Were I so inclined, I could probably devote this blog solely to police misconduct, so extensive does it seem. Perhaps it is due to the Forcillo conviction for the attempted murder of the late Sammy Yatim that we are more sensitive to the issue, but eac…
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Politics and its Discontents: Those At The Top Just Aren’t Doing Their Jobs – Part 2
Continuing with the theme of my previous post, another institution whose leadership frequently fails the public that it is sworn to protect and serve is that of law enforcement. Stories abound of police abuse of their authority, and yet it seems increa…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Police Torturers And Their Enablers
It is heartening to know that the Hamilton police are discharging their duties responsibly, as attested to by a video that went viral this week. However, to believe that all is well in policeland would be but a comforting illusion. Yesterday, Kev reported on the ‘excesses’ of some Toronto police
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: To Protect And Serve
The police protect and serve – they really do. It’s just that we aren’t the ones receiving those services: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Insular World Of The Police Mentality
I have written several posts in this blog about institutions and their many shortcomings, shortcomings that seem directly proportional to their age. The longer one exists, the more prone an organization seems to becoming increasingly insular, self-referential, and self-reverential. One of the institutions most frequently targeted here is law enforcement.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Durham Police Abuse Of Authority
I’m not sure what is more disquieting, the conduct of constable James Ebdon or the very timid sanctions Durham Police Chief Mike Ewles imposed on the errant officer. Neither exactly cultivates confidence or trust in those who ‘protect’ us. Recommend this Post
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: With all the stories across Canada of police brutality…
With all the stories across Canada of police brutality (including killings), harassment, rights violations, discrimination, perjury, political bias, corruption (e.g. bribes, smuggling, extortion, drug-dealing) – and seeing almost no consequences for the crimes committed by police officers – it’s extremely difficult to resist the A.C.A.B. (All Cops Are Bastards) attitude.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Is A Hero?
Having completed at my wife’s urgent behest the always onerous task of vacuuming, I sat down a short time ago to peruse The Toronto Star. In it there is another story about Anthony Marco, the Hamilton-area NDP candidate running in Tim Hudak’s riding. …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Another Police Embarrassment
I really take no pleasure in reading about police who are charged with crimes. Sadly, that kind of misbehavior, which seems to be alarmingly on the increase, reflects badly on all officers, which is patently unfair. Nonetheless, it is crucial that we …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: ‘Contempt of cop’ no crime
So read the headline in today’s Hamilton Spectator in a story by Ken Peters.In yet another blow to the patina of respect that used to envelop the police,Ontario Court Justice Lesley Baldwin offered a scathing rebuke of Burlington OPP Constable Ryan Cox…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Police Misconduct – So What Else Is New?
In what is getting to be a far too routine occurrence, more police misconduct has come to light, this time in the Niagara region. A story in The Hamilton Spectator entitled Judge blasts Niagara police officers, chief of police details how Ontario Supr…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Star: Police Strip Searches On The Rise
As reported in today’s Toronto Star, “Toronto police strip searched roughly 60 per cent of the people they arrested in 2010, compared to 32 per cent 10 years ago, according to police statistics.”Given recent high profile incidents of this practice, som…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Toronto Star Readers Speak Out On Police Abuses
I have written before about how much we are enjoying our subscription to The Toronto Star, one of the few newspapers that still seems to be doing the job that the press traditionally performed: keeping the public well-informed and reminding the powers-…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Judge Excoriates Cops As Thugs, Expresses Content Superiors Who Conceal
Yesterday I posted some of the comments made by Justice Allen upon sentencing two Toronto police officers to a year of house arrest for beating a Cabbagetown man in 2009. Today there are further comments in The Star by the Superior Court Judge, includ…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: G20 Summit Police Tactics Continue to Outrage Canadians
There is a series of letters in today’s Star that articulate the ongoing sentiments of ordinary Canadians a year after people had their Charter Rights ripped away by an out-of-control police force during the G20 Summit in Toronto. There is also one by…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Chief Bill Blair: No Apology, No Resignation
Having released a self-serving 70 page report reviewing the G20 Summit debacle, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has concluded he has nothing to apologize for and will not consider resigning. As reported in today’s Star, despite a public opinion poll sh…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: With Powers Beyond Those of Mortal Men (And Women)
Loathsome worm that I am, I have spent the past year regularly criticizing the police for their mass suspension of our Charter rights during last June’s G20 Summit in Toronto. I saw them as a force gone wild, intoxicated by their own power, emboldened…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Another Sad Story of Police Misconduct
The headline in yesterday’s Globe (on-line edition) really says it all: Peel police officers fabricated evidence in prostitution case: judge
The story tells of how the two offending Peel officers claimed that a fake i.d. allowing a 17-year-old to wo…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The G20, The Toronto Police and The Art of Critical Thinking
For those who might wish to sharpen their critical thinking skills, I am providing a link to an article in today’s Star that provides a timeline of the investigation into Dorian Barton’s abuse at the hands of Toronto police during last June’s G20 Summi…
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