De-policing hurts us all

[Argus]

4 hours ago, ?Impact said:

Please provide details of that.

I just did.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/gun-violence-a-result-of-understaffed-force-loss-of-street-checks-police-union

[?Impact]

53 minutes ago, Argus said:

I just did.

That article says: new street check regulations were implemented — allowing officers only to ask for information when investigating a crime, suspicious activities, or gathering intelligence. That is counter to what you said.

[Argus]

20 minutes ago, ?Impact said:

That article says: new street check regulations were implemented — allowing officers only to ask for information when investigating a crime, suspicious activities, or gathering intelligence. That is counter to what you said.

No, it is not. They have to do all the things I said they had to do even when confronting a person about suspicious activities.

. (1) This Regulation applies with respect to an attempt by a police officer to collect identifying information about an individual from the individual, if that attempt is done for the purpose of,

(a) inquiring into offences that have been or might be committed;

(b) inquiring into suspicious activities to detect offences; or

(c) gathering information for intelligence purposes.

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/160058/v1?_ga=2.234044956.303123758.1519007201-1039836929.1519007201

Edited February 19, 2018 by Argus

[Wilber]

On 2/13/2018 at 8:28 AM, Boges said:

Maybe they should be giving back their generous salary if the refuse to actually do their job.

Maybe our catch and release legal system should do the same.

[GostHacked]

On 2/15/2018 at 12:19 PM, ?Impact said:

Why don't we put video cameras on everyone and then we would know everything. If someone loses the film, then we execute them.

Body cams on police are widely used. Well maybe the proper wording would be that the police are widely equipped with body cams. But you should see how cops react when the camera is on them and they are aware of it.  In some cases they look at the camera as being more dangerous than the gun.

I do watch a lot of vids with police abuse, and that really seems to be an issue south of the 49th compared to here in Canada. There are issues with police abuse in Canada, but it's no where near what we see in the USA.

[GostHacked]

De-policing is not the way to go, but the Thin Blue Line does seem to protect the problematic cops from being charged with anything.   This is creating an overall distrust of police these days if they cannot even prosecute their own when they break the law.

[Machjo]

On 2/13/2018 at 10:34 AM, Argus said:

I'm a harsh critic of police who abuse their powers. Though I admittedly have little sympathy for criminals. I believe much of the anti-police hysteria which has emerged over the past several years has been petty, takes their activities out of context, and ignores reality. That's particularly so of the racial element. It seems any time there's any police interaction with minority members there are howls of racism, which bring spineless politicians rushing in to profess their virtue and inclusiveness and promise action. That's so regardless of whether there is any actual evidence of racism.

The result is de-policing. The police pull back, don't initiate, don't do proactive policing. If they see suspicious characters, especially if they're minorities, they just drive on by rather than stopping to ask them their business. In doctoral research, 70% of police officers admitted to doing this in response to the current environment. 

Others said they drove the speed limit, to “doomsday scenario calls” — where a racialized person might be exhibiting mental health issues and behaving violently. Officers know there will be video taken and they might have to use force and fear the repercussions.

Officers are most likely to de-police situations out of fear of interacting with a racialized person or those with mental health issues. The gender and sexuality of members of the public they could interact with also weigh on officers’ minds, but to a much lesser extent.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/to-swerve-and-neglect-ottawa-cop-turned-researcher-finds-decline-in-proactive-policing

Chinese law requires all PRC officers to carry body cams. Hong Kong is presently considering the same. If a poorer country like China can afford body cams for each officer, how is it that a more developed country like Canada can't afford body cams for its? Sure some municipal police forces in Canada have body cams, but most still don't. Canada should take China's lead on this.

[Machjo]

Individuals can be proactive too. For example, would it be that difficult to install security cameras at your home? Not only would if film criminals, but it would film police officers abusing their power too, no?