Canada Police Say Cigarettes Could Be Weapons

[python]

OK, I'm not going to do the "news" thing and mislead everyone about this article, but I needed a title for the thread and the police spokesperson did say that.
Here is the article:
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2011/02/13/17261481.html
Now I do not blame the officers for having their guns drawn and pointing them at the guy because they were responding to a call of a man with a gun. What I do have a problem with is this ignorant statement made by the police spokesperson:

Police spokesman Const. Shaun Chornley said officers were “absolutely not” overreacting to the cigarette.
“It’s a lit cigarette. He can use it as a weapon, either burning the officer or poking him in the eye with it — anything,” Chornley said of any potential suspect who is smoking while cops close in.

I mean seriously?!? Poke him in the eye with it? I don't know about you, but I could also poke someone in the eye with my finger and do as much damage.
It reminds me of when I was a kid and was told not to run with things because I could put someones eye out.

 

[chero]

just another reason to shoot someone, buy a trigger happy cop. happens every day.

 

[collindow]

Absolutely ridiculous!

 

[bobdobbs]

Anyone else get the idea that living on a deserted island wouldn't be so bad? Wouldn't have to deal with this 'male bovine excrement' at any rate...

 

[maineyachtie]

Canadian government are a bunch of pussies.

 

[fredvegas]

Are there any cops on the board that could weigh in on this? Cops typically want to see empty hands all the time, and a lit cigarette shouldn't be an exception.

 

[gecko13]

I was a Deputy Sheriff for many years, and thats insane on so many levels. Really, poke me in the eye with a cigarette..... if the officer allowed a suspect to get close enough to get poked in the eye, shame on him and he deserves to get his butt kicked, and on the other hand, if the suspects tries to poke the officer in the eye with a cigarette, the suspect needs to leave the scene in an ambulance. IMHO

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

LOL! Wow, what some people will say to try ad cover their tail. Aside from the Canadian thing, I just wish the guy's name wasn't Shaun (with that exact spelling, too, because it'ws how I spell mine)... Embarrassing...
Maybe it was one of those electronic cigs with a hot poker type of knife that slides out like one of those sword canes.

 

[maineyachtie]

Honestly I think the only suspect who could actually harm an ARMED cop with a cigarette is Jackie Chan.
It's actually encouraging to see stories like this. It means our governments still fear us even armed with lit bits of paper and tobacco.
Here was an interesting forward I received in my email.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World's Largest Army
In WWII, Japan's highest ranking naval officer was Isoruku Yamamoto. Although he was Japanese, and his loyalties were unquestionably with The Empire, he studied for many years in America, graduating from Harvard University. There is an oft-repeated (and sometimes disputed) quote attributed to him regarding the possibility of any nation taking a war to American soil:
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."

Here is why he was correct:
America's Hunters. The World's Largest Army.
The state of Wisconsin has gone an entire deer hunting season without someone getting killed. That's great, considering there were over 600,000 hunters that got permits this year.
Allow me to restate that number.
Over the last two months, the eighth largest army in the world - more men under arms than Iran; more than France and Germany combined - deployed to the woods of a single American state to keep the deer population under control.
But that pales in comparison to the 750,000 who are in the woods of Pennsylvania this week. Michigan's 700,000 hunters have now returned home. Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia, and it is literally the case that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

And that is just FOUR states.
The total population of registered hunters in America today ranges from 23 million to 43.7 million individuals. (Based on annual data provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)
As long as the American Hunter retains his right to Bear Arms, America will forever be safe from foreign invasion of troops.
Hunting - it's not just a way to fill the freezer - It's a matter of national security.
GOD BLESS the Republic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amen - Alex Oakes

 

[yoru]

Yeah invading the "good old read white and blue" would be even dumber than invading China. . .China may have more people, but they actually have -fewer- guns, and that's not per-capita, thats raw numbers. Within 72 hours we could give every man woman and child in America two or three guns and then some in the case of a war on our own soil -- well, the ones that wanted a gun anyway (which might be only half of us but hey, thats one helluva lot of guns)
wait what were we even talking about? Oh yeah, cigarettes as weapons. . . umm. . . Either the guy was just covering his ass, or he was unprepared for any kind of threatening situation (and was still just covering his ass though he probably convinced himself it was at least somewhat true) or. . . god forbid, can you imagine if he was actually serious?
If cops are actually that scared of people it says a lot of things, and not a bloody one of them good. Cops need to be afraid of being arrested if they go way out of line, or canned, or fined as the situation warrants. . . but they do not need to fear the people themselves. Really, we need to fear the cops just a little bit, that's how the old PC manage to prevent crime from happening at all.
Now the government on the other hand. . .those, *coughs* gentlemen should be afraid of the people just picking up their guns and saying "Bite me. You're out of line."

