Do you think the RCMP is different from any other police force?
Did you watch the O.J. Simpson trial, and see Mark Furman lie through his teeth?
As a lawyer who used to practice criminal law, and who still has ongoing involvement in dealing with police matters, I can tell you, without a shred of doubt, the nature of the problem.
Polarization.
The sense of "us" versus "them".
The institutionalization of the "thin blue line".
Why is this?
Well. In some respects the RCMP inquiry in question is a good example.
Everyone wants a scape goat. And I hate to say it, but greasy lawyers are quite adept at taking a small issue and making it a big issue.
In ways that cause people to lose jobs and to be demoted.
We send a message through inquiries like this, and the current charade in Ottawa, that "We want you until we want to throw you under a bus."
And then we stand back and act all shocked when the realization hits us betweent he eyes that the same people we pay to carry guns, deep down, despise us.
They look at us, in a great respect, like Jack Nicholson looked at Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men."
The hypocricy of the public sickens them. So, they do the job they feel trained to do, and when it goes sideways, they have no faith that their difficult circumstances will be fairly understood - no, they know better.
They know that the wolves are out there with their teeth ready to sink into their throats, and they circle and say whatever they think they need to say to protect themselves.
Because there is no one there to protect them.
Because they are the last line of their own defence.
Do you think the RCMP is different from any other police force?
ReplyDeleteDid you watch the O.J. Simpson trial, and see Mark Furman lie through his teeth?
As a lawyer who used to practice criminal law, and who still has ongoing involvement in dealing with police matters, I can tell you, without a shred of doubt, the nature of the problem.
Polarization.
The sense of "us" versus "them".
The institutionalization of the "thin blue line".
Why is this?
Well. In some respects the RCMP inquiry in question is a good example.
Everyone wants a scape goat. And I hate to say it, but greasy lawyers are quite adept at taking a small issue and making it a big issue.
In ways that cause people to lose jobs and to be demoted.
We send a message through inquiries like this, and the current charade in Ottawa, that "We want you until we want to throw you under a bus."
And then we stand back and act all shocked when the realization hits us betweent he eyes that the same people we pay to carry guns, deep down, despise us.
They look at us, in a great respect, like Jack Nicholson looked at Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men."
The hypocricy of the public sickens them. So, they do the job they feel trained to do, and when it goes sideways, they have no faith that their difficult circumstances will be fairly understood - no, they know better.
They know that the wolves are out there with their teeth ready to sink into their throats, and they circle and say whatever they think they need to say to protect themselves.
Because there is no one there to protect them.
Because they are the last line of their own defence.
Because it's US and it's THEM.
Polarization.
ReplyDeleteThe sense of "us" versus "them".
No it isn't. It's cases like the Dziekański killing.
*sheesh* It's not that hard.
Yes, the RCMP is very different than civilian constabularies. It is a military regiment handed an inappropriate mandate for urban policing.
ReplyDeleteThe us vs. them mentality will go away when all police stop acting like the HA and other gangs.