption of the CEW brought a whole new outcome to some of the ugliest situations police are called to handle. Where they once faced a real possibility of bruises and broken bones, now members could deploy the device at a few metres distant, stop the suspect in their tracks, and place handcuffs on them, with far fewer injuries to all sides. Now, following a violent incident, our members could be on the next call immediately, instead of taking several weeks to heal from their injuries. Suspects, many of whom are in a state of mental crisis already, could be brought under control and given medical treatment quickly. This is an extremely valuable policing tool with huge benefits to police and perpetrators alike.
I hope I've given you a bit of context around the CEW and how it fits into our work. My colleagues will provide you with greater detail on a number of fronts.
RCMP Sergeant Richard Groulx will explain what the CEW is, how it works, and how our officers are trained to use it. He is a seasoned police officer and trainer for emergency response teams, which are the equivalent of the American SWAT teams, and has expertise in tactical training and weapons.
Mr. Chris Lawrence of the Ontario Police College will give some context around sudden, unexpected deaths of individuals whose erratic behaviour often brings them in contact with police. He's a 28-year police veteran, instructor, and internationally known subject matter expert on police responses to excited delirium syndrome.
I also have with me Inspector Troy Lightfoot, who can talk about how we build our RCMP policy to guide members in the use of this tool. He is currently the officer in charge and manager of the use-of-force program in the RCMP and has 22 years of service. He most recently came from Nain, Labrador, where he was the detachment commander.
In addition, we have Sergeant Bruce Stuart, our national use-of-force coordinator. Bruce has 18 years of police service, and his most recent field assignment was as a senior patrol NCO at our detachment in Surrey, British Columbia.
Also in our audience is Sergeant Kim Taplin, whose most recent field experience was in British Columbia. As you can clearly see, her approach to use-of-force situations requires a skill set that does not involve a lot of muscle power. She has called on that skill set many times in her 17 years of police work in traffic, general duty, and general investigations.
Finally, we have Staff Sergeant Joel Johnston from the Vancouver Police Department. He has over 20 years of service, much of it focusing on tactics using use-of-force issues in fact and in theory, and he is currently on secondment to the British Columbia ministry as the B.C. provincial use-of-force and emergency response team coordinator.
The RCMP is working closely with other police agencies to build consistency in our approach to the use-of-force issues. If the committee is interested in seeing a live demonstration of the CEW application on a regular RCMP member volunteer, we would be pleased to arrange that for you at an RCMP facility sometime other than today.
After the presentation we will have time to respond to your questions. Thank you very much for this opportunity.
With your permission, I will pass the floor to Sergeant Groulx.