Repercussion

Most people believe in goodness, fairness and doing the right thing.  Many corporations have mission statements, corporate values and codes of ethics which endorse doing the right thing and some may even have a hotline for reporting on questionable conduct.  One could certainly expect this standard of behaviour in our church and state representatives but first and foremost one would expect this from our law enforcement officers.  Imagine my shock and dismay when a friend recently shared her brother’s story with me revealing the opposite of my expectations.

       Imagine when two police officers go to their staff sergeant to report a questionable incident they witnessed and they are told to “shut up and forget about it”.  Imagine that they do what they are told only to witness many similar incidents to the point where they feel they must once again speak up only to be told even more forcefully to “shut up, forget about it and NO ONE LIKES A RAT”.  Suddenly reporting on questionable behaviour makes you a tattletale, a rat, the lowest form of life in the police world!  Beating people in handcuffs is now more acceptable behaviour than “telling on them”.  When does reporting outrage become bad?  Does this mean that a wife cannot report her husband’s abuse because she is “telling on him”?  Does this mean that if you know your boss is taking kickbacks you cannot “rat  him out”?  Are you now between a rock and a hard place because you know what is going on so now you become part of the problem, you are silently complicit?

       While not sharing these police officers’ full story here please know that I am 100% convinced of the truth of the allegations and I am deeply shocked and saddened that this type of corruption, and yes I do call this corruption, is happening in our Canadian police force.  The story is straight out of a Law & Order episode but imagine my shock to know that it is not an isolated incident and that the staff sergeant then “leaked” the story to others and suddenly the whole police force was aware of these “rats” who were upset and alarmed that fellow police officers were beating up handcuffed perps.  Are you serious?  An upstanding law enforcement officer is supposed to shut up and accept brutality here in CANADA.  Are you crazy?  Really, can this be possible, IN CANADA?

       I have always believed that while lines may get blurred at what is a tattletale and what is responsible reporting there can be no doubt that brutality or outright criminality must be reported at the earliest possible opportunity.  It’s one thing to stay silent if you see your boss taking home a box of pens from the supply room and quite another to know he is receiving a new car because he’s awarded a contract to a supplier.  One of the reasons I do not watch the show Blue Bloods is that I cannot stand the character Danny after I saw him, a police officer, shoving a handcuffed perp’s head in a toilet to try to get information out of him.  I do not care if he is a drug dealing villain, it is not acceptable for a police officer to brutalize someone in his custody.  IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, I do not care, it is NOT ACCEPTABLE. 

       Has our society lost the need for clear black and white lines when it comes to law enforcement?  Are we so jaded that we say “everyone does it”?  No, everyone does NOT do it.  I absolutely cannot condone a law enforcement officer using any type of brute force on someone who is already handcuffed and in custody.  Two officers against one handcuffed person does not require kicking in the head and being punched like a punching bag by Rocky for heaven’s sake!  What is the matter with people to think you should close your eyes to this.  To know that this is happening on a regular basis and still – you do nothing to prevent it?

       And then the worst happens.  A 17 year old, unarmed boy is dead.

       A true story.