International Law

And now this

If it’s not tasers, it’s pepper spray.

An investigation is underway following the death of a 43-year-old man who was pepper-sprayed by RCMP in The Pas, Man.

The man died Saturday afternoon, a day after officers had removed him from his ex-wife’s home in The Pas, about 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

Police were called to the home Friday morning when the man was allegedly intoxicated and had become violent.

Officers managed to arrest him, but police say he became combative.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Line Karpish said there was a struggle, and police used pepper spray against him.

Karpish said officers then noticed the man was in medical distress and took him to the hospital, where he died on Saturday. An autopsy was to be conducted Monday in Winnipeg.

I can see this happening if you have a strong allergic reaction to the stuff. Which I’m thinking would be rare. But the last line of the story has a sting in its tail:

In October, a Regina man suffered a fatal heart attack after police used pepper spray on him during a struggle. Two other men died in Regina under similar circumstances in 2001.

What’s going on in Regina? Do they use a more powerful spray?

Still, the stuff is safer than a taser blast.

Full post as published by Criminal Review on December 01, 2008 (boomark / email).