Mar 09
25

Short, Sweet & to the Point

6 Comments

I watched the news last night when I probably shouldn’t have: 

We’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t.

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This entry was posted on March 25, 2009 at 8:00 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in A Day in the Life Code Four - Stories from Patrol by Sandra 6 Comments

6 Responses to "Short, Sweet & to the Point"

  • J. Fleming says:
    March 25, 2009 at 9:42 am

    I remember the very first information session that I went to for a police force. It was for the RCMP, held in Victoria. I was there for my husband’s sake…and am now in the middle of the application process myself. And looking at VPD, too, actually. Heh. But anyway, the thing that I remember most is what the Constable said about the media – that it takes a healthy chunk out of police organizations no matter what happens. It’s really unfortunate.

    I’m assuming that what you’re referring to here is the case where a man was shot by two officers when he came at them with an exacto knife (and who ended up being the wrong suspect)? It is an unfortunate case, I must admit, but the public really does not know the full story (and still being only an applicant, neither do I). Having done so much research into police training, however, I’m sure that the officers were well-trained and had a good cause to react the way they did. I hope all will go well for them. Going through the media-grinder can be tough.

  • C. Nguyen says:
    March 25, 2009 at 10:35 am

    Regarding the media in this whole incident, we have to remember that the news is no longer about reporting an unbiased truth. This whole industry is about business and hence ratings and sales are the primary objective. Any inflammatory commentary or story or fact taken out of context to create controversy is what sells. These jagged shards of media shrapnel is meant to cut at the heart of the police, incite the anger of the ill informed public and provide a platform for the vocal biased interest groups.

    To have these members tried in the court of public opinion is absurd since they themselves chose to serve the very public that would condemn them. Then to magnify the ludicrous nature of this whole news story is that credibility is being projected on one “witness” who admitted to being high on “medicinal marijuana” when he apparently captured this whole event on his cell phone. In his impaired state of mind he then claims that he was subjected to a horrendous act of an unidentified police officer erasing his footage at the scene.

    I am hoping that reasonable and sensible people look beyond the tactics of the news media and the vocal interest groups. I hope that they realize that what these officers do day in and day out is by choice and that the majority of the public would admit that they would not have the courage to do.

    In the end when the truth comes out and the investigations find no fault in these officers’ actions, I guarantee it will not be headline news in a positive manner. Officer Glendinning is right, the police are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Thank goodness they don’t do their jobs because they seek public approval but instead, they do their jobs because for them, it is the right thing to do.

  • Rose says:
    March 25, 2009 at 1:52 pm

    It makes me sick to see what the media does to the police. I’m all for freedom of the press, but they go way beyond freedom, they slant their stories to depict the police in the worst possible light every damn time.
    Makes you wonder who they plan to call when trouble shows up at their own doors. Makes you wonder if there will be anyone left to take call when the police just throw in the towel. Who could blame them. what a ridiculously thankless job.
    Thanks for hanging in there VPD, and good luck to these officers

  • DC says:
    March 25, 2009 at 3:53 pm

    There’s definitely a chasm that has grown in the relations between the police and public because of some recent events. I’m going to be slightly controversial here given this is an official police blog but I hope it comes off as respectful to the debate.

    The RCMP handling of the Dziekanski is a key event in the growing public suspicion of police accountability. For many of us it wasn’t the actions of the officers on the scene that was the most disturbing, it was reconciling the official RCMP statement and statements made by the officers to investigators with the video that came out later. This is not simply arm-chair quarterbacking by the “ill informed public”. It’s seeing the RCMP report some critical facts completely wrong to make the incident appear more favourable to the police action. Some, such as the statement that he was throwing chairs in the presence of police or that he had to be wrestled to the ground are complete fabrications.

    So with the recent incident in Vancouver, when the public hears that the man “advanced on the officers” with an xacto knife we automatically think back to the misleading and erroneous police statements on the Dziekanski incident.

    This, of course, is completely unfair to the officers involved in the recent shooting incident in Vancouver .

  • slamdunk says:
    March 25, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    Interesting comments.

    I think these are situations that all agencies and communities struggle with. I am always pleased to see departments that have strong citizen police academies or other similar initiatives that provide educational information and help citizens better understand deadly force incidents from a police perspective.

  • Sandra says:
    March 25, 2009 at 9:56 pm

    Good comments everyone.

    DC – your comments are just another side to the debate, and I didn’t see them as too controversial. In fact, I’m glad you chose to join the conversation as you give another perspective.

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