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The Canadian Press
 |
The joint award-winning project by CBC/Radio-Canada and
The Canadian Press produced a multimedia analysis of Taser
stun guns and their use by the RCMP. This endeavour in 2008
created a multitude of stories for newspapers, websites,
radio and television - including the following exclusive
reports from The Canadian Press. |
Part ll: The Taser Gun Death of
Robert Dziekanski
(published March 30, 2008)
Dziekanski lay
dying after Taser hit as border agents scoured airport for him
By Jim Bronskill and Sue Bailey - The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - A border services officer who spoke a few words of Robert
Dziekanski's native tongue may have come within minutes of helping
avert the Polish immigrant's death, newly released documents show.
Dziekanski died in the wee hours of Oct. 14 after the RCMP zapped
the 40-year-old with a Taser and pinned him to the floor of the
Vancouver International Airport.
Police fired the stun gun less than 30 seconds after arriving on the
scene of a sweaty, agitated Dziekanski tossing furniture in
frustration following more than nine hours in the airport.
Internal documents and accompanying security camera video of
Dziekanski provide fresh glimpses into the confusing sequence of
events that led up to the tragedy.
Citing ongoing investigations into Dziekanski's death, the Canada
Border Services Agency declined to be interviewed about what
happened at the airport or to make employees who were present that
night available for comment.
But the records, obtained from the CBSA by The Canadian Press and
CBC under the Access to Information Act, help flesh out a series of
encounters with several border staffers.
On the video, Dziekanski at first resembles any other first-time
visitor to a foreign country. He can be seen calmly pulling his
rollaway luggage through airport corridors _ a striking contrast
with the turmoil that would soon ensue.
Border Services officer Adam Chapin was called upon to help
Dziekanski about 90 minutes before the shooting as the befuddled
newcomer, who spoke almost no English, tried to navigate his way
through a maze of airport procedures.
“The client appeared dishevelled, his hair was uncombed and his
shirt was untucked,” Chapin wrote in a two-page account of his
dealings with the Polish man.
Dziekanski had already spent several hours in the CBSA's arrival
hall. He was unaware that his mother Sofia, who had travelled from
Kamloops, could not enter the secure area to greet him.
She returned home after being unable to find her son.
Dziekanski eventually continued on through customs and to an
immigration desk so his landing documents could be processed.
His dream of reuniting with family in a vast and mysterious country
he had only read about appeared a step closer.
A phone message was left for his family in Kamloops, and there was a
check of the public area to see if anyone was waiting for him. No
interpreter was available. Chapin, who spoke a bit of Polish, helped
a fellow officer approve Dziekanski's documents.
A short time later Chapin was handling passengers arriving from
Mexico when he noticed Dziekanski sitting down. He approached the
bewildered passenger and offered some help.
“I again explained to the subject that he was done and he could go.
He said, `OK, good' (in Polish).”
Chapin noted that Dziekanski “did stumble at one point but was able
to steady himself” with his luggage cart and walk the remaining
steps to the final customs checkpoint without difficulty.
He then helped the Polish man find his declaration card, which he
had tucked inside a bag, and coded the card accordingly.
“I wished the subject goodnight and he wished me goodnight and said
thank you,” Chapin recalled.
“The client never exhibited any hostile or angry behaviour while I
or any other officer dealt with him. The client was thankful for the
help.”
Just after 2 a.m., Chapin was packing up for the night when he
answered a call from Dziekanski's mother, looking for Robert from
Poland. He assured Sofia he knew her son, that he was about to
leave, and would look for him on the way out.
“I told her that if I did find him I would bring him to the
immigration office so that he could call her back.”
Chapin began combing through the airport welcoming hall. When he saw
no sign of him, he approached a Mountie.
“I told him I was trying to pass on a message. The RCMP officer then
took me inside to get some details. ”
“It is at this point that I observed the subject on the floor by the
visitors' booth being attended to by paramedics.`` ”
About 30 seconds later, they pronounced Dziekanski dead, Chapin
wrote.
“I then assisted the RCMP in locating his documents from the
subject's bags.”
An account prepared by the evening's acting superintendent said
Dziekanski was “assisted beyond the normal level of client
processing.”
He was given five or six glasses of water. His luggage was retrieved
for him. Staff helped find his documents. Numerous attempts were
made to contact his family. He was assisted to the exit. And once
his family reached staff by phone, there was an effort to locate
him.
In November, the CBSA announced several steps including a review of
services to international travellers, installation of more cameras
in the agency's area of the Vancouver airport, consideration of
additional patrols and security checks, and changes to ensure people
report for secondary examination within a reasonable time.
Walter Kosteckyj, a lawyer for the Dziekanski family, says the
agency's efforts lacked overall co-ordination.
“Clearly here was a guy that was totally lost and no one decided to
track someone down that could actually help him,” Kosteckyj said.
“How is it that when you let a guy go, finally, and he is clearly
lost and doesn't want to leave that there is no one you can turn him
over to? ”
“There is nowhere to turn over a lost soul, because that is what he
was.”
After speaking with Chapin, the RCMP did not call Dziekanski's
mother to relay the awful news.
She returned to the Vancouver airport from Kamloops late the next
morning. Upon hearing of Robert's death, she fell to the floor and
cried.
Kosteckyj says the RCMP didn't tell her the whole story. She went
back to Kamloops not knowing how her son died, later learning of the
Taser shock from a television report.
Kosteckyj says five months after the terrible psychological blow,
Sofia is not doing well.
“She is unable to work. And it appears from everything that I have
seen so far, that it's very unlikely that she is going to recover.”
© 2009 The Canadian Press
Series Continues:
| Taser Secrecy |
Dziekanski
| Zaps on rise
| RCMP-Taser-QuickFacts |
Medical Care |
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