Cops suspended after illegal arrest
Two cops who stopped and arrested a Black motorist in 2017 for no valid reason have been suspended without pay for 13 days, but the victim in the case says the punishment is too light. Not only did the officers arrest Kenrick McRae, they deleted his video record of their actions.
Ephraim 20:52 on 2020-08-31 Permalink
That’s the problem… the standard punishment is days off with no pay. That’s not a punishment, that’s unpaid vacation days. I fine equal to their pay or community service (community outreach) might be a good start. Oh… and deleting all the data on their personal phones.
Raymond Lutz 22:44 on 2020-08-31 Permalink
On est pas les seuls… https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-police-union-power-helped-increase-abuses
Jack 11:29 on 2020-09-01 Permalink
Should Police be unionized? They are sorta soldiers, nice unis, same command structure ….except one thing. They are led in reality by this guy…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/yves-francoeur-montreal-police-union-boss-says-multi-ethnic-population-a-risk-to-officers-1.2881517
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-police-probe-of-two-liberal-mnas-never-got-to-court-union-chief
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/racialized-montreal-police-officers-denounce-brotherhood
I’ll stop there.
Ephraim 13:50 on 2020-09-01 Permalink
@Jack – Good question. Quebec law usually requires union membership for negotiation purposes. I think a better way to handle this question is to ask, should unions be held accountable for the actions of their members and the liability they incur if they violate procedures, laws or guidelines. In other words, when there is wrongdoing and the city gets sued, should the city be allowed to sue the policeman or the union who violated the laws and guidelines set forth.
I want to use as an example, Patrick Guay and Pierre-Luc Furlotte, the two policemen who took a homeless man to almost the Ontario border and dumped him there. They were charged with forcible confinement, assault and uttering threats. What they weren’t charged with… stealing. Yes, stealing. They were being paid as police officers to be in their district on patrol at the time. They stole the car, because it was NOT authorized to be outside of SPVM territory. They stole gasoline, because they used the car for non-police business. They stole salary, because they weren’t doing their job at the time. They stole insurance, wear and tear on the vehicle, insurance, maintenance. They are finally facing criminal charges, but not for their violation of the duties, only for what they did. And yet, they violated the public trust. And what of Costa Labos, who hushed up the incident…. as far as I can tell, he’s suspended WITH PAY since August of 2017. A three year PAID vacation.
So, should WE the public be allowed to sue the union, who’s protecting him, when and if he’s found guilty? Because frankly… I want that money back. I’m paying higher taxes for this guy to be on a PAID vacation.
Kate 15:44 on 2020-09-02 Permalink
Ephraim, funny you should mention Costa Labos. He’s in the news again (I’ll be doing a post about this).