They Stand on Guard
FTLComm - Tisdale
March 13, 2000
It was just after midnight last night when the Bank of Montreal's Automatic Teller
set off an alarm and that brought the RCMP out to check on the system and the bank
to see that things were secure.
The officer on the spot explained that the alarm systems are sensitive to shock so
it does not take much of a bump to set them off and when I came along she was
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are one of those services that we pretty much take for granted as part of our world until we need them. An emergency or bad behaviour situation seems to come to mind, but for the most part, a police force in a law abiding society is not that critical a component. At the hockey game last night there were two officers present
throughout the game, just in case things got out of control, and there
were several occasions when they got up and moved around, just to keep things in
a safe and controlled atmosphere, but it seemed so out of place in such a peaceful
setting, that the only people who were in the area that were armed and dangerous
were the police. Both wearing bullet proof vests and carrying hand guns, which as
everyone knows are illegal to own in Canada, unless you are a peace officer. It
crossed my mind as I was standing in line to get a coffee at the concession that
the only threat in the room to my safety were the two armed police officers which
I have been lead to believe are suppose to protect me as a citizen.There is no doubt in my mind that the "death squad" activities in Saskatoon , the involvement of the RCMP on behalf of the oil companies in Alberta and the OPEC pepper spray incident, has seriously undermined the view I, and I am certain, others have.
I realise that as you read this, you see my reference to the Saskatoon "death squads" and quite rightly you think of that as unfair criticism since no charges have been laid as the RCMP investigate the Saskatoon City Police, but most people believe that no charges will ever be laid as there is every reason to believe that the police will look after each other. It is important to point out that we are suppose to live in a land were there is due process of law and people, police or otherwise, are not considered guilty of a crime unless it is proven in a court of law. It is this precise issue that is in question for the police in Saskatoon were systematically, over decades, taking the law out of law enforcement and the "death squads" were picking up people, pronouncing them guilty and then executing them. Almost a month has passed since the initial complaints were brought against two officers who were suspended but no
charges have been laid. Due process of law is being abused
severely.It is outrageous that I should have feelings of fear, standing in line to pick up coffee, but I could not bring myself to turn my backs on the two individuals wearing armoured vests and Glock hand guns. What if they decided to pull one of those weapons out of their holsters, they have been trained, not educated, to fire those things and "tap twice" pointing the weapon at the largest mass of the human body. The training these officers have received is such that they have been conditioned, much as we would an attack dog, to once the weapon is in their hand, to "kill". Pretty unsettling, for a civilised society.
Yet these people and their equipment are vital, as in the case of checking out the false alarm at a bank, attending to accidents and preventing accidents from happening. We need law enforcement and emergency assistance in a world were freedom of choice and activity exists. The problem that must be addressed is that with the cloud hanging over the head of law enforcement it is very difficult to trust those who are to "maintain the right" (slogan on the side of each police car). As I watched the young police officer walking alone around the outside of the bank with the knowledge that the ATM alarm had been triggered she had to check it out in the dark, alone and indeed there was a possibility that it was not a false alarm and she could encounter deadly villains, I would not want her to be hurt or unable to
| I have delayed writing an article about the Saskatoon "Death Squads" for a long time, that is out of fear, I worry that speaking out against possible criminal behaviour by the police may pose a threat to me. Were my son's living at home I would not publish the article. In the early 90s my eldest son was refereeing a hockey game where the coach was a prominent high ranking officer in one of Saskatchewan's small cities. My son objected to the bad behaviour of the coach and ejected him from the game and was then warned by that coach that police action would be taken against him. Fearing that he was endanger I contacted "F" Division in Regina and the matter was investigated by the nearby detachment and after a week or so a neatly type letter stated that there was no substance to the allegation At the time my hockey referee son avoided doing any more games in which that coach was present and fortunate for he and his brother there seemed to be no direct consequences. There is no way of knowing that without my complaint things might have been different. |
We are caught in a serious dilemma, we want there to be peace in our land, we want everyone to be safe and we want those who work on our behalf for us to be safe and protected themselves. I personally know for certain that I can count on individuals within the RCMP as people who are dedicated to being of service and I am equally convinced that within the Saskatoon Police force there will be good well meaning individuals.
What will it take to ease my apprehension and anxiety about a police force that savagely attack demonstrators in Vancouver and even journalists, or Alberta officers that set off a bomb to sway public opinion and coax extra money out of the provincial government for anti-terrorist squads, or what sensible person would not fight and resist being placed in a Saskatoon police car knowing that the possibility of execution is a real and possible result. Resisting arrest is a crime people, make no mistake about it, but in Saskatoon without the protection of due process it must be considered an individual's right of self defense. The Saskatoon police force have created a situation where a person if asked to get into a police car has to decide to accept their fate and possibly be killed, or run for it and possibly be killed, either way the odds are not in the individual's favour. Dead frozen bodies of those who went willingly are testament enough that there is no law in Saskatoon, only armed violence, paid for by the public. After a month of investigation the RCMP have not laid a single charge or done a thing to clear up the matter and so we must assume that they too have been a part of "death squads" activity or perhaps even actual participants. Their silence is intollerable.
Timothy W. Shire