Kelowna RCMP incident underscores need for civilian agency

Ian Mulgrew (Opinion, Vancouver Sun) – The video of Buddy Tavares being kicked in the head is almost as offensive as the footage of Robert Dziekanski dying in pain at Vancouver International Airport.

The audacity chokes me: If there are cops who think they can get away with that in broad daylight with witnesses, what’s happening in dark alleys late at night when video cameras don’t work?

I found the aftermath of both similarly disturbing, especially Kelowna RCMP Supt. Bill McKinnon’s description of the 51-year-old Tavares as someone suspected of domestic violence to qualify his officer’s conduct.

After Dziekanski’s death in October 2007, the Mounties similarly demonized the victim, suggesting the 40-year-old Polish immigrant was an aggressive, threatening alcoholic.

Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Steve Holmes reiterated his boss’s line last week after Tavares was only charged with careless use of a firearm.

Asked why there was no domestic violence count, he said that “forms part of the circumstances … part of the background” of the Jan. 7 incident.

Which was news to Tavares’s ex-wife, who disputed the RCMP insinuation about their relationship.

Angela Behiels, his sister, said, “they’re just grasping at straws.”

Sporting a shiner and scrapes on his face when he emerged from a weekend in custody, Tavares said he was in the dark:

“They got me painted as some kind of wife-beater. My life has been turned upside down and I’d like to know why. I’d really like to know what the hell I did to deserve this.” So would the rest of us.

The issue of whether the officer is charged is one thing, but the response of his colleagues also should be explained.

Was there a misunderstanding at play?

Police think there’s a wife-abusing nut with a gun on the loose; Tavares, recovering from a head injury suffered in a motorcycle crash last year, thinks he’s doing a good deed with his shotgun chasing geese from the local golf course?

Ironically, this week the Police Complaint Commissioner ordered a public hearing into two officers from the Abbotsford police department, the same department called in to investigate the Kelowna incident.

They were caught on video, too, on Oct. 9, 2009, arresting suspects in a drug bust. One of the officers kicked one of the suspects while he was on the ground and stood on the man’s hand to keep him from moving.

Abbotsford police Chief Bob Rich thought only one of the officers crossed the line, but decide for yourself. The rough handling during the takedown was posted on You-Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_bHUqrlU0s

Stan Lowe, the current Police Complaint Commissioner, said a hearing was required in the public interest.

Heck, what the public interest requires is an independent civilian agency to investigate incidents like these — potential serious misconduct by police officers.

Maybe then there wouldn’t be a spike in concern every time a cop is suspected of making a mistake; maybe then there wouldn’t be protest marches such as the one in Kelowna on Sunday demonstrating disappointment in the national force.

The chiefs of police across the province have called for such an organization, the Mounties are amenable to it and the Liberals promised one.

So where is it? It is long overdue. Ontario has had one for 20 years at a cost of less than $10 million annually.

We’re still waiting. Victoria hasn’t even begun to openly discuss a model, the legal jurisdiction of such an agency or how the RCMP detachments will be covered.

And we’re going to keep waiting at least until a new premier is chosen, even longer if we go into a snap election.

Let’s see if the charges recommended against the Kelowna officer are ever laid and what happens when Tavares is back in court Feb. 7.