When Do You Have a “reasonable expectation of privacy”?
How can your privacy rights vary based on the circumstances? In many ways and circumstances.…
Once again the RCMP escape prosecution for violent acts against unarmed, non-threatening citizens…this time an 11 year old boy. Ah, the sweet smell of abuse of power in the morning!
NOTE: I know that there are many good officers in the RCMP and this is NOT aimed at them BUT they have a legal and moral duty to speak out and act against their fellow officers who break the law. To protect, remain silent or deny the wrong doing makes those “good” officers full accomplices and equally liable and guilty under the law. So speak up or you are part of the problem and a law breaker too.
The now infamous “E Division” of the RCMP is the BC branch of the federal military police force (RCMP), once held in high esteem for honour an integrity (at least in the cartoons or distant past) have hit a new low.
Killing lost tourists at the airport, kicking unarmed motorists in the face while on hands and knees on the ground wasn’t the bottom (maybe babies are next?).
An 11 year old boy was tasered by an RCMP officer and has gotten away with it, as have the others.
You’re not safe and now your children are not safe either from the “police”.
I would hazard a guess that you are more likely to be beaten, kicked, tasered or shot by your local RCMP than by any mythical terrorist (or real terrorist to be fair).
“A report released last year by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP identified 194 cases between 2002 and 2009 in which the force deployed Tasers on subjects aged 13 to 17, including two 13-year-olds. None were as young as 11.
“The same report said RCMP Taser deployments against youth were more common in B.C. than in any other province.”
There is a common law principle that when faced with a physical threat you are empowered to use equal force to PROTECT yourself from harm but not to inflict harm by offering “violence” greater than being used against you.
Apparently a full grown, armed, flak jacketed and trained RCMP officer can use whatever force he/she wants against anyone, at anytime, for any reason without fear of “breaking the law”. Ya, right!
Can you say SS? As in Germany. Or KGB as in Russia, or whatever they are called in other “legal” but immoral and unlawful times.
The RCMP has been publicly confirmed and proven to be morally bankrupt as an organization to govern investigate and police themselves to stay within the law. Some RCMP officers know they can act almost as they please and get away with it.
That is a sick and a proven fact.
The West Vancouver police has concluded the “investigation” into the latest RCMP crime and found no crime. Hmmmm. Did they consider the LAW (see common law principle above)?
“We have concluded that the actions of the officers involved did not violate the Criminal Code of Canada and we are not recommending charges.”
To top it off they will not explain why they arrived at their decision. Can you smell a rat?
I know that my Utopian beliefs about the law and justice are my personal flaw but come on, if we can’t at least pretend the police will obey the law then where does that leave us?
Anyone with a basic understanding of the principles of law and basic right and wrong can see these cases are crimes and should be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.
But even when there is video and live witnesses of 5 RCMP murdering (accidental murder is manslaughter) an unarmed man and that event does not even lead to charges without years of time, multiple inquiries and millions of dollars spent, it makes me wonder how anyone ever was capable of being convicted of murder when eyewitnesses and a video record did not exist (or are police “exempt”?).
Kinda makes me wonder….
The bottom line is, if you have a badge and you break the law you are worse than a criminal because you hide behind the law and took an oath to uphold the law and protect people.
article: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/independent-review-rcmp-taser-jolt-11-old-released-115952547.html
PDF: No charges for using RCMP Taser on B.C. boy, but police refuse to explain why
The USA is worse of course, but do we aspire to be like them or better. Here’s an article telling a gruesome tale not so different than our local RCMP activities…
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/09/criminals-with-badges-denvers.html
NEW UPDATE Article – http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/rcmp-broken-170410056.html PDF version; Is the RCMP broken
Is the RCMP broken?
By Andy Radia | Canada Politics – Fri, 11 Nov, 2011
Mountie misbehaviour has once again reared its ugly head.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police took another hit to its beleaguered reputation this week when two female officers went to the media with complaints about a systemic problem of sexual harassment within RCMP ranks.
This scandal is the latest in a series of incidents that have marred the national police force:
In 2007 RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned after he admitted he had given incorrect testimony to a parliamentary committee looking into the Maher Arar affair.
Also in 2007, the Taser death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski spurred loud questions about RCMP accountability.
Earlier this year, commissioner William Elliot, the first civilian to lead the RCMP, was forced to resign after an internal revolt because of his “abrasive” leadership style.
More recently, major gaffes by RCMP officers in the Robert Pickton investigation are being highlighted as part of the Missing Women’s Inquiry in British Columbia.
Collectively, these incidents have denigrated morale and public trust in a once proud and respected organization.
The new commissioner, expected to be named shortly, will have a big job ahead of him or her.
A good place to start might be to implement some of the recommendations from a 2007 task force led by former Ontario Securities Commission head David Brown.
As reported by CBC News, Brown’s report stated Mounties need a civilian oversight model with powers to summon witnesses and compel testimony, and where all findings would be binding.
Labour issues also loom.
The new commissioner will need to address the RCMP’s so-called penalty box culture, as CBC dubs it, where people who question authority are bullied or seconded to other departments.
There is also talk of unionization which would be a good thing, some say, for those officers who come into conflict with their superiors.
Ultimately, the new RCMP commissioner faces a daunting task: to fix the RCMP.
(CBC photo)