Good Cops, Bad Cops

Shoot first and ask questions later, it almost seems like that's the pattern of 21st century policing. Oh, but that's in the States, isn't it? They're getting tons of negative media attention these days. Canadian police forces are much better - aren't they?  Hmmm. What about the man in the Vancouver airport who spoke no English and was acting in an agitated manner. Weren't there a sufficient number of police present to bring him down without resorting to the excessive use of tasers which resulted in his death? What of the returned soldier with PTSD who was shot when he approached police carrying, not wielding, a hatchet (he had been chopping wood)?  What about the way college students, protesting tuition hikes, were treated in Quebec? What about racial profiling?

True, we hear fewer horror stories up here in the north, but our population is a great deal smaller as well.  There are probably fewer police/citizen confrontations due to less crime, less poverty, a different racial mix, fewer mass protests, and fewer mega-cities. That doesn't mean our police forces are never subject to violent out-of-control situations, or, when confronted with these situations, that they act completely differently than their US counterparts. Improper police actions may well be a result of fear, perhaps rightly so - fear for their own lives, possibly for the lives of bystanders. Policemen and women are, after all, not all ninjas, bodybuilders, sharpshooters and psychologists. They may not be as well trained as they should be. Or maybe it's like all us folks who take first aide courses at the workplace.  Good information, with no opportunity to practice, can easily be forgotten, and no one really knows how they will respond in a life threatening situation until they find themselves in one.

I have a theory founded only on my own observations, no facts, dates, references, just an idea of mine.  I think police brutality is linked to television.  I watch lots of Netflix, lots of police detective series, and I've noticed a vast difference between most of the series produced in the States and those produced in Britain and Canada. There's graphic violence, rampant killing, insane car chases, corruption, and seemingly unlimited police power on the American shows. There's smart, socially minded neighborhood cops with billy clubs, no guns, on the British shows. And then there's helpful, respectful Canadian police forces portrayed on CBC sponsored shows.

Violence has become embedded in our television and movies. We are not spared one single gruesome detail. We routinely watch violent criminals beat the living hell out of their competition and traitors among their ranks. We watch equally violent police forces beat the hell out of suspected criminals to obtain information or while arresting them. We watch insane car chases leaving absolute mayhem in their wake and never think about the destruction of property or resultant death and/or maiming of those unfortunate folks who happen to get in the way. We watch assassins, police brutality, murder, gang killings, war crimes - all in high definition so we won't miss a single detail.  If this violence was a normal part of our daily lives we'd freak out, but on the screen we seem to be immune to it all. That doesn't mean it has no effect on our subconscious mind. Maybe Canadians are watching too much American TV! Does TV reflect society or form it? Like they say, what comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Are police forces being influenced by the attitudes and methods on TV?  Do they want to be the all powerful "good guys" wielding unlimited resources to catch the low life "scum bags". Are they recruiting people with control issues into their ranks? Continuous media bombardment is teaching the public to accept police brutality as normal. But we need to realize that the "good cops" are still out there.

TV is make believe. The amazing feats of the crime scene investigators, the DNA tests, the nearly magical conclusions drawn from little bits of fibre, hair, blood spatter - this all makes for good TV but in reality resources like that are very costly, slow to access, and likely limited to major cases. Policing is mostly routine. It's the non-routine exceptions that rise to become sensational news. The Canadian public and the police need to rekindle and re-earn that respect we once had for one another. If we are stopped on the highway for, let's say, a taillight out, we should expect to be greeted by a polite, respectful police officer - not someone with a "bad ass" attitude or a chip on his shoulder. And we in turn should treat our police with respect. It's a hard job, sometimes dangerous, sometimes boring, sometimes rewarding, sometimes not so much. It may be an outdated and naive idea, but wouldn't it be nice if we could bring back that kind, helpful policeman we learned about when we were kids? You know, the ones teachers taught us about in that social studies unit on community helpers...