Well someone decided to order up 20+ centimeters of snow. That basically nixed my going into my regular job, so with a free day I figure why not feature one of my favorite conversations here on the blog.
While this is a favorite it is not a light topic. The horrific death of George Floyd a black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis Police officers sparked huge riots and cost the MPD one of they're precincts. In Canada Sammy Yatim was shot and killed on a Toronto transit vehicle and most recently Choudry, Ejaz Ahmed who died at the hands of police in Mississauga during a supposed wellness check lit a fuse. Choudrys death caused an uproar in the community and led to widespread condemnation of how police handle people with mental illness. Yatim's death nearly ended with a near breach of a police station in Toronto by protestors. In Montreal Nord a riot was the result after Fredy Villnaueva was killed, while playing dice in a park.
Also under fire are the agencies that are supposed to police the police, back in the summer of 2020 the SIU was featured in a CBC article that looked at the concerns of pro police bias in the organization. in 2015 ASIRT which is Alberta's police watchdog had to defend itself against the pro police bias allegation. In Quebec the claim is that the police watchdog is more or less a toothless organization that can do little to hold police accountable and is not very transparent. Though on it's site it clearly states that they have the same powers as police, which means they can lay charges just like ASIRT and the SIU.
The key issue is that officers are not legally required to speak to these agencies or hand case notes over to them and more often than not they are cleared of all liability with little recourse left for the loved ones of those killed by police in Canada. In the United stated police investigate other police. In both countries police departments have internal teams that will investigate officers for alleged wrong doing. The outcomes are not made public.
Which leads me to the conversation I had with D. Brian Burghart. We talked about police shooting stats in the August 2015 post that is linked below. It was a real interesting chat and I thought it might be a good time to feature this article again.
Police Shootings Candid Conversation.
List of police shootings in Canada
CBC Cops Policing Cops
CBC Deadly Force
C.T.
Look for new articles to come soon here on Candid Conversation.
