APATHY REIGNS SUPREME

Lambka, Donovan, oh my God I can't remember the name of the native shot and killed near the Brantford reserve last year. Nor can I remember the name of the nineteen year old girl several years ago who suffocated herself at the Kitchener Prison for Women while guards watched and did not intervene. Then there is Beau Baker on Brybeck Cresent in Kitchener as well as the local and recent shooting of the mentally ill man in Ottawa. He allegedly was holding a knife. If an officer is attacked by ambush with a knife wielding assailant then all bets are off especially if the officer is alone. A lethal and immediate response (gun) may be the best and most appropriate action. However in the case of Beau Baker and the young man in Toronto (Sammy Yatim) a few years ago as well as the recent Ottawa case there were multiple police officers present and they all had been pre-advised of an agitated individual holding a knife. Between being forewarned and fully prepared they had available pepper spray, stun guns, rubber bullets, batons and more; there was not a need to shoot to kill.

The first two names on this list thankfully have not been killed by state intervention or state negligence. The officer in the Sammy Yatin case thankfully has been convicted of attempted murder at least. Too many officers have killed citizens unnecessarily and it needs to end. The first name on the list (Lambka)defended himself, his father and his home against armed intruders and he was given four years in jail for so doing. Why are not more police officers sent to jail for causing deaths? Either holding a knife or attempting to steal a pickup are not grounds for murder either by the public or the police. Similarly shooting a suspect who is fleeing is not legal or proper except under extraordinary circumstances as is recently in the local news. Lastly our police service senior management seem to weigh their decisions more by public outrage then by the severity of the misbehaviour. Overall good police officers who immaturely texted photos and jokes among themselves (Blackberry Messaging Ap.?) were fired. Yes there behaviour needed denunciation and discipline but not to that extent or severity. Now the Regional Police are on their annual pilgrimage to regional council wanting again to hire more officers.

Why does this crap go on and on? It's because of public apathy. It's because after a traumatic event happens our media do not follow up regularly and routinely. Tell the public what is happening or not happening. Tell us when and where the next hearing or court date is for Kelly Donovan and the other female officers fighting against the entrenched and unaccountable male dominated Waterloo Regional Police Service. Tell us why Lambka was convicted for defending himself. Tell us why he wasn't able to appeal his sentence. Was it simply a lack of money and for that our judicial system lets him sit in jail for four years? What is going on with the police shooting last fall near Caledon (?) in which one officer intentionally shot another officer. Why are we kept in the dark on these matters? Canadian citizens are not engaged with what their public institutions are doing and this is how these institutions slowly devolve into self-serving, opaque and unaccountable bodies looking out primarily for the interests of those at the top.