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• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 6/2/2009 12:20 AM UTC

  Police Brutality in Canada True or Fals
  

  Businessman alleges police brutality in arrest

  Ended up with bruise, fractured rib

  Paula McCooey, The Ottawa Citizen

  Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006

  A downtown business owner who was dropping his 10-year-old off at school yesterday morning has accused an Ottawa police officer of brutality.

  Ian Boyd, who owns Compact Music at two locations on Bank Street, claims the officer followed him from the school to a parking lot behind his place of work and assaulted him.

  Ottawa police spokeswoman Staff Sgt. Monique Perras confirmed there had been a confrontation in the parking area, saying a man refused to identify himself to an officer.

  "He resisted when the officer attempted to arrest him," she said. "The officer called for backup and the man was arrested and charged under the Highway Traffic Act and with resisting arrest. He was taken to the police station, charged and then released on a promise to appear."

  Mr. Boyd said he usually lets his son off at First Avenue Public School's circular driveway, but yesterday he briefly stopped at the school bus loading zone because it was so cold. "Normally I drop him off at the turnaround, but my son said 'Dad, it is cold, can you drop me off at the door?'"

  A police officer parked nearby approached Mr. Boyd and told him he was not allowed to have his car in that area, even when there was no school bus. Mr. Boyd said he told the officer he was "only going to (be parked there) for 10 seconds." He said the officer told him it is a $110 fine for stopping in that area, but let him off with a warning.

  "I thanked the officer and told him he should speak to the guy behind me, too, because he was also parked in that area."

  Mr. Boyd left and headed to his store on Bank Street near Third Avenue. When he began to get out of his car in the parking lot behind the store, he saw the same officer's cruiser.

  "He followed me, but I didn't see him in my rearview mirror," said Mr. Boyd.

  He said that's when the assault took place, with the officer using force to arrest him.

  Mr. Boyd said he is "considering a civil suit" against the police, and intends to lodge a complaint with the Professional Standards Section of the Ottawa Police Service. He said hospital X-rays showed he had a hairline fracture to his ribs. He also had a bruise on his left cheek.

  Staff Sgt. Perras said Mr. Boyd was charged with failing to stop when directed by police, failing to surrender his licence, careless driving and resisting arrest.

  She said officers offered him a ride to the hospital for a checkup, but he refused, saying he'd go there on his own, once he was released.

  "These are trumped-up charges," said Mr. Boyd, who said about five bystanders witnessed the incident.

  "It is the most innocent thing a man can do, dropping off a child at school," he said. "And then to end up in jail with bruised ribs and a bashed face -- this is just another example of police brutality."

  Thursday, September 18, 2008

  Ottawa: Police 'A Few Bad Apples'

  Earlier this week I was talking to Ottawa Police Services at a conference on GLBTTQ youth. Two of the members in my break out group were police. In my critique of the police services they took it as a personal attack on them as individuals simply due to critiquing the services as a whole. The Ottawa Police are one of the most progressive services when it comes to GLBTTQ issues, but there have been many cases of police abuse especially against youth and more specifically street youth.
  
  My critique included asking about the ability for Police to actually be youth-friendly in any way. Another police officer came up to me privately and stated that in fact many police officers view a group of youth as potential trouble and are not respectful of youth. The police at my table gave the argument that there were simply "A Few Bad Apples".
  
  The "Few Bad Apples" argument is something that has been heard of in many organizations of coercive power. The best example in recent history would be the Abu Gharib scandle in Iraq where torture was being enacted by US military on Iraqi prisoners. CBC did a documentary on it by the same name. In reality the situation was not just "a few bad apples," but the system itself which was in place.
  
  A famous experiment was done by Phillip Zimbardo in the 1970's about the corrupting influence of these forms of power positions. It was known as the Stanford Prison Experiment and it took regular males and put them in a simulated prison with who was to be guards and prisoners randomly chosen. The result was terrifying where the guards started to truly be violent and the prisoners becoming very subservient.
  
  In the case of the Ottawa Police certain issues are not just an issue of a few bad apples. Police brutality against homeless people in the downtown core is a systemic problem. Under the "few bad apples" analogy we would find proper reprimands, criminal proceedings and, more sensitivity training then one day to cover all marginalized groups. How sexual assault victims are treated with utmost disrespect is not due to a few bad apples. And, that tasers are still considered acceptable despite the evidence of the serious harm they cause. These are systemic and institutional problems in this power system, problems with decisions from the top down as well as not truly dealing with those who abuse their power.

  • Tags:
  • Law
  • Police
  • Public
  • Respect
  • Regulation
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