Quebec police are refusing to answer questions from the oversight body investigating civilian deaths and serious injuries during police interventions. This is after
[Police] unions also challenged the obligation for officers to meet with … investigators. They argued that those rules infringed on their members’ constitutional rights to stay silent and not incriminate themselves.
It’s part of a national trend:
in British Columbia, police officers rarely co-operate with the Independent Investigations Office …, while they often only partly co-operate with independent oversight bodies in other provinces.
Not cooperating with oversight investigators should be a fireable offence. Just straight up your job has a higher standard of conduct. If you want your right to not talk that’s fine but you can do that as a civilian not a police officer.
It’s long past time to force officers to be held accountable.
100% this. The role of police is too important to let thugs hide behind “I don wan be incwiminated”.
While that’s true most people are unaware of the places actual role. In the United States at least in the police are not there to protect or serve you. They are there to protect the property of the wealthy. And not much else. They can and will kill you with impunity if afforded the chance. We need to completely reform the police. Because the problems with them stem far far deeper than their simple gang behavior. And that is a sad truth. The police are off the little more than a state or municipality in sanctioned gang.
While you are referencing American police behavior in a forum about Canada, I don’t think our police are much better. We could definitely take a page from some other countries about what responsibilities and obligations police have, or ought to have.
They should be happy to cooperate, since they have nothing to hide, right?
Exactly. Oversight is part of the job. Don’t want to do the job? Fine, the door’s wide open.
And they wonder why nobody trusts them anymore. It’s long past time to take away their civilian rights. As an officer of the law, they need to be held to a higher standard, and not be able to hide behind the rights designed to protect civilians from them.
It’s shitty, because many cops are reasonable, trustworthy people most of the time.
But policing organizations have sick cultures that ignore public safety - just look at the report from Nova Scotia’s mass casualty commission for proof of that.
It will be impossible to fix that culture as long as cops avoid external enquiries.
Meet more cops. That’s really, really not true. They’re mostly unhinged bullies. Like many sociopaths they can be charming and appear normal but they are not.
ACAB.
Refusing to participate in an investigation is obvious criminality. If they did nothing wrong, they shouldn’t have anything to hide. Hypocritical disgraces to this country. Too busy killing native women and prostitutes. Old habits die hard, and let’s not forget how many cops sided with the “Freedom” convoy, and opposed the black lives matter movement. Pigs will be pigs. 🐖 🐷. Eternal useful idiots to despotism.
AC AB
“If they did nothing wrong, they shouldn’t have anything to hide,” sounds EXACTLY what one of the cops you’re concerned about might say.
That’s why I said it
And that’s why I don’t agree with it. However, it does indicate a clear inability to do their job, and warrants an investigation into their behavior, particularly non-police witnesses and recordings. Let’s get cameras on our cops, with the data not curated by them, and penalties if their equipment isn’t on during interactions with the public.
Anyone else you think doesn’t deserve the protection of the Charter?
I’m pleasantly surprised to learn that an independent investigation committee even exists. Hopefully they can push enough to actually get some accountability.
As much as things are broken here in Canada, this is refreshing after reading so much US politics.
I believe all provinces have separate independent investigation bodies, but they don’t have a good track record of holding police to to account.
Our section 11c allows for the defendant’s right not to give testimony directly against oneself,
11 Any person charged with an offence has the right
(c) not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against that person in respect of the offence;
but it doesn’t allow for one defendant not to give testimony against another – just, via section 13, indemnification against that witness in a separate proceeding when previous testimony is compelled (via lack of a right to silence when potentially incriminating others).
13 A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.
So, cops don’t have to testify against themselves, but they don’t get to be silent. And they get indemnification if they do speak up, so it seems a dumb move not to say “yeah, me and Bobby totally beat the hell outta that guy” and use that section-13 clause to skate.
Hmm. But they’d be bounced out of the force on Ethics, but I guess at that point they’re no longer cops anyway; just thugs (and if you’re all ACAB about it, you need to know why that’s toxic).
I don’t know enough about law to say whether those excepts are the only rules that would be relevant in this scenario.
It is clear that police officers and unions are systematically undermining public safety through legal appeals and non-compliance.
Because they fundamentally believe that laws do not apply to them … they only enforce, not obey.
The police are a gang
I know Police Unions in the USA are obscenely powerful (and corrupt) is it the same in Canada?
The Union in Winnipeg is powerful enough to bankrupt the City not only morally but financially as well so I’d say ya.
They also cover up for drunk driving cops who murder civilians and keep abusive cops on the rolls but that’s standard right?
I don’t want to make general statements, but Canadaland did a podcast on the horrible injustices within the Thunder Bay Police force.
One example of some pretty messed up stuff.
What’s the standard procedure for noncooperation? Oh right torture them.
