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[video]http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/01/21/bc-excessive-force-police-gordon.html[/video]
A B.C. criminologist says recent examples of alleged excessive use of force by police are an indication that officers have become too quick to resort to violence.
After viewing a video of an apprehended man on his hands and knees being kicked in the face by Kelowna RCMP Const. Geoff Mantler Jan. 7, Simon Fraser University criminologist Rob Gordon said police training and attitudes are failing the public.
"This seems to be increasingly a problem across the board," said Gordon. "And [it's] something that has to be addressed … in this province."
Gordon, also a former police inspector, said another problem is a lack of mentoring by senior officers, who should encourage verbal de-escalation, not violence.
"What appears to be happening — and it's not just the RCMP, it's the municipal forces as well — is that we're generating a whole breed of cowboys."
Mantler has also been named in another complaint by a Kelowna man who alleges the officer repeatedly punched him in the face without provocation during an arrest in August.
Jeremy Packer said he was stopped by Mantler and another officer who suspected him of stealing a boat. Packer said that, with guns drawn, the officers ordered him out of his truck but that Mantler started punching him before he could exit the vehicle and after he'd gotten out of it.
"You got your hands up, you're on the ground, and the guy has to get a blow in," said Packer. "It's just ridiculous, I think."
RCMP acknowledged on Friday that Packer did file a complaint in November and that it's still under investigation.
Video recordings crucial
When asked why Mantler wasn't pulled off active duty after the first complaint, RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Annie Linteau said the first incident was crucially different from the second, in that there was no visual recording available.
"What's happened is right there," Linteau said of the Jan. 7 incident. "There's no question — the video is a valuable piece of evidence."
The Abbotsford police reviewed the Jan. 7 arrest and have recommended that Mantler be charged with assault.
The case has yet to be heard and it has not been proven that Mantler is guilty of any offence. He also will face an internal RCMP code of conduct inquiry.
Gordon said recruitment by the RCMP also has been a problem, prompting the national force to institute an accelerated application policy, which has cut the hiring and training process from 330 days to 83 days.
He also points to recent purchases of armoured vehicles by local RCMP and Vancouver police as further evidence of the increasing militarization of B.C. police forces.
"In city like Vancouver, there is no justification [for that]," he said.
One remedy for the increase in reports of excessive force is for police to play these recorded incidents repeatedly to recruits as well as to police veterans to drive home how inappropriate and counterproductive such tactics are, Gordon said.
He said police have to change their mindset and transition from being a police force to more of a police service.
A B.C. criminologist says recent examples of alleged excessive use of force by police are an indication that officers have become too quick to resort to violence.
After viewing a video of an apprehended man on his hands and knees being kicked in the face by Kelowna RCMP Const. Geoff Mantler Jan. 7, Simon Fraser University criminologist Rob Gordon said police training and attitudes are failing the public.
"This seems to be increasingly a problem across the board," said Gordon. "And [it's] something that has to be addressed … in this province."
Gordon, also a former police inspector, said another problem is a lack of mentoring by senior officers, who should encourage verbal de-escalation, not violence.
"What appears to be happening — and it's not just the RCMP, it's the municipal forces as well — is that we're generating a whole breed of cowboys."
Mantler has also been named in another complaint by a Kelowna man who alleges the officer repeatedly punched him in the face without provocation during an arrest in August.
Jeremy Packer said he was stopped by Mantler and another officer who suspected him of stealing a boat. Packer said that, with guns drawn, the officers ordered him out of his truck but that Mantler started punching him before he could exit the vehicle and after he'd gotten out of it.
"You got your hands up, you're on the ground, and the guy has to get a blow in," said Packer. "It's just ridiculous, I think."
RCMP acknowledged on Friday that Packer did file a complaint in November and that it's still under investigation.
Video recordings crucial
When asked why Mantler wasn't pulled off active duty after the first complaint, RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Annie Linteau said the first incident was crucially different from the second, in that there was no visual recording available.
"What's happened is right there," Linteau said of the Jan. 7 incident. "There's no question — the video is a valuable piece of evidence."
The Abbotsford police reviewed the Jan. 7 arrest and have recommended that Mantler be charged with assault.
The case has yet to be heard and it has not been proven that Mantler is guilty of any offence. He also will face an internal RCMP code of conduct inquiry.
Gordon said recruitment by the RCMP also has been a problem, prompting the national force to institute an accelerated application policy, which has cut the hiring and training process from 330 days to 83 days.
He also points to recent purchases of armoured vehicles by local RCMP and Vancouver police as further evidence of the increasing militarization of B.C. police forces.
"In city like Vancouver, there is no justification [for that]," he said.
One remedy for the increase in reports of excessive force is for police to play these recorded incidents repeatedly to recruits as well as to police veterans to drive home how inappropriate and counterproductive such tactics are, Gordon said.
He said police have to change their mindset and transition from being a police force to more of a police service.
