A very large “Thank You” goes out to the Abbotsford Police for doing the right thing… on a couple of counts.
It was Abbotsford Police Services that was called in to investigate a Kelowna Thug… I mean RCMP constable who kicked Buddy Tavares in the face after Mr. Tavares had the temerity to do exactly as he was directed to do by the thug. I mean, the nerve of the guy… doing what he’s told…
I can imagine how the headlines would have read if there had been no video of this thug acting like… well a thug.
A Kelowna man was taken to hospital today after he was injured while resisting arrest…
After watching the video and being completely horrified, I had to stop and wonder… how many times have we read about someone being injured while “resisting arrest”? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? No? Well, it sure made me wonder.
It made me wonder what would have happened if the person recording this crime had stayed quiet about it for, oh, say two days. If they’d waited for the RCMP to issue a statement about the case and THEN come forward with the video, can you imagine?
Would that have been the headline we’d have read from the RCMP Press Release?
Thank God there was someone recording the brutal attack. Because the answer to that question could be really scary, and is probably not one any of us would want to hear.
So I congratulate Abbotsford PD for completing their investigation so quickly. That alone does a lot to re-build lost trust in our police forces… that the results were made known this fast.
The second is for recommending charges be laid against Constable Geoff Mantler for his brutal and unprovoked assault of Buddy Tavares.
That announcement came just before a planned protest marched on the RCMP detachment in Kelowna. Over 300 people reportedly joined the march peacefully. It’s really fantastic to see people willing to get off their couches and join a protest rally like this.
What’s less pleasing is that it takes some poor guy getting kicked in the face by a jackbooted thug for people to start being concerned about the lack of accountability in the RCMP. Hopefully that will change now that charges have been recommended against Const. Geoff Mantler.
What remains to be seen now are two things:
1. Will the Crown actually proceed with the recommended charges against Constable Mantler, and
2. Will the Crown now drop the bogus charge against Buddy Tavares for careless use of a firearm "in relation to a domestic violence situation that is still under investigation," as the RCMP said, when everyone including Buddy Tavares’ ex-wife say never happened?
I sure hope so. It’s the absolute minimum that should be done for Mr. Tavares, who should also get an official apology from the ranking officer of Kelowna’s RCMP detachment.
One thing that remains a mystery, at least to me, is why this thug is still being paid. Constable Mantler has been placed on “administrative leave”… RCMP jargon for “paid vacation” while the investigation is completed.
That’s something that really annoys me. If it was you or me doing the kicking, we’d be sitting in jail cell, and would lose our jobs as a result. Hard to stay employed when you can’t get to work, right?
Yet this thug gets to have a paid vacation. He gets rewarded for his thuggery. That’s just plain wrong on pretty much every level. Thankfully I’m not alone in saying this.
MP Nathan Cullen and MP Don Davies, both agree. In a statement reported on Global TV’s website, MP Don Davies said:
"When police violence against a compliant and non-violent citizen occurs, the public needs to know that strong and swift action will be taken. Until RCMP oversight is strengthened, public confidence in the RCMP will continue to erode."
Nathan Cullen was reported as saying:
"When an officer is caught on video assaulting a citizen, the force needs to act swiftly and decisively," Davies said in a news release Sunday morning, before the Abbotsford police announcement about charges.
"It is insulting that the officer involved is simply relieved of duties, with pay, while the broken police investigation process drags on."
Couldn't agree more Nathan. Unfortuantely, the RCMP can’t seem to figure out that this is a disgraceful practice that only hurts them, it doesn’t “protect the RCMP’s integrity…”
Integrity? I think these guys need two things fast. A dictionary and a mirror.
Kelowna RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon was quick to dodge questions about the questionable practice of paying RCMP members who are charged with criminal violations. He said the only person who can stop the pay of a suspended RCMP member is the Assistant Commissioner of Human Resources.
Then someone really aughta call the Assistant Commissioner, don’t you think?
"Stoppage of pay will only be in extreme circumstances when it would be inappropriate to pay a member," McKinnon said in a statement. "Each case will be dealt with on its merits and will be considered when the member is clearly involved in the commission of an office that contravenes an Act of Parliament or the code of conduct, and is outrageous as to significantly affect the proper performance of his/her duties under the RCMP Act."
Well Supt. McKinnon … don’t you think kicking a man in the face who is already on his knees and complying with the jack-booted thug’s requests might qualify as a violation of the code of conduct? Or is that not “outrageous” enough for you, when then thug in question clearly cannot properly perform their duties?
Gotta love that Blue Wall.
The RCMP has to stop justifying actions that are simply unjustifiable… the longer they take, the more public confidence and trust deteriorates.
Police could save themselves a lot of travail if they’d stop hiring knuckle-dragging
boneheads and hard-boiled criminals who come with a built-in attitude
problem.
And, furthermore, I have read that police are having a difficult time attracting a sufficient number of new recruits and, in some instances, are having to resort to hiring ex-criminals to have efficient coverage to oppress the whole Canadian citizenry.
If so, man may be on the verge of repeating history.
The famous Ballarat Rebellion of 1854 ignited due to government’s grossly unfair licencing practices and a corrupt constabulary dispensing “kangaroo justice” in the gold rush camps of Australia.
Due to a manpower shortage, many goldfield cops were hardened ex-convicts who carried out their duties in a ruthless manner. The police lorded their authority over the vulnerable gold miners who had no vote and no representation in Parliament.
A miner caught without a licence was chained to a log until the stiff fine was paid. Without legal rights attached to the licence or to their claims, the miners fell victim to the constabulary’s bribery, extortion and, finally, murder.
The miners demanded the government grant a more secure form of claim ownership. The words fell on deaf ears. Their only recourse was simply to refuse to cooperate with the hated licencing system. The government’s response was to increase inspections to twice a week. It generated more resentment.
As a measure of last resort, miners took up arms.
It led to the famous Ballarat Rebellion.
Up to 30 miners and six government troopers were killed. Of the 114 miners taken prisoner, 90 were wounded. Only about 30 escaped.
In another shameful display, Commissioner Robert Rede then unleashed his troops to slaughter both innocent and rebel miners in the surrounding mining camps. The untold casualties must have been extraordinary, for Governor Sir Charles Hotham spoke of the military commander’s actions as “imprudent”.
When news of the small rebellion and subsequent bloody massacre reached London, the British government was horrified that such savage events had taken place in its farthest colony. It was bad from a political perspective.
Rede was immediately posted elsewhere and the governor fired. The role of the diplomatic replacement was to do whatever necessary to satisfy the angry miners.
It didn’t take an iota of imagination to quickly recognize the myriad of injustices the government had committed against the miners.
The result of the Ballarat Miners Rebellion, however, was the finest thing in Australian history, according to great American writer Mark Twain:
“It was a revolution–small in size, but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for a principle, a stand against injustice and oppression.
“It was the Barons and John, over again; it was Hampden and Ship-Money; it was Concord and Lexington; small beginnings, all of them, but all of them great in political results, all of them epoch-making.
“It is another instance of a victory won by a lost battle.
“It adds an honorable page to history; the people know it and are proud of it. They keep green the memory of the men who fell at the Eureka Stockade.”
Somebody may want to pay attention. History does have an uncanny habit of repeating itself when provoked.