Categories: police | social change | vancouver
I just watched something kind of intense, from my front row seat in the window at JJ Bean on Commercial Drive.
I heard sirens roaring down the street, and mostly tuned them out, the way you learn to do when you live in a city. But then right outside where I was sitting, I saw a guy push another guy off a bike. It looked to me like they were starting a fight, and then another guy ran up and pinned the bike guy down. I hate watching fights and I was disturbed.
But then all the sirens stopped out front and a cop ran out of a car, and pinned the bike guy (who I guess is what they were after). His head banged into the ground in the process. The other two guys walked away. Okay, fair enough so far... I guess they got the guy they were after. Obviously I had no idea what he had done.
But then another cop got out of the car, and ran over, and delivered a swift kick to the guy (who, for the record, was pinned and not resisting at all), and put cuffs on him. Cuffs, fine, but the kicking seemed unnecessary to me (and to everyone else gathered around the window behind me).
More cops arrived, and they all stood around laughing together as they started searching his bag. The guy is lying there, nose running, totally submissive, and the cops are treating him like he's not even human. Granted, I have no idea what his crime was, and perhaps it was something awful. But still. He's still a person.
I've always hated witnessing violence. I realize that if he was a dangerous criminal (for the sake of argument) then maybe it's justified to use some force to apprehend him. But really, it seemed unnecessary, and it really disturbs me to see the people who we give power to in our society (in this case, the police officers) abusing it, or at least using it with very little appreciation for the privilege. I hate when I see cops who seem to get off on their power, or who appear to have anger issues of their own that they conveniently get to take out on people who they've labeled as bad. It's sanctioned violence, but it's still violence. I'm angry at the cop who kicked him, caught up in the moment and intoxicated by his own invincibility, it seemed to me. I was reminded of a report that came out a few years ago, documenting systemic abuse of power in the Vancouver Police Force.
I don't know. Maybe the guy was a bike thief, maybe a drug dealer, maybe a rapist. Maybe just a petty thief. Maybe even a guy who didn't really do anything wrong. The cops pulled the contents out of his bag for us all to see, and among his possessions were pipe or garden clippers of some kind (still with their tag on them, so presumably stolen, but who knows) and a needle (presumably for a drug habit, but again, who knows – the guy could be diabetic, as one onlooker pointed out).
I guess I'm just blogging because it shook me up, and because I was left really uncomfortable by how the police behaved. I understand that it's not easy to be a cop. I am thinking now of the story that was in the papers recently, about those cops whose job it is to root out internet pedophiles – the guys who have to look at horrible images of unthinkable things being done to innocent little girls. I can understand that if you see lots of that, it affects you, and maybe when you come face to face with someone suspected of those kinds of things, you might well want to hurt them. (That's obviously the extreme example, but I use it to illustrate a point. I'd bet that this particular kicking cop had a lot less to be worked up about, but still resorted to force.)
I just think that if we're going to ever have a compassionate society, the way we do policing needs to change. I think that police officers need to be among the most conscious and compassionate among us. Just like parents should never do their spanking when they're angry, so should cops learn to control themselves, and not act from their base reactions. People with anger and aggression issues should not be given power over other people with anger and aggression issues.
And I think that's all I got.
reply to s of S's blog
Thu, 2008-05-01 18:47 — Ken G. (not verified)I myself was the victim of some over-the-top police gestapo tactics just last week. First a bit of background.
I'm a long time resident of the downtown Eastside. Actually I live right across from the police station on Main St. As well I am a former heroin addict, four years clean this spring and a tax-paying citizen. I have remained in this neighborhood despite the many negative challenges it represents for several reasons. The first is that I have kind of fallen into a job managing a SRO (single room occupancy) hotel recently purchased by the provincial government and found a crack den running amok w/ the approval of the manager at the time, himself a crack addict. Having gotten rid of the undesirable elements in the building a day does not go by without one of the senior citizen tenants giving kudos for cleaning the place up and making it safe to use the washroom w/o fearing being intimidated out of ten or twenty dollars or being punched in the head by an addict because they wanted into the washroom. I take pride in this and see it as a chance to balance the karmic balance sheet, an item that holds a bit of red ink that I need to address. I was never a violent or dangerous person, more of a trickster/con man when I was in dope fiend mode.
