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Family Owned & Operated with 30 Years Experience. - Hardwood - Engineered Hardwood - Laminate - Porcelain - Carpet - Tile & Stone - Resiliant Many brands, styles & colours to choose from! When Quality & Service MatterS Call for a free estimate & Visit our showroom today! 2-500 Bingemans Centre Dr. (across from Bingemans Park) 519-570-0008 • nealysflooring.com Mon. - Fri. 9:00am - 6:00pm, Sat. 10:00am - 4:00pm, Closed Sunday www.nealysflooring.com 10 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • Thursday, March 2, 2017 often find they can "get by" without help, however as the problemworsens this becomes increasingly harder to do. By studying those people having difficulty in noise or with television, we hope to identify key factors impacting these difficulties and further understand their influence on the treatment process. Interested people can register to be a part of this life- changinghearing study* by calling: 1.888.242.4892or visiting connecthearing.ca/hearing-study. Major University hearing study seeks participants. Connect Hearing, with a leading hearing researcher at Ryerson University, seeks participants for a hearing study investigating the factors that can influence better hearing. All participants will have a hearing test provided at no charge.Thedata collected fromthis studywill be used to further our understanding of hearing loss and improve life-changinghearinghealthcare across Canada. Why Research Hearing Loss? Deep inside our ears are several thousandmicroscopic "hair cells." These cells are arranged in rows and each cell is responsible for hearing a specific pitch, similar to the keys on a piano. As we age, some of these cells become damaged… from loud noises, chronic conditions, or the process of aging itself. Just like a piano with damaged keys, an ear with damaged hair cells will make things sound muffled and distorted. For some people this loss of clarity is only a problem at noisy restaurants or in the car, but for others it makes listening a struggle throughout the entire day. It is estimated that 46% of people aged 45 to 87 have some degree of hearing loss,1 but most do not seek treatment right away. In fact, the average person with hearing losswill wait ten years before seeking help.2This is because at the beginning stages of hearing loss people *Study participants must be over 50 years of age and have the option to participate. No fees and no purchase necessary. ADP, VAC,WSIB, NIHB accepted. 1. Cruickshanks, K. L., Wiley, T. L., Tweed, T. S., Klein, B. E. K., Klein, R, Mares-Perlman, J. A., & Nondahl, D. M. (1998). Prevalence of Hearing Loss in Older Adults in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin: The Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study. Am. J. Epidemiol. 148 (9), 879-886. 2. National Institutes of Health. (2010). By Lisa Rutledge For the Chronicle Two-thirds of the way into a $600,000, three-year plan to purchase 182 Tasers and train local offi- cers to use them, Waterloo regional Police are not using the weapons as often as some anticipated. according to the lat- est report tracking incidents when force was used in the line of duty, the stun guns, known officially as conducted energy weapons (cEW), were used 85 times during 2016. among those 85 occa- sions, which must be record- ed in the use-of-force report, a Taser was fired 26 times, displayed, but not fired, 55 times, and discharged in close contact during an arrest four times. a stun gun was also employed 85 times in the pre- vious year. during 2015, the weapon was displayed 57 times, fired 20 times and used when in close body contact eight times. The use-of-force report, presented at a police services board meeting earlier this month, came as a bit of sur- prise to board chair Tom Gal- loway. "I'm not unhappy these numbers aren't going up, but I'm a little surprised the num- bers aren't going up given that they are being carried on a much more regular basis than they had been a few years ago," stated Galloway. The board chair was a lit- tle hesitant to pose his next question. "I guess that's a good thing, but should I question whether we needed them?" deputy chief Kevin chalk cautioned against trying to measure the immeasurable, saying the bright yellow ener- gy weapons are becoming an increasingly recognizable deterrent, and something on an officer's tool belt to avoid. "If somebody has been subjected to a cEW once, they generally don't want it twice," chalk explained. The lower numbers also reflect a greater emphasis on training officers to de- escalate situations using the minimum amount of force required, he added. The statistics speak vol- umes about officers making good choices and not "over- using" weapons, maintained chalk, suggesting one can't measure what is being pre- vented. "To equate that to whether they were necessary, is not necessarily the answer." Overall, use of force inci- dents were up in the region during 2016, with 271 reports listed last year as compared to 222 reports in 2015. use of handguns, howev- er, was down in 2016. Police drew their handguns 80 times in 2016, compared to 102 in 2015, and pointed a handgun 71 times last year, compared to 68 in 2015. handguns were discharged only once in 2016, compared to three times in 2015. The regional police service also began tracking additional information related to use of force last year. although it's too early to identify trends, it became apparent that most use of force incidents were reported during afternoon shifts, between 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. No spike in Taser use despite $600,000 investment by police "If somebody has been subjected to a CEW (Conducted Energy Weapon) once, they generally don't want it twice." Deputy Chief Kevin Chalk