Ceffon The police need to be better By Garth McLennan hether it’s been the RCMP or municipal forces, police officers have really come under fire lately. And unlike most times, the harsh criticism currently being levied on the cops is completely justified. Pretty much everyone has heard of the Robert Dziekanski tragedy that happened at Vancouver International Airport back in 2007. A highly distressed Dziekanski was tasered multiple times after losing his cool by four RCMP officers and died within moments. Dziekanski, who spoke no English, had wandered around the secure area in the airport for nine hours before eventually blowing up and throwing furniture and computers. While he was clearly out of line, there was absolutely no call whatsoever for the police reaction. Video of the incident was captured and millions have now seen Dziekanski screaming in agony while suffering from both the repeated taser blasts as well as the four officers piling on him, including driving their knees into his throat. There was massive public outrage in the aftermath of the incident, which was compounded by the announcement that the four officers responsible would not face criminal charges. Unbelievably, one of the officers involved in the tasering of Dziekanski, Cpl. Benjamin Robinson, drove home drunk with his kids in the car back in October of 2008. On the way, travelling at high speeds, he smashed into 21- year-old motorcyclist Orion Hutchinson and killed him. Without even checking to see of Hutchinson could be helped or saved, Robinson fled the scene. Recently, things got even worse when three off-duty officers, one each from the municipal forces of West Vancouver, Delta and New Westminster allegedly robbed and viciously beat 47-year-old newspaper deliveryman Phil Khan outside of the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Vancouver. The three officers, two of whom have now been charged, are reported to have savagely beaten Khan while shouting racial slurs at him. Most often the phrase, “We don’t like brown people” was uttered. Kahn has engaged all three in lawsuits and will quite likely be suing their respective departments as well. The scene was recorded on the Hyatt’s security video and the taxi driver who dropped the officers off was in full view of everything. While Khan was being kicked and punched in the head he is said to have screamed for help from the police, to which the officers allegedly replied, “We are the police.” Khan’s cell phone and $200 were stolen. Constable Scott Klassen of New Westminster has been suspended with pay, essentially a vacation, and the other two involved have been assigned to desk duty. Honestly, that is an absolute disgrace. I fully support the notion that everyone should get their day in court but with the already overwhelming evidence and as many as nine witnesses, things appear to be pretty cut and dried. At the very least all three of the officers should have been suspended indefinitely without pay. One of the biggest issues the public has with cases such as this is that the police investigate themselves, which has led to the not-so-unwarranted suspicion that offending police officers get an easier ride than anyone else. When you consider the Dziekanski file, it isn’t hard to see why people tend to think that way. The fact is most police are good cops. They do exactly what they’ ve been trained to do, protect us. The problem is that when some of the bad apples do things like the ones listed above, the public perception of the police becomes one of intense mistrust and suspicion. If anyone is to have any faith left in the justice system, these cops should be tried and sentenced like anyone else would be. If they are let off the hook or swept under the rug the public backlash will be incredible, and if that happens, then the police will have no one to blame but themselves. | got a taste of freedom and | want it back! By Wendy A. Case of real freedom. Due to the construction on the Pattullo Bridge after the fire on the Surrey side of the bridge, TransLink was forced to run the SkyTrain earlier in order to ease the burden on the Alex Fraser and Port Mann bridges. The service change was expected to last up to four weeks, and was an unbelievably good thing for my coworkers and me. Some of our morning staff come from as far away as Surrey, and normally that means that they can get to the store around 5:30 a.m., but as our store opens at 6:00 a.m. it means that we often open late and are cranky at that. The service change allowed all of us to get to the store by 5:15. It was a godsend even for those of us who live in Vancouver because it meant that you didn’t have to wait twenty minutes between H or one week in January, transit users got a taste buses in the negative temperatures. However, the service change was only in effect for one week. That week was paradise, but it was cruelly ripped away. The fact that TransLink has dismissed longer hours for the SkyTrain has long been the topic of many Facebook groups and petitions. The amazing response to the emergency hours instituted during that week should be a clue to TransLink; early morning Skytrain service is viable. People will take it if it’s available. It just takes a little thought and ingenuity. Please, for the sake of us transit users, 10 please bring it back. Hell, go a step further and just give us 24-hour service. It’d be great for all those people who leave the downtown clubs drunk at 2 a.m. Having been there with a large group I can tell you, it’s not easy to get a cab at that time of night. Even if you’re lucky and you get one, you’ll be hard pressed to get them to go outside of Vancouver. Why not give people an option other than paying for an extremely expensive cab or driving home drunk? Add in the environmentally friendly aspect and that could be part of the B.C. Liberals’ election campaign. A nice warm and fuzzy transit package for all us transit users. I tell you, they’d have my vote. In the meantime, though, I’m a lot more dissatisfied with my commute. It leaves me out in the cold. Having had a taste of freedom, you can never really be satisfied with captivity again. So, thank you, TransLink for giving me a glimpse of how good it can be. Now I’m asking, can you make it that good all the time?