Hundreds mourned the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski on Saturday, while RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said the officers who shocked him with a Taser had been reassigned.

Elliott said he was compelled to speak on the issue after high-quality footage of the incident was released to the media.

"I recognize . . . that the RCMP cannot provide effective policing services without the support of the communities we serve, and I am concerned that growing misperceptions are eroding the public's confidence in the RCMP," Elliott wrote in a statement.

"I would like to make clear that this incident is being treated very seriously by the RCMP, up to and including by me as commissioner."

However, Elliott went on to defend the use of Tasers, saying they were "less likely to cause serious injury than other tactics."

A public memorial service was held for Dziekanski at a church in Kamloops, B.C., in conjunction with another at the airport where Dziekanski died.

"This is a sad, sad occasion. The circumstances surrounding these events are extraordinary," a clergyman said during the Kamloops service.

"It shows very clearly that human beings have all sorts of faults, and that humanity has not learned the simple business of communication."

Jurek Baltakis, a friend of Dziekanski's mother Zofia Cisowski, said although he had never met Dziekanski he knew he would have been a welcome addition to Canada.

"I can say that Robert would have been a great Canadian citizen and we would have been proud of him," he said during the service.

Baltakis, who himself made the same trip some 20 years ago, said he was lucky to have been helped by authorities upon his arrival to Canada.

"The airport services and RCMP failed him (Robert) and Zofia. There were no guardian angels or any other helpful human beings there to prevent this tragedy. There are many questions that need to be answered," he said.

The incident occurred on Oct. 14 after Dziekanski, 40, arrived at the airport from Poland. He was hoping to start a new life in Canada with his mother. Instead, she's burying him.

Families lend their support

Cisowski had personally invited the family of Robert Bagnell to attend the service. Bagnell, 54, died after being Tasered by Vancouver police in the bathroom of a downtown hotel in 2004.

"I would like to be a comfort for Zofia and also I'd like to be here to represent all the Canadians who have died in that way," Riki Bagnell, Robert's mother, told CTV British Columbia upon arrival at the Vancouver airport.

"I'm going to give her a great big hug first and then we'll speak as mothers do."

At the service, Riki Bagnell told mourners that "the deaths of our sons has become a focal point in an international anti-taser campaign. People all over the world are taking note of the brutal side-effects of this supposedly less than lethal form of subjugation."

Dziekanski's death has made headlines around the world after the video of his death was made public.

"The world is watching. This isn't Robert Bagnell in a fifth floor washroom in a rundown motel. This is so much bigger than it has ever been due to the fact that we've been able to see how this thing is being used," Gillman said.

NDP public safety critic Mike Farnworth told CTV Newsnet said he was shocked by the footage and there are many questions surrounding the incident that need to be answered.

"There were four RCMP officers, why not use the physical ability of four people to take the individual down? There were issues raised whether pepper spray was an option," Farnworth said Saturday.

"Those are things that need to be addressed and questions that need to be answered."

Farnworth is calling for more clarification on the role of Canadian Border Services and the Vancouver International Airport Authority during Dziekanski's 10-hour detention in a secure area of the airport.

He is also recommending a special prosecutor to be independently appointed under the B.C. Crown Counsel Act.

"The assistant deputy attorney-general has that authority that would either assist or lead in the investigation so that it would seem to be independent, open and transparent," Farnworth said.

Elliott said there were several investigations underway to examine the circumstances around Dziekanski's death:

• A comprehensive probe by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team in B.C., made up of members from the RCMP and four separate police forces;
• An inquest by the B.C. Coroner's office;
• An independent investigation by the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP is conducting; and,
• An internal investigation by the RCMP into how officers should use the Taser.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Roger Grainger