By Taylor MacPherson

Homemade Tasers in P.A. concerning for police

Jan 3, 2017 | 4:00 PM

Homemade energy weapons are turning up on Prince Albert streets.

Three of the home-built shock weapons were confiscated by law enforcement in the P.A. area over the past month, which city police and RCMP called a concerning trend.

Two of the devices, described as “homemade Tasers,” were found and seized by Prince Albert Police officers during vehicle searches on Dec. 7 and on Dec. 30. A third energy weapon was seized on Sunday by Prince Albert RCMP after a traffic stop on Muskoday First Nation.

“It’s a concern for us that there’s more people with access to these types of weapons,” RCMP Sgt. Lyle Korczak told paNOW.

“The danger with that is you don’t know what kind of amperage or wattage you’d be dealing with,” Korczak said. The energy weapons used by police are heavily tested and regulated, Korczak said, while the device seized by RCMP was functional but “very rudimentary.”

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P.A. Police Sgt. Travis Willie said the weapons are a very unusual trend in P.A.

“In my 15 years I haven’t seen homemade weapons like this before,” Willie said.

Unlike the energy weapons carried by police, which fire projectile barbs to transfer a charge, Willie said the homemade devices transfer electricity directly through physical contact with a modified AC plug. The officers who seized the battery-powered devices determined they were functional, Willie said.

“I can’t confirm or say what, exactly, it was made out of,” Willie said, describing one of the weapons. “I honestly don’t know if it was a modified flashlight or not.”

Both devices seized by city police were heavily cocooned in tape, he said, presumably to protect the user from accidental shocks.

When it comes to the Tasers used by police, Willie said P.A. police officers are trained and re-certified annually in order to use their weapons safely and respond to any potential complications.

“There’s a lot of training that goes behind us carrying our own Tasers,” he said. “I doubt the same precautions and training is going into these homemade ones.”

The Criminal Code of Canada prohibits weapons which are classified as: “any device that is designed to be capable of injuring, immobilizing or incapacitating a person or animal by discharging an electrical charge.”

Willie said anyone caught with such a weapon could be charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Both charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years.

The seized weapons will be held as evidence until the cases have cleared the courts, Willie said, and then they will be destroyed by police.

Although the weapons have been turning up regularly over the past month, Willie said city police are not aware of any incidents where a homemade Taser was used during a crime.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

@TMacPhersonNews