Canadian Mental Health Association: TASER better than lethal force in crisis situations

Executive director Mark Graham said police look at public safety as well as that of the individual and the officers

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By Brendan Wedley
The Peterborough Examiner

Police don’t take the use of Tasers lightly, the head of Peterborough’s Canadian Mental Health Association branch said the day after city police Tasered a man with suspected mental health issues.

“They’re looking at public safety and the safety of the individual and the officers,” executive director Mark Graham said. “The Taser is just another tool for the police to use.… You’ve got to be in that situation to make those kinds of decisions.… Every situation is unique.”

CHEX-TV broadcast a video of the Tasering that ended a standoff near the intersection of Park and Sherbrooke streets in Peterborough’s downtown on Monday.

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