Police Brutality

References

• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401803303.html - definition
• http://web.archive.org/web/20050915100829/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3540725/ - police leave native man at city limits
• http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Saskatoon+police+chief+admits+starlight+cruises+are+not+new.%28inquiry...-a0105369747 -police chief admits that they do take aboriginals out of city to die instead of dealing with them legally.
• http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/23/stuart-blower-tamari-hewko-toronto-police_n_4147856.html#slide=2758844 - juge acquits family of charges
• http://thestar.blogs.com/g20/ -g20
• http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-police-were-overwhelmed-at-g20-review-reveals/article2073215/ -g20 facts
• http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/g20/2010/06/25/g20_law_gives_police_sweeping_powers_to_arrest_people.html - new law g20
• http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/cbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=24734479 - It was a ruse! (g20 law ctd.)
• http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/12/g20_assault_trial_guilty_verdict_for_officer_who_hit_adam_nobody.html -adam nobody video

Relevance

My topic fits in module 1 Freedom of Assembly, Demonstration, and Petition (Art. 17) and module 1 the canadian bill of rights. (it infringes on our right to fundamental justice).

What i think about it

It sucks, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It seems like even when cops get caught doing it and are convicted of police brutality, they use a scapegoat and only one officer has to take the heat wile the others who participated get off with no consequence. They also get very lenient sentences compared to the average citizen who committed the same crime.

I think, police should always have a camera attached to there uniform similar to how they have a camera on the car dash to make sure they conform to the laws.

Cons and Pros

Cons

• Its illegal and cops should not break the law, they should enforce it.
• It creates a collective feeling of distrust toward cops
• People get really angry and might seek revenge on the officer or worse there family.

Pros

• There are none but in their defense, they do have to make split second decisions with factors to think about like 'does the person have a weapon? Am i in danger? ect.

June 26, 2010- G 20 Toronto Summit

a small group of protesters, with there faces covered provoked civil unrest at the G20 protest. The police for the first time in the history of Toronto, police fired tear gas at the protesters as well as rubber bullets and pepper spray.

• The police started rounding up all the protesters and herding them into one area.
• This caused a large number of people to break off from the peaceful protest and start rioting and breaking store windows, ect.
• at this point the cops started to panic and start arresting everybody regardless of there part in the protest. Amongst the People arrested, bystanders and reporters were also arrested. Jesse Rosenfeld was a journalist who had been beaten and taken into custody.
• The people held in confinement were in over cramped cells and were often not given food or water.

1105 people were arrested that day and only 173 were actually charged mostly with offenses like resisting arrest.

"The province has secretly passed an unprecedented regulation that empowers police to arrest anyone near [5 meters] the G20 security zone who refuses to identify themselves or agree to a police search" - (Jennifer Yang, Toronto star)

Thanks to our awesome Toronto Police Service chief Bill Blair And after the summit he was asked about this law and if it exists, Chief Bill Blair smiled and said, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."(The Canadian Press)

Adam Nobody a youtuber posted a video of him being beat by 12 cops, he was unarmed and all he did was film the events. He was kicked and hit with clubs wile he was on the ground in the fetal position. Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was the only cop charged with assault by a weapon.

May 12, 2009

Toronto, ON

- There was a parking spot disagreement when an unmarked(no I.D or uniform) detective-constables Stuart Blower and Tamari Hewko instigated a problem with several members of the khan family. Both sides started fighting over it.

The two officers then took the family to court for assault. The police officers rose suspicion when they prepared there note for the trial wile sitting beside each other. The judge said the officer's story was implausible and full of inconsistancys and the content of these notes lead the judge to believe they collaborated stories and fabricated most of it.

The family was acquitted of the charges however the police officers are still on the job today.

Notable police brutality incidents

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Jan 28 , 2000- Police officers picked up Darrell Night at his uncles house after there was a scuffle and a verbal fight in the early morning. They picked him up and dropped him off 3 miles outside of saskatoon in only jeans and a t-shirt in -40C weather. Thankfully he survived the 3 mile trek back into saskatoon. 3 other aboriginal peoples body were found in the same spot and are thought to be tied to this event due to the simaler nature.

Chief Russell Sabo admitted in 2003 that this practice is not new. The two police officers got convicted in 2001 however for the crime but only received 8 months in jail.

What is police brutality?

" Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose." -http://www.encyclopedia.com

Police brutality is the use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer.

Police Brutality