Nearly 100 Toronto officers to be disciplined over (G20) summit conduct

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

Nearly 100 Toronto police officers will be disciplined for removing their name tags at the G20 summit, says the city’s police chief who also admitted charges were thrown out against roughly 100 people because the force failed to obtain appropriate arrest warrants.

Police Chief Bill Blair was called before the Commons public safety committee on Wednesday to explain his officers’ actions during the June summit which resulted in the arrest of more than 1,000 people.

... Faced with numerous complaints, the force launched an investigation and pored over 22,000 hours of closed-circuit videotape to identify “approximately 90” officers who were not wearing their name tags, said the Chief.

“Disciplinary processes have been initiated,” he said. When asked what kind of punishment would be handed out, Chief Blair said that has yet to be determined “but the discussion, I believe, is the loss of a day’s pay.” That would amount to about $300 for a first-class constable.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/nearly-100-toronto-officers-to-be-disciplined-over-summit-conduct/article1784884/

[tomm2thumbs]

1. at least calling them out on it- wow, they should give the pay to those arrested

for their troubles

[Canuckistanian]

2. So, 100 "bad apples"

And they were all assigned to cover the G20 events.

What a coincidence.

[EFerrari]

4. Shocking.

[Blue_Tires]

8. It would be interesting to see what other 'special' assignments they've had as well

might be a pattern

[defendandprotect]

3. Held for 60 hours, strip searched, no adequate food and water --

What do these people get?

One of them, a Quebec student named Kevin Gagnon, appeared before the committee at the same time as Chief Blair. He said he was among a group of about 100 protesters who were roused from their sleep in a University of Toronto gymnasium and hauled off to a makeshift detention centre.

Mr. Gagnon told a harrowing tale of being held for more than 60 hours. He said he was denied adequate food and water. The toilet, he said, was in the open and there was no toilet paper.

Those who were arrested sat handcuffed without access to a lawyer for more than 30 hours, said Mr. Gagnon, adding that police taunted them as they shivered through the night without blankets. And later, at a detention centre, there were strip searches, he said.

In the end, the charges against Mr. Gagnon were thrown out just as they were against all of the students arrested at the gymnasium.




Here are some comments on the article ....

Let's see.. mass arrests on trumped up charges,
Arresting or threatening to arrest people for possessing 'weapons' such as contact lens solution,
Arresting the media while they were doing their jobs,
Breaking into a house without a warrant and pointing their guns at the homeowner, an innocent veterinarian, in a case of mistaken identity,
Refusing to arrest vandals or protect property outside the G20 fence, then petulantly getting their revenge the next day on innocent bystanders and shoppers.
The list goes on.
Finally, the Chief of Police does something about it. He punishes some cops for... NOT WEARING NAME TAGS!




Good to see we've got a police chief who's on top of things. Great job, Blair.

[slutticus]

5. I wonder if Bubbles is one of them

[Crusader Rabbit]

6. Toronto Coppers

Typical....

Something is very wrong when the police operate with the assumption that they may not be opposed. They may be equipped to the teeth with all sorts of offensive and defensive gear but the people must remain naked and unprotected? They may use their advantage by arresting and mistreating hundreds who have done nothing to deserve such a response? Perhaps the people should cause a law to be enacted which allows for a private force to be assembled for use during protests. A force which defends and protects the people against police brutality. Will the cops thus opposed be so quick to misbehave? Maybe not. Is the person of a cop so sacrosanct that a soap bubble may be considered a weapon used against him? There is a great need for the people to have a means of protection from police so that they may exercise their rights of dissent without risking their lives and/or safety. The cops wouldn't like this idea but it is they who create the need by being boorish, demanding, inflexible, provocative and generally offensive.

I consider it insulting in the extreme when cops make the assumption that people will, at some point, become mindless rioting animals bent on destruction. Police have a legitimate need to protect against such things as vandalism to store fronts and so on. This they may do, arresting real criminals, without assuming that everyone in attendance requires the same treatment. I noted how the brave and stalwart police made a defensive line with their bicycles at one point. Against what I'd like to know? Against citizens who had been ordered to disassemble and leave but could not because there were no avenues of egress?

"This area must be cleared at once". Here is something that, with proper planning beforehand, will not be required. Determine in advance of an event what areas may be used and which must be cleared. Establish a perimeter before there is a need. Hold it and be content. It seems that the cops have some need to find "fulfillment" and this can only be through beating heads and acting like Roman Legions during a skirmish.

What, I wonder, is officer Bubbles doing tomorrow? Back to "serving and protecting" is he? Will this guy make a traffic stop? Might there be a small boy in a car blowing soap bubbles and might one of those touch the officer? It could happen. What, then, will officer bubbles do? Call for backup while having the offending child lay prone on the street in fear of his life with screaming parents having a gun pointed at them? Why, exactly, would this scenario be different than that which occurred during the G20 protest? Society needs to be protected against the irrational use of power by authority.

Last, imagine a mom or dad who had once been brutalized by cops when all they were guilty of was wanting their voice heard in public, being faced with the task of instructing their children why it is necessary to defer always to the police? How, after such personal experiences at the hands of police, do parents teach kids that police are there to protect them? How, I ask?

The cops do not need to be punished. They need to be banned from interfering with citizens engaged in peaceful demonstration. They should certainly be banned from private property. The people have a real need for a safe refuge during periods of legal protests. No cops. The people within are off limits to you. They have done nothing wrong. We, the people, forbid you entrance. Go away and find real criminals to hit and kick and push to the ground.

I think a good idea is the use of buffer zones between the citizens and the cops. A zone of 30 feet or so into which neither may move for any reason. This would do much to protect the citizens against the cops.

Typical....

[jerseyjack]

7. Maybe the cops were building resumes to transfer

to the Chicago police force.