Police actions at a Moncton-area memorial ride have left several motorcyclists unhappy and lodging a formal complaint, CTV reports.
The ride was in memory of Erin Robertson, a well-known rider in Atlantic Canada, and hundreds of motorcyclists attended. However, some riders say they ended up receiving tickets during the May 22 event, and they claim the officer who handed them out was less than courteous, even cursing them. Others said the officer’s actions during the process put them in danger.
It sounds as if the officer’s actions had something to do with riders interacting with the flow of car traffic. For the funeral-type procession, it seems riders might have been blocking intersections to let the cars flow by uninterrupted. CTV says car drivers have also come forward to complain about the officer’s actions, as they thought it was an inappropriate reaction to a funeral procession.
According to CTV, more than 50 people have complained and more than 20 have made statements regarding the officer’s actions. The Codiac RCMP detachment says they are investigating and have set up a meeting with the funeral procession organizers to find a resolution to the matter.
So, if I am to understand this correctly, the contested actions were undertaken by a single policeman, yes? If so, re-read the last paragraph of the report, take a hit of your usual intoxicant & regain your perspective on life.
Oh yes, and as for some people’s lamenting the age in which we live, you can choose how you react to reality but you do not get to actually choose your own reality. Policing has always been only as good as the actual cop w/ whom you might interact. Not that long ago (pre-Internet) there was an acceptance, even encouragement, of the brutalisation of those who chose to live their lives not conforming to the rule of law. You wanna go back to that? Troublemakers were taken for long rides outta town to dead ends in the woods. Before pepper spray, Tasers & iPhones, policemen only had batons & fists. Resist them then & the 1st stop was always the ER before getting to the jail. That was ‘best case’. Police are required to respond to our world as it currently is, not how it was or how YOU want it to be.
If you think for one second that the final paragraph of the report would have occurred ‘back in the day’ concerning a public complaint about an officer’s enforcement actions (no matter how incorrect, outrageous or pug-headed) then you are wrong. The Staff Sergeant would have (at best) patiently ‘listened to your whining’ for s few minutes before telling you to take it to Court & then tossed you out of ‘his office’. Yeah, from time to time, people were actually bum’s rushed right out the front door. Think that happens now…? The good old days weren’t.
John.
Before the 80’s, Officers of the Peace were respected. As officers, they wore a uniform that was to be clean and pressed. Their boots and leather duty belt were to be shined. Their cap worn straight. Clean shaven and neatly trimmed hair. Their name tag was just under their badge, both proudly displayed on their breast. They looked like dignified, respectable Officers. And they commanded respect, as much with their smile as their professional appearance. They worked the neighbourhoods where they lived, or close to them. They chose this profession out of sense of duty and care. They were approachable and friendly as they walked or slowly drove on patrol. If you were caught not respecting the peace, they would chastise and educate. If you showed the proper remorse, and gave your word to be a better citizen, you were free to go about your business. They would keep an eye on you, politely, for the next little while to ensure you keep your word. But your freedom was not threatened.
Since then, they have evolved into Law Enforcement Officers. They hung up their uniforms and donned BDU’s, body armour, and other tactical equipment. They now have better tactical gear than front line troops are issued when going into battle. Now, the average LEO looks like a tactical assault trooper, a SWAT team member, a member of a dictators private guard. They can have a beard, or wear various different headdress. The uniform is gone. Their name tags and badges are hidden away, not that you could see them for the bright light being shined in your eyes to intentionally blind you. Often the smallest indiscretion will result in handcuffs and charges. The fines and fees have risen to an absurd level, so otherwise decent citizens run in fear from them. Today, many LEO’s are nothing more than armed, tax collecting thugs, enforcing the letter of the law regardless of the severity of the actual infraction.
With all these changes, the police have lost our respect, but gained our fear and mistrust.
I don’t think the word ‘unhappy’ is the one the bikers are using. Hopefully this crap isn’t what they are now teaching these ‘Officers of the Law’ out in Regina but they way things are going it certainly wouldn’t surprise me. It may soon be difficult to differentiate as to who is military and who is a COP.