VANCOUVER — The country's only armed transit police have been tasering passengers who try to avoid paying fares.I can see a million things wrong with this scenario, and I shudder when I think of the likelihood of some misfortunate mentally ill soul, in the middle of a reality break, being shocked from here to kingdom come by one of these wanna-be cops and their exaggeration sense of self-importance. Not to mention the potential tab to the taxpayers - who will be stuck with when the words 'wrongful death' are uttered in a civil suit against the city.
According to documents provided in response to a Freedom of Information request, police patrolling public transit in the Metro Vancouver area have used tasers 10 times in the past 18 months, including five occasions when victims had been accosted for riding free.
And this incredibly bone-headedly bad idea is now be studied by TTC officials. Let us hope common sense prevails among the bureaucrats - egad, what have I just written...common sense among bureacrats...oy.
1 comment:
You don't like that idea? But it's terrific. In fact there is a whole list of transit patrons who should be tased, repeatedly:
- Children who kick the backs of the seats
- People who clip their fingernails or toenails on the bus, streetcar or subway.
- People who get off the escalator and stop abruptly, blocking the exit for everybody.
- Rush-hour idiots who charge the doors when they open, forgetting that there is a flood of people wanting to get off the train.
- Young girls who use the phrase "oh my G*d" more than once every 5 minutes.
- Any dog/cat/child/thing squalling louder than the loudest volume setting on any given portable music player.
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