Caustic critique

>> Pepper spray hurts like a bitch, but can it kill you?

Following the death of an asthmatic Repentigny man, a local police watchdog group--Mouvement action justice (MAJ)--demanded that police be better trained in the use of pepper spray.

Forty-three-year-old Luc Aubert died of an apparent cardiac arrest on July 16 after being subdued and pepper sprayed by MUC police.

While MAJ founder Yves Manseau didn't say that pepper spray killed Aubert, he says it's a definite possibility. Manseau says the stinging spray is a good alternative to guns, but might be a dangerous weapon to use on certain groups of people--such as asthmatics.

"And it's used too easily in Quebec. It should only be used when really necessary," he says. "In testimony, police pepper spray instructor Mario Berniqué said he didn't even know the medical hazards of pepper spray," adds Manseau.

The relevance of Manseau's pepper critique was sadly reinforced when Sébastien McNicoll, a 26-year-old man from Ste-Julie, died after being pepper sprayed by police--and suffering other injuries--on July 18.

Both MUC police and the Sureté du Québec refused to comment on their pepper spray training. : --Craig Segal

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