The four cases have remarkable and disturbing similarities.
In each case a cell block video disclosed mistreatment of an individual in police custody by members of the Ottawa Police Service. In each case the video led to charges being stayed or withdrawn.
The most recent case involves Roxanne Carr. The video apparently shows Ms Carr dropped on her head, having a belt wrapped around her and her arm broken. The video also shows her strip searched by two male officers and left naked. And Carr was charged with assaulting police and obstructing justice.
Judge Wake, over the vigorous objections of Ottawa Police Service, ordered the Carr video released to the media. Tomorrow or Thursday we will see the cell block video. Everyone can judge for themselves what it means.
In the world context of human rights abuse the Carr case ranks fairly low. Compared to the ongoing human rights abuses in Syria, Libya and Sudan, for example, the Carr case is trivial.
But, of course, Ottawa is not the capital of Syria.
Canada has a long history of polite, dedicated and honorable police as guardians of the law. But recently Canadians have read of Canadian police planting evidence, tasering to death a confused traveler, beating a prisoner in transport and now repeated assaults of prisoners in custody and then charging those prisoners with assaulting police.
These are not the acts of honest law enforcement agents. These are the acts of unscrupulous thugs.
Canadians are right to ask 'are these the acts of a few bad apples or is this what normally happens?'. Perhaps assault in custody is routine and these cases came to light only because of the video?
I remain confident the acts of police misconduct remain rare. That said, they appear to happen far more frequently than Canadians expected. Our Police Services have to go back to basics and reward good police and root out the bad police -- the ones who abuse prisoners and try to cheat the system. Our police are the good guys -- they must not behave like criminals.
Until recently I more or less ignored claims police planted evidence or beat up an accused in jail. I didn't believe the claims.
Now I take the claims seriously.
Maybe we all should.
5 comments:
When we can reasonably suspect that we may be assaulted and injured at the hands of the police, do we then take measures to protect ourselves if we find ourselves being stopped by them? At what point is it reasonable to suspect that the police walking up alongside our vehicle may be getting ready to cause us bodily harm? If out of fear for my safety I take steps to ensure the officer is at a disadvantage in our encounter am I not within my rights after seeing what can happen to you if you get the wrong officer?
RE: "Until recently I more or less ignored claims police planted evidence or beat up an accused in jail. I didn't believe the claims."
Canadian cops have a historically been deployed to "control" protests (G20 is the most recent) and break strikes (who remembers Mike Harris and the unions?). Who but a fool would argue innocent people weren't beaten at the behest of government? As for beating (or even killing) people in custody - a few recent cases have bubbled to the surface. The cops always deny wrongdoing (eg.Ottawa cops frantically seek to supress tapes). And the system closes ranks to protect the rogue cops. There is nothing unusual in this. And cops are to be forgiven for thinking it is ok to "beat" the public (they theoretically serve) given their political masters sometimes implicitly order violence : who can forget the "get those f....ing Indians out of my park" command"? To believe cops don't beat people in custody (or out of custody for that matter) is wishfull thinking at best - willfull blindness at worse. The irony is that the post 9-11 boom in the surveillance industry is coming back to bite the surveillors in their proverbial ass. But for the fact that cameras have become ubiguitous - the happy fiction that cops are there merely to serve and protect would still prevail. Just ask the innocent Torontonians who were "kettled". As as for the cops who beat G20 protester - well none of their colleagues could recognize their mugs wich were captured on (how many) cell phones)? So the cops won't come forward when they witness crimes perpetrated by fellow cops - even as the rail (on CBC) against Torontonians who won't out the gang members. You need to get over your tendancy to paint the system as apple pie and honesty (like the way you painted the Lawyer's are Rats" book as a lie.)
The real question is how many of these cases of abuse by cops does it take before we ask - are these anomalees or has this become the new normal?
"Bloody Saturday":
It isn't as if the current (Ottawa)police violence doesn't have a historical context:
1919: Winnipeg general strike | libcom.org
"On May 30, members of the police force were told to sign a contract to prevent them from joining unions, they refused, but said that they would still maintain law and order. A few days later the entire police force was fired. June 1 saw the arrival of 100,000 soldiers home from Europe, who marched upon the mayor's office to declare themselves in solidarity with the strikers. The broadening of the sedition act led to the arrest of 10 strike leaders on June 17, as well as numerous arrests under the changed immigration laws. Rioting occurred throughout cities where strikes were being held, and over half of those arrested were freed.
To protest the arrest of the strike leaders, thousands of workers converged on Market Square in downtown Winnipeg on June 21 whereupon they were read the Riot Act by the mayor, who then called on the North West Mounted Police to disperse the strikers. As the mounted police charged, the crowds scattered into alleyways and side streets off the square, where they were met by "special police" who had been deputised by the city during the strike. Armed with baseball bats and other weaponry provided by local retailers, the special police fought with strikers. During the ensuing chaos 30 strikers were injured, and two were killed, the day becoming known as Bloody Saturday.
With troops occupying the streets, the combined force of local government and the employers forced the strike to end on June 25, six of the arrested strike leaders were released soon after. The remaining arrested men were convicted of "conspiracy to overthrow the government" and faced jail terms of six months to two years."
"Judge Wake, over the vigorous objections of Ottawa Police Service, ordered the Carr video released to the media."
Sounds very much like the vigorous Objectioms of Dr. Bonita Porter et al re video evidence of abuse of a kid jailed and eventually tortured for what - for throwing (stealing?) apples. There is a remarkable similarity in how cops and their first cousins - jailguards - have an on again off again love affair with (camera) surveillance.
> they appear to happen far more frequently than Canadians expected.
Not Canadians of a certain class. Sure, if you're middle or upper, you can blithely pretend nothing is wrong. The rest of us, though, know.
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