Annual Canadian Conference of Chiefs of Police, brought to you by TASER™

The Annual Canadian Conference of Chiefs of Police program notes :
"Welcome to our meeting with history and modernity.

Better diversity management through partnership."

One of this year's 'partners', a $25,000 "platinum sponsor" of the conference, is TASER™.
A presentation of the as yet incomplete "2008 Conducted Energy Weapon Report" on TASERS™, commissioned by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, will be given by Steve Palmer, executive director of the Canadian Police Research Centre.

Well that seems a tad ... cosy.
We already know that Steve Palmer is a TASER™ fan.

Following the death of a Montreal man zapped by a TASER™ while in police custody in 2007, Mr. Palmer said :

"There is a growing body of knowledge out there that these devices are safe when used properly," Palmer said.
"We don't speak often enough about the number of lives that have been saved, the number of people that are up and walking around today that might not have been had it not been for a Taser."

And look, it's right there on the TASER™ logo : "Saving lives every day".

Mr. Palmer fails to note that most of his "growing body of knowledge out there" in support of TASER™ is commissioned by, um, TASER™.

TASER™ Int. itself uses Mr Palmer's report as a marketing tool :

"Scottsdale, Ariz., July 31, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) --

TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), a market leader in advanced electronic control devices (ECDs) issued the following NEWS ALERT :
Two-Year Study by Canadian Police Research Centre Finds TASER Devices a SaferUse of Force

Even cosier.

Steve Tuttle, VP of TASER™, will be there.
"It is a major sales event. It is advertising," said Mr. Tuttle , adding "he has DVDs that contain 130 studies that have found the devices to be safe".
"I think that when Canadians look at the choices for use of force, do they want to go back to batons and nightsticks, or do they want to go to the future? The future is taser."

G&M : "Taser staff will be on hand to exhibit the company's trademark X26 model, a wireless taser round that is fired from a shotgun and has a range of 20 metres, and a system called Shockwave that fires multiple taser rounds that can incapacitate a number of people in an area up to 100 metres."
Also known as crowd control.
Stockwell Day will give the Opening Presentation in Montreal on Aug 25.

So to recap : TASER™ Int. sponsors the annual Canadian Conference of Chiefs of Police at which the executive director of the Canadian Police Research Centre gives a presentation on TASER™s that is used by TASER™ Int. to market its products.

"The future is TASER™"

Cross-posted at Creekside