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VPD don't get the respect they deserve

By Garth McLennan

 

AK. citizens of Vancouver, most of |

us should feel ashamed of ourselves.
The attitude that we show towards our
police force is absolutely disgusting.
Every time I hear some angry and
ignorant comment towards our police
force I get a fresh wave of fury.

Now I have no problem with
questioning how things are run and
operated. The right to understand the
workings of our country is one of the
things that makes our nation great.

But what drives me totally crazy is the
amount of hatred people show the ones
paid to protect them. I have firsthand
knowledge of how valuable the police
can be. They’ve saved my life, and I
can honestly say that there is a strong
possibility | would not be here today if
not for the dedication and commitment
that they have shown.

Take the example of the recent
incident of Robert Dziekanski. The
Polish immigrant died on October
14 after being tasered by police.
Predictably, the public outcry started
immediately. Police are out of control.
Police are abusing their power. On and
on it went. On very few occasions did
people take notice as to why Dziekanski
was tasered.

Dziekanski had flown over from

Poland to begin a new life in Vancouver.

Oddly, his flight had arrived 10 hours
before his incident with police, he had
cleared customs, and had left the airport
and come back.

Police were called to the scene
when Dziekanski became violent,
throwing chairs and trashing computer
equipment. Dziekanski.spoke no
English and it is still unclear as to the
reason for his anger. He suffered no
mental health problems. After multiple
attempts to calm him, Dziekanski
showed no signs of calming down and
continued to scream and destroy airport
property. After repeated attempts to
calm him, police tasered Dziekanski.

Now, people are outraged that

police employed the taser to subdue
Dziekanski. Let me ask you this. In a
post-9/11 world, in a world where sky
terrorism was responsible for one of the
most horrific episodes in human history,
why is it so hard to-accept the police
taking aggressive action? This occurred
in the middle of a busy, international
airport that has travel connections to
every major city on the globe. Are

you telling me that this shouldn’t be

. taken into account when someone

becomes violent and is wrecking things,
frightening other travelers?

Now not for a moment am |
suggesting that Dziekanski deserved to
die. Not for a second. What happened to
him was extremely unfortunate and very
sad. However, I don’t believe that police
tasered him with the intent of killing
him. They wanted to subdue him, and in
many occurrences, tasers have proved
to work.

Some have suggested that police
should have tackled him and taken him.
down. Police carry So best there is

 

every chance that a hostile individual
could have seized one of them had a
close contact scuffle ensued. Also, do
you think that the public would go any
easier on the police had Dziekanski died
from a kick to the face or punch to the
head? No, the public would have called
for the heads of the officers who did it.
Others have suggested that police
should have called for an interpreter

language he speaks? Also, what if, had
they known his language, an interpreter
not been immediately available? It
wasn’t like the police had time to
spare. What were they supposed to
say to the screaming man who they
couldn’t understand and who cbuldn’t
understand them?

“Um, excuse me, sir? Do you think

~ that you could just hold tight until an

interpreter gets here? By all means keep
doing what you’re doing, keep attacking
things and yelling at the top of your
lungs. It shouldn’t take too long. Oh, I
forgot, you can’t understand me.”

Right, that would work.

One moron even suggested that
police should have offered Dziekanski
a glass of water, as he might be
dehydrated from his long flight.

Look, I know this guy is trying to
come up with a reasonable alternative,
but that is honestly the stupidest thing I
have ever heard. I mean come on, offer
him a glass of water? To the shouting
guy who doesn’t speak English and

   

can’t be calmed? Really, how can

you believe, even for a second, that
that sounds. remotely intelligent or
plausible? Plus, Dziekanski’s flight
ended ten hours beforehand. Ten hours!
Also, believe me, contrary to popular
belief, trans-Atlantic flights aren’t
dehydrating or frustrating enough to
warrant the behavior that Dziekanski
displayed.

“To condemn the entire force based on
just a few incidents is ridiculous.”

to calm the Dziekanski. Excuse

me, but how could this have been
accomplished? This was an extremely
tense, pressure packed situation
involving airport security with an
aggressive person. Dziekanski spoke
no English whatsoever, so how could
police possibly have known what

And it’s not just this isolated
incident. Police are always under the
public microscope and every decision
they make is highly scrutinized.
Whenever a police officer uses his
gun, it’s front-page news. Every time.
And almost every time, the officer
in question is called to be put under

review and investigation; regardless

of the fact that it could have been in

a life-threatening situation. A good
example is the case of Paul Boyd,

the man who suffered from bipolar
disease and was wielding a chain and
attacking police. Police had'no.way of
knowing that Boyd was mentally ill,
they backed away from him for two full
blocks, trying to calm him down, before
fatally shooting him after he struck and

‘knocked out two officers.

Think about it. This guy, who is
trying to kill you, remember that, he is
literally trying to kill you, with a heavy
chain, has knocked out and wounded
two fellow officers. People you werk
with, You have done everything in your
power to calm him down, yet he keeps
coming, threatening your life, the lives

‘of your co-workers, and the lives of

everyone around you, what would you
have done? What would most people
have done? Ironically, people at the
time said that tasers should have been
used. Now isn’t that ironic. It’s more
than a bit hypocritical there, don’t you
think?

Some have said that police should
have shot him in the knee or shoulder.
That I can agree with. However, it
is a proven and well known fact that
drugged-out people can’t always been
taken down with a perimeter shot. Now,
Boyd was not on anything, but he was
severely mentally ill, screaming, and
rapidly advancing on police. The police
can’t tell the difference between him
and someone high on drugs. When you
think about it, most can’t. All they knew
was that this psycho swinging a chain
was attacking them and had already hurt
their fellow officers.

Now I am not saying that every cop
is perfect. Without a doubt, some police
officers go way over the line, and they
should be reprimanded. But to condemn
the entire force based on several
incidents is ridiculous. The police did
what they felt was right at the time and
what they felt was in the best interests
of the public. The fact that they didn’t
stop and worry about all of the horrible
things that would be said and written on
them is commendable in itself.

Sometimes, mistakes happen. The
police are human, just like you and me.
These are men and women who put
their lives on the line for us every single
day. They aren’t paid handsomely, and
it is difficult to become a cop.

So for all the people out there
who sit on a pedestal slandering and
insulting the police, I would like to see
you do better. You have no possible way
of knowing how you would react in
such a situation, and therefore, no right
to act so vehemently. So treat our police
officers with some respect, they deserve
better.

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