[Newsbot]

Title: Are these cops above the law?
Category: Law & Order
Posted By: xerxes
Date: 2010-10-28 10:29:06
Canadian

[CrazyNewfie]

"All of these officers were quickly cleared by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) � the provincial agency responsible for investigating serious injuries and deaths resulting from interactions between police and the public. All still work as police officers."
This mkes me sick to my stomach, it's said cops think they are above the law, this proves that they are...Just sickening.

[BartSimpson]

Yep. They're above the law. But remember, only cops in Canada can be trusted with guns because their badges and "training" make them magically superior to the average Canadian.

And it is that attitude of too many Canadians that makes it possible for these cops to escape justice. If the majority of the population thinks that cops are somehow super citizens whose moral imperatives transcend the laws they enforce then, sooner or later, the cops will think so too.

[andyt]

The cops are not above the law. THEY ARE THE LAW! And you'd better not forget it.

[CrazyNewfie]

"An officer investigated by the SIU benefits from a presumption of good character by jurors and judges."
Really? wtf are people thinking? I am not bashing all cops, but that's like saying all priests are good upstanding citizens and we know that not to be true. It would be easy enough for some self-rightous a-hole or high school bully type to become a cop just to have the power to mess with people and get away with it.

[DrCaleb]

andyt andyt:

The cops are not above the law. THEY ARE THE LAW! And you'd better not forget it.

Re-Spect mah authoritah!

[PublicAnimalNo9]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yep. They're above the law. But remember, only cops in Canada can be trusted with guns because their badges and "training" make them magically superior to the average Canadian.

That old saw is getting old and stale. So let's say anyone of these victims had a gun and used it on the offending officer(s), then what???
Or, maybe some good samaritan would have stopped and shot the offending cop(s)?
Not exactly sure wtf our gun laws have to do with these incidents or how armed citizens could have prevented them.

[andyt]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yep. They're above the law. But remember, only cops in Canada can be trusted with guns because their badges and "training" make them magically superior to the average Canadian.

That old saw is getting old and stale. So let's say anyone of these victims had a gun and used it on the offending officer(s), then what???
Or, maybe some good samaritan would have stopped and shot the offending cop(s)?
Not exactly sure wtf our gun laws have to do with these incidents or how armed citizens could have prevented them.

[fifeboy]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yep. They're above the law. But remember, only cops in Canada can be trusted with guns because their badges and "training" make them magically superior to the average Canadian.

That old saw is getting old and stale. So let's say anyone of these victims had a gun and used it on the offending officer(s), then what???
Or, maybe some good samaritan would have stopped and shot the offending cop(s)?
Not exactly sure wtf our gun laws have to do with these incidents or how armed citizens could have prevented them.

Some forum members can find relevance to our gun laws in anything, including the debate on how many angels can dance on the head of a pin!

[PublicAnimalNo9]

fifeboy fifeboy:

how many angels can dance on the head of a pin!

That's easy. All of 'em

[bootlegga]

$1:

Where civilians causing similar damage are typically prosecuted, cops walk.

Nothing new really, this happens in lots of places. There are cops here that have killed/seriously injured people with aggressive driving, excessive force, etc, yet in many cases the worst they got was relieved of duties with pay.

This problem is of course the stereotypical bad apple ruining things for everyone else. I honestly think most cops are good, honest people, but it's the ones that make headlines that create a label that sticks to all cops.

Somehow there always seems to be a few whackjobs that sneak through the system, be they alcoholics or control freaks, but as no system is 100% effective, it's to be expected. I agree that cops have a tough job, but IMHO, they should be held to a higher standard than regular joes, simply because we put so much trust in them to do their jobs legally and correctly.

While I have not heard the evidence in the cases mentioned in the article, if accurate, all of them should have had the book thrown at them IMHO.

[Heavy_Metal]

well that one 'investigation' by this paper settles it, we should fire every cop in this land, i mean we are all mature enough to work out our own problems right? yeah who needs those power hungry cops....I mean the article clearly made reference to what, 5 cases...of the thousands of cases that happen EVERY DAY.... no no clearly every cop in this country is just a meat head with a gun mowing down innocent people when ever they get bored. we all have to stand up against this police state we are in, the time to revolt is now people!!
ATTICA ATTICA ATTICA!!!

[andyt]

bootlegga bootlegga:

$1:

Where civilians causing similar damage are typically prosecuted, cops walk.

Nothing new really, this happens in lots of places. There are cops here that have killed/seriously injured people with aggressive driving, excessive force, etc, yet in many cases the worst they got was relieved of duties with pay.

This problem is of course the stereotypical bad apple ruining things for everyone else. I honestly think most cops are good, honest people, but it's the ones that make headlines that create a label that sticks to all cops.

Somehow there always seems to be a few whackjobs that sneak through the system, be they alcoholics or control freaks, but as no system is 100% effective, it's to be expected. I agree that cops have a tough job, but IMHO, they should be held to a higher standard than regular joes, simply because we put so much trust in them to do their jobs legally and correctly.

While I have not heard the evidence in the cases mentioned in the article, if accurate, all of them should have had the book thrown at them IMHO.

If it was only the few bad apples, it wouldn't be a problem. The system would find them and weed them out. The problem is that the rest of the cops close ranks and too often protect these guys, so they don't get weeded out. And then you get cases where the bad cops is kept on the force and does it again, as we've seen in BC a few times. I'm less concerned with these cops walking from the justice system than I am that they remain on the force to repeat their behavior.

[Proculation]

I have 3 friends who became cops. I do not want to go into details but what happened to one of them for a "stupid situation" got him out of the police for 1 year without pay while the investigation was going on.

He got his job back but it really changed him.

(This is not about police violence or other things near that.)

[hurley_108]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yep. They're above the law. But remember, only cops in Canada can be trusted with guns because their badges and "training" make them magically superior to the average Canadian.

And it is that attitude of too many Canadians that makes it possible for these cops to escape justice. If the majority of the population thinks that cops are somehow super citizens whose moral imperatives transcend the laws they enforce then, sooner or later, the cops will think so too.

The answer to that is to fix the state of policing rather than arm the populous.