 

[kcvet67]

I hope they don't find out about my Castello that transforms into a Quad .50.

 

[igloo]

And Canada leads the world in the consumption of maple donuts , [Lights two cigarettes and goes ninja to the tunes of Celine Dion in the background] :crazy:

 

[tanless1]

Yes, the cigarette can absolutley be used as a weapon. It can be flicked a considerable distance , be it an officers face or a puddle of accelerant. There is nothing more pleasent than a solid kick in the balls you were unable to aviod because the cigarette ember lodges in your eye when the suspect flicked butt bounced off your cheek.
With that being said .... I agree . This would not even be an issue if the officer was not forced into a "please comply" state of operaton.

I BLAME THE LAWYERS!!!

 

[fatman]

Tanless, you are correct. I have done this before..a 'flicked' cig to the facial area produces an awful lot of embers and the 'opponent' is more concerned w/the burn than w/the smash to follow. But, the 'opponent' was not a cop barking instuctions. This kid, just HAD to have a couple more drags? I realize that each drag now costs about $.35 each, and cops seem to, and often for good reasons, over react w/ weapons drawn, but he still should have complied immediately. Better to live and take action (if appropriate) after the ordeal,than to have gotton shot and not to know if these cops were fired, tried, jailed..etc.

 

[tanless1]

I still blame the Lawyers. Most of the protocols that lead to such extreme positions were instigated to stave off the....... Cursed Lawyers.

 

[marmal4de]

Don't taze me, bro!

 

[schmitzbitz]

Really, I don't think the issue was with the fact that the kid had a smoke, but rather that when the cops told him to drop it, he told them to "hold on" because he just had "a couple drags left". Next time you get pulled over, when the cop asks for your license and reg, try asking him (or her) to "hold on, this is a good song" and see how far it gets you.

Beyond that, people who fail to see how a cigarette could be used as a weapon seem to forget the next step, after telling a suspect to drop everything, is to close in, search, and cuff the guy...wouldn't take much to drive a butt into someone at that range.

Basic rule of thumb when dealing with cops is they want your hands empty - doesn't matter if you are in Canada, the U.S. or China, doesn't matter if its cigarettes, a stapler, or a semi-automatic assault rifle.
Oh, and Maine, you may consider the Canadian gov't a "bunch of pussies", but really, our politicians are no different than yours (in fact, the majority of legislation that is passed north of the 49th is just cloned US legislation) - so I guess we're all just "a bunch of pussies"...

 

[bigblue]

I have to say that the nature of the call is probably what had the "cops" fired up. A man walking around with what appeared to be a firearm can be serious and alarming to private citizens and it's the responsibility of the law enforcement officials to check on such complaints. This kid just probably fit the description of the other kid carrying the pellet gun. And to be honest, pellet guns are very convincing at a distance.

I'm not justifying the apparent over reaction of the officers though, and would certainly be disappointed with our public spokesman making a comment about cigarettes being dangerous.

 

[theotherspace]

Anything can be considered a weapon in the wrong (or right) hands but that is just silly! As has been said above a finger could do damage, and no officer worth his salt would let someone get that close!
My mind is officially by any government body issuing a statement classifying a cigarette as a weapon lol

 

[sparroa]

I know someone who was charged for using a cigarette as a weapon towards another person's face. A short stint in jail purged that tactic from her brain once and for all...
For other reasons, I agree that the Canadian government is weak and ineffectual.
And another two cents - if a cop is afraid of a cigarette, they should find another line of work. If not, the rest of us will have a whole lot of worrying to do should trouble come a-knockin'!