Janice Tibbetts (Montreal Gazette) – The agency that keeps an eye on the RCMP said yesterday it will conduct an investigation into the actions of the national force at the G8 and G20 summits.
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP said it is acting on a complaint from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association about the conduct of unidentified Mounties.
The RCMP were the lead police agency overseeing the G8 and G20 summits, held in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto, respectively, in late June.
The complaint asks the RCMP watchdog to probe G8 and G20 planning, including the location of security fences, infiltration and surveillance of any groups or individuals before or during the summits, the use of force during the gatherings, the arrests, and the conditions at the detention facilities in Toronto.
The complaints commission said in a statement yesterday that it has received 28 complaints to date about the RCMP’s role in the summits.
The summits are also under investigation by the federal auditor general and two House of Commons committees.
In what is believed to be the largest arrest in Canada, police rounded up about 1,000 people during the G8 in Toronto, but charged about 300. Many charges have been dropped.
The Toronto police force and Ontario Provincial Police were also involved in summit security.
Agreed. However we will fund another less than inspiring spectacle of navel gazing to see how best we accommodate the violent, the disenfranchised, the angry, and the petulant. At a car dealership in my area I happened to overhear two individuals on this very topic. One person stated affirmatively to the other, “you know its going to be a shit show, so why would you go near it?” Pretty simplistic view, however, he is right.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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The problem with the G8 and G20 events are always the same. The Police establishment have no input, or just a symbolic input in relation to picking the site of the event. Politicians are concerned with politics. They do not understand the concepts of security and they don’t care to.
They pick locations that are a nightmare to secure. When conflict results they walk away. I have worked a few summits. I have been assigned key roles. I was inside the fenced areas in a suit which is relatively easy to work.
The location of a the summit in Kananaskis, Alberta was well chosen. The so called demonstrators were not dedicated enough to take on the bears, woods, and misquotes. Downtown Toronto is not a good location.
The pepper spray incident in BC was a direct result of picking a poor location. Again, no meaningful input from the police. There was one way in and one way out. This is not acceptable for proper VIP security.
The actions of the police should be examined. There are allegations of police officers removing their name tags for example.
The individual police officer acting properly was tasked with trying to decide the good guys from the bad in the environment of burning police cars and rock throwing thugs.
The individual police officers are not going to allow themselves to injured. Nor should they. They are not going to end up being hit in the head with a brick; ending up in a wheel chair, wearing depends, waiting to be wheeled into the TV room to watch Oprah.
The so called critics of all that violence should watch a few western movies. When the sheriff and the bad guy met at high noon; the people in the area did not say” This is my right to be here”. They got off the street so that they would not end injured or killed.
The bad cops hide among the good cops. The violent demonstrators hide among the peaceful demonstrators. The police must be held to a higher standard of self control and behaviour because they took an oath. The police, however are now being sacrificed to appease a ignorant public. That is wrong. Fight like hell!
This mess was caused by politicians who don’t know or don’t care what their decision’s cause.
Calvin Lawrence
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Policing summits is a thankless job. Period.
If the police are too soft, vandalism, riots, fire’s and looting happen. If you do your job, the civil liberties groups cry like babies. When anarchists start mixing with the peaceful and you have this kind of chaos, mistakes always happen and the benign get hurt.
I think the message should be that if you are peacefully protesting amongst anarchists- arrest, water cannons, night sticks, peppers spray and gas come with the territory….
The Civil Liberties associations are quick to blame the police for oppression, but where is the liberty in anarchy? There is no freedom in fearing for your life and property either.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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