The Plot Gets Thicker

Victoria, BC, the first police department in Canada to include the taser in its "toolkit," is now looking at the justification behind its use of tasers, or at least how the officer who is widely credited with spreading taser use among Canadian police departments came to be on the payroll of Taser International. Apparently, having a very close relationship with a company that includes such factors as having received a token (read:embarrassingly low) amount in stock options for a design for a holster for Taser's M26 model, traveling to the company's headquarters on their dime to become one of their "Master Instructors," and traveling to two different American police departments to conduct training on behalf of Taser constitutes some sort of "conflict of interest." I'm sure that Taser's lawyers are going to have a field day with this one, although one might argue that if they were really good lawyers, they would have advised against this kind of business relationship with a client. Anyways, since there is no conflict of interest procedure or rules for disclosure, Darren Laur will probably continue to have a job, at least for Taser, if not the Victoria PD. I love the way Inspector Bond talks out of both sides of his mouth at the end of the article.

Note, as of publishing, Taser International is down 3.56%.