Everyone and anyone who has seen the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who was fatally Tasered at the Vancouver International Airport, have reached some form of conclusion on the tragic sequence of events.

Many blame the four attending RCMP officers for their alleged “why talk when you can shock” attitude.

The media, with a few exceptions, has fanned the populist fires of revulsion, anger and sadness to the point where politicians and the RCMP brass have no choice but to find someone to blame.

Now there is a multitude of investigations and inquiries to find out what happened, as Canadians take to the streets to protest Dziekanski’s death.

Our editorial board viewed the video and pored through the resulting media coverage. Here is what we saw.

We saw that the Taser worked in subduing a violent man. What did not work was four burly
Mounties sitting and kneeling on Dziekanski after his muscles went limp.

That in all likelihood killed him, according to experts.

The four young Mounties probably were still in training school when an earlier Taser review report from Victoria recommended against the multiple use of the stun gun and urged caution when applying physical pressure which could cause breathing difficulties.

This paints a picture of inexperience and goes to the fundamental issue plaguing the RCMP.

The force is desperate for new recruits. It cannot fill the ranks as the more experienced retire or are lured away to the private sector.

Inexperience and poor practices have killed many in law enforcement. It also killed Dziekanski.

This is another argument why B.C. needs a regional police force where it can rely on a bigger pool of experienced officers to help give street smarts to new recruits.

The investigation into Dziekanski’s death must not only focus on the use of force but also the force we use.

After the death, we saw a RCMP public relations nightmare that further eroded the confidence of an already suspicious public.

The first media statements by police about the incident involved many contradictions to what the public saw on that infamous videotape made by another passenger at the scene.

Instead of addressing this head on, the RCMP looked like they were fudging the facts.
As for the videotape, the police rightfully confiscated it as evidence.

It should have been and can be held as evidence and not returned to be made public until all investigations are concluded.

But the RCMP, after refusing to give it back, decided they should.

This flip-flop showed a lack of guts in the RCMP leadership.

The Mounties should have reasoned with the public why they need to maintain the integrity of this piece of videotape evidence and go to court if a challenge was mounted by its owner.

The presumption of innocence and due process has been taken away from the four officers involved, who have been threatened with criminal action after being reassigned.

Talking about flip-flops, the video tape also rendered a disgusting display of hypocrisy by some of our politicians.

Carole James, B.C. NDP leader wants a Taser moratorium as her MLAs join the street rallies and memorials for Dziekanski.

What she won’t say is that it was the NDP that introduced Tasers to British Columbia, hailing it as an “effective alternative to lethal force” and boasting that it was the first provincial government in Canada to do so.

The videotape tragedy also shows that our internationally acclaimed airport, which consistently wins accolades, has glaring holes when it comes to dealing with people who don’t speak English.

A distressed Dziekanski was walking around for more than 10 hours at the airport with no help. Why that did not trigger any interest in the people watching the airport security cameras or our Border Security folk is a mystery.

The actions of the airport security guards on the tape were laughable. They came, they saw and they turned their backs on Dziekanski. So much for the rent-a-cops.

One other thing you won’t see on the videotape is how Dziekanski, who could not speak English, was processed through Immigration Canada.

You will also not see how this man, with a criminal background, limited resources and no language skills was deemed to be a good candidate for immigration to Canada.

In every incident like this, there is no one cause.

It is a sequence of events.

Dziekanski’s death was tragic and our hearts go out to his family.

If anything good can come out of this, those conducting the investigations and inquiries should look beyond what in on that videotape.