Montreal police to increase stun guns available to officers

Montreal police want to significantly increase the number of stun guns available to its beat officers.

There are reports today the plan is to have one such weapon for every patrol team by 2020 and to also have many more officers trained and certified to use them.

The reports say interim police chief Martin Prud’homme sent a memorandum to officers, noting police stationed at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport as well as in the subway system will also have the weapons.

The city’s public safety committee is meeting today to discuss the matter and police say they won’t comment for now.

Montreal police subsequently added more electro-shock weapons to their arsenal following a recommendation in a 2016 coroner’s report into the death of a homeless, mentally ill man two years earlier.

The coroner suggested the number of stun weapons was insufficient for a city the size of Montreal and lagged behind the number in other Canadian cities.

Copyright (c) 2018 The Canadian Press