Anyhow my life is now great (except for what I'm about to relate) and I've really been trying to maintain a positive spin on life in general and trying to see the positive of every situation, even in my neighborhood. Difficult at times I know but it is there if one looks hard enough. Part of my recovery process has been working out daily at the Carnegie Community Centre right across the street from where I live. Like clockwork every day after work my first move isn't at the fridge for a beer but to don my workout clothes and shoot hoops for a half hour and then lift weights for an hour or more. On friday April 25 after another challenging week I proceeded to do just that. It had been a particularly good week for me. I had been trianing a new manager for another hotel, trying to do the right thing by the tenants, my fellow citizens no matter their issues. I had just had a particularly intense workout critical to reinitializing the endorphine flow that is sabotaged by prolonged use of opiates and best of all had just been in contact with my father, from whom I had been out of touch for over 16 years. One of my biggest fears recently was that he would die before I had the opportunity to tell him that his eldest son, for whom he has been praying for daily for probably the last twenty years, had finally defeated the demons and dark hounds that had been at his heels for soooooo long. At the conclusion of my workout I went across the street to my apartment and had a post-workout protein drink and then hit the shower. I like to sit under the shower like this for ten to fifteen minutes after a good workout and just let that hot water run over me. While in the shower I decided to go out and treat myself to sushi, so I dried off and got dressed. In this wonderful state of mind, maybe the finest in over a decade, I left my apartment to be confronted by two half heads peering arounf the corner of the hallway, one pointing a shotgun at my torso the other pointing a handgun at my head. I froze for an instant thinking home invasion as the only thing said to me was "what apartment did you come out of", I replied "mine". Eventually they did identify themselves as VPD and ordered me to the floor which I did. At this point things got out of hand. First I was ordered to crawl on my belly towards the police w/ the guns even though there was no place to go, it was a hallyway. Next I have bad shoulder joints so as an officer came up from behind me to cuff me I said "take it easy w/ my shoulders" and explained the problem w/ them. he proceeded to place his knee across my neck and roughly jerk my arms back while cuffing me, rather tightly too I may add. I expressed my indignation at this treatment and may have even called the officer a name but never once did I threaten anybody, make any threatening moves or disrespect anybody's mother. Once on my feet the same officer who cuffed me put my arms in an 'arm bar' lock hold and began pushing/escorting me down the hallway. As of yet I had not even been told what this is all about. My indignation started to be verbalized but I never broke the golden rule mentioned earlier, threats or disses. As this arm bar began to cause significant pain I turned my head and told him to take it easy whereby he tried to ram my face into an outcrop in the hallway wall. Luckily the strenght in my legs allowed me to pretty much stop this intent to injure but my shouder still was rammed into this corner. The subsequent bruise consisitent w/ this kind of action was documented by a physician. Once this transpired I admittedly called the officer some names but I'm sure there was no law broken, at least not by me. At the same time a second member of the ERT grabbed me and w/ the first officer pushed me into a side section of the hallway where I was forced into a sitting position. I called them some more names and the second ERT officer jammed my head downwards so my chin struck my chest and he continued to apply a great amount of pressure. The pain was excruciating enought that I stopped calling them names but he threatened to then taser me, while I'm on the floor cuffed. Finally anotheer officer comes to me and says there was a call stating that I was carrying a gun. I was carrying a weight belt and a basketball and a bottle of water. my neck was on fire w/ pain and I asked for an ambulance and was told one was on it's way. I was left cuffed for more than half an hour in this condition even though it was appearant to the officers after five to ten minutes in my small bachelor that there was no gun or weapon of any kind to be found. In fact I heard a lot of laughing after about five minutes. Throughout this ordeal I was asked two or three times if an air pump I had in my house was down my pants when I was outside. I could feel them stretching to justify this mistake of theirs. Eventually I was asked my name for a second time and was told I would not be unhandcuffed until I complied. Eventually my reason won over my stubborness and I was released. No ambulance ever came and I was not even offered an apology.
I was raised to stand up for what is right does anyone feel that I have a valid greivance here?
yep
Fri, 2008-05-30 00:59 — sarahfelicityI think that's pretty bad. And I think that the police in general have very little respect for people who don't match up to their mental image of what's normal, acceptable, or right. I'm sorry that happened to you.