Edmonton Cops Racist?
Inflammatory E-mail
June 27, 2005
Looks like EPS has stepped in it again. I'm referring, of course, to the latest in a lengthy laundry list of police shenanigans. Seems some members (as a 'joke') were distributing an internal e-mail "...where the author advanced his theory on how aboriginals should be dealt with by police," acting police chief Daryl Da Costa said in a June 9th communique sent out to all EPS members.
"The e-mail was racist, discriminatory, disgusting and offensive and I have had to direct yet another investigation into the actions of our members" it went on. He's referring to the seemingly endless string of accusations and criminal charges levelled at EPS in recent months.
Apparently the e-mail contained 10 rules on how to treat native people and doesn't sit well with local native leaders who are pressuring EPS to release its contents. That's not likely to happen and investigators may run into a 'wall of silence' if and when they try and get to the bottom of it. Several members appeared at a meeting of the Police Commission earlier sporting 'no rats' T-shirts-a picture of a rat in a circle with a line through it. The message of course- 'Don't rat out other members.'
I can't decide if these guys are that stupid or simply cocky enough to believe (with some justification) there will be no consequences for their actions. In either case they need to be dealt with severely, along with a police culture that permits, condones (implicitly or explicitly), and sometimes encourages bad behavior amongst its members.
Perhaps the EPS manpower shortage has something to do with the growing number of its members being assigned desk-duty jobs or administrative leave pending the outcome of ongoing investigations into their behavior-criminal and otherwise?
At any rate, the 'few tainted apples' theory is wearing mighty thin and perhaps it's time we started thinking in terms of 'pecks and bushels'.
This latest bit of nonsense follows on the heels of a number of other accusations, allegations and criminal charges. It was reported last week that another EPS member will stand trial on assault charges stemming from an incident outside the York Hotel; and local lawyer Tom Engel plans to sue EPS for inapropriately running his name through a police database sixteen times since 1999. Engel (like Edmonton Sun columnist Kerry Diotte and former Police Commission chair, Martin Ignasiuk) has been highly critical of police behavior in the past. Diotte and Ignasiuk were the subjects of a police sting operation to catch them driving drunk after a night out at the Overtime Bar and Grill.
Unfortunately, as every new revelation comes to light it's either swept under the carpet never to see the light of day, or hopelessly lost in internal investigations that go nowhere. The cases that actually make it into courtrooms are usually summarily dismissed with a scolding for the offending officer and some half-hearted recommendations from the presiding judge to prevent future occurrences.
Collusion between law enforcement and the courts is nothing new in Edmonton (the case of former Crown Attorney Arnold Piragoff and the murder trial of Jason Dix comes to mind) and is evident in the way police officers are dealt with by the courts and their own superiors.
This problem is not confined to Edmonton, either. Over the last couple of years, we've seen the same attitude and patterns of police behavior in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Calgary.
The problems with police culture are systemic and until they are addressed as such, don't expect an end to this nonsense anytime soon.
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