Watchdog: Mountie stun gun use declines

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OTTAWA, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Canadian Mounties are using stun guns less frequently, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP said in a report issued Wednesday.

The agency that monitors and handles complaints about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in 2010, there were 597 reports by officers involving conducted energy weapons, or stun guns.

Overall use, whether actually deployed or used as a threat against civilians was down 14.2 percent in 2010 from a year earlier, the commission said in a release.

"Actual deployment of CEWs dropped 26.4 percent between 2009 and 2010, reflecting a growing tendency to use CEWs as a means of deterrence or de-escalation, without the device being deployed," the report said.

Of all stun gun incidents in 2010, 91.4 percent of subjects were male.

The three most common incidents involving the threat or use of stun guns was led by assault at 25.8 percent, mental health issues at 15.4 percent and assault on a police officer at 12.7 percent.

In 2010, of the force's 18,000 officers, some 2,860 of them were certified to carry and use stun guns. The force had 3,338 of the weapons in its inventory, none of which are equipped with audio-visual recording capability, the commission said.

Stun guns are not legal for civilian possession or use in Canada.