Memory in the digital age

As the public inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski continues, I can't help but think back to my university Psychology class during which it was repeatedly demonstrated how faulty human memory can be.

Much of my education is now a haze but I do recall one entertaining demonstration; the professor had a collaborator enter the lecture hall, grab another assistant's bag, then escape. The students were then asked to come up with their best description of the robber. Many could hardly even come up with the most basic of details (the colour the robber's clothing) due to shock over the situation. Of course, there were a few exceptional students who were able to recall accurate details about the robber but their memories were soon clouded over by conflicting testimony (the robber's jacket was blue). When the 'robber' returned to the lecture hall, students were disturbed by how wrong their recollections had been (the robber was not even wearing a jacket).

With the Robert Dziekanski altercation captured on amateur video and in 911 recordings, the perpetrators and witnesses are now faced with a horrible equivalent to the return of the robber. The RCMP officers are making claims based on memory that are then swiftly refuted by the video footage. Witnesses who claim sympathy for the dead man are forced to account for the derogatory remarks they had made earlier about Dziekanski to the 911 dispatcher.

Even if we were to give the witnesses and perpetrators the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are not knowingly giving false testimony, adrenaline and shock undermine the dependability of their testimony in the Robert Dziekanski case. Add a media firestorm to heightened emotions, and the result is an exercise in futility.

The Dziekanski public inquiry is necessary because changes will need to be made to RCMP regulations over taser use. I, for one, would prefer to see police tasers abolished because the weapons are commonly perceived as a non-lethal use of force, and therefore, wielded more liberally than a gun. However, unless the point of the public inquiry is to cause those giving testimony to squirm uncomfortably over their faulty memory, the parade of witnesses is pointless when the stark truth is readily available in video and audio form.