A Brutal Response to Police Brutality

Youtube is apparently our best defence against police misconduct.

The National Post’s Lorne Gunter says normally he’s no fan of Canadian judges because they’re soft on repeat offenders and hamper police investigations by invoking that pesky thing called the Charter. But recently judges have redeemed themselves in Gunter’s eyes. “Just when we’re about to side with CSIS, the RCMP, and our local police,” he writes, “along come the cases of Stacy Bonds, Andrew Clyburn, and, of course, Robert Dziekanski.” Google those names and you’ll find some of the more shocking cases of police brutality in recent Canadian history, and Gunter admits he’s glad that the country’s judges are around to strike a balance between the need for police protection and the need to protect civil liberties.

The problems in Ottawa’s police force need addressing by more than the judiciary, says the Ottawa Citizen. The national capital has been shocked by a video of police beating and strip-searching Bonds after she was apparently arrested on false pretenses. “Shockingly, the conduct in the cellblock that night didn't become public for two years,” writes the Citizen. “Was no one on the force disturbed about the actions of that evening?” The Citizen is rightly concerned about “a culture on the police force of protecting your own,” and wonders how any citizen can feel safe in police custody until police brass or even the mayor sheds light on the situation.

The doubt over police conduct has apparently become so grave that the right-leaning National Post editorial board is sticking up for G20 protestor Adam Nobody, whose beating at the hands of police was captured on Youtube. The Special Investigative Unit has determined excessive force was likely used, but chief Bill Blair seems uninterested in determining the identity of the officers in the video. The Post says there’s “a growing crisis of confidence in police forces in the post-Robert Dziekanski era” that is so serious it needs to be addressed by politicians. “Sadly, they mostly remain tethered to the traditional communications orthodoxy that the police can do no wrong.”