The officer who was alleged to have inflicted the most serious injuries on Hay, Ryan Tocher, was charged with his assault but later had those charges dismissed, despite the fact that the presiding judge believed police had engaged in a coverup.
As reported in today's Spectator, Hay initiated a lawsuit against "more than 20 Hamilton police officers, Chief Glenn De Caire and the police board in August. His statement of claim alleges he was falsely arrested, imprisoned and hurt by police using excessive force. The short, slender man claims he still suffers from “debilitating” injuries sustained during the raid."
The Hamilton Police Force is asking the court to dismiss the suit, claiming that "Hay “provoked the application of force” by police during the raid." As I recall, Po's 'provocation' was to try to resist an unwarranted arrest, a resistance no doubt quite limited by his slight 59-year-old frame. This attempt to blame the victim for his injuries is especially odious, given how it harkens back to a time when women were often said to have been 'asking for it' when they were brutally raped.
However, the Hamilton Police are attempting to cover all of their bases. Should this request to have the suit tossed fail, they are also asking "the court to order the [currently unemployed] 59-year-old to pay legal costs for the defendants."
Not all tools of intimidation are physical.
Please sign this petition urging Prime Minister Harper to stop threatening Michaela Keyserlingk and to stop exporting asbestos.
It is a sad state of affairs when Hamilton Police Services (HPS) starts blaming the victim. So much for Chief Glenn De Caire's community initiatives. Maybe they should instead focus their attention on training their officers better. Start by getting them to read HPS's mission statement
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hamiltonpolice.on.ca/HPS/AboutHPS/VisionMissionValuesEthics.htm
Then some lessons on surveillance (ie: get the right apartment in the first place). Also some classes on professionalism, which Constable Ryan Tocher seems to be severely lacking. Then end with some classes on ethics that Detective Constables Chris Camalleri, Christopher Button and Angela Weston could take - yes Angela saying "You don't recall" is the same as lying.
One of the most annoying parts of this whole incident is that if Po La Hay wins the civil suit, this is going to cost us tax payers immensely. If Constable Ryan Tocher would just have admitted his mistake, or Detective Constables Chris Camalleri, Christopher Button and Angela Weston would have not lied instead of staying true to the "Blue Code of Silence", my hard working tax dollars wouldn't have to pay for the mistakes of these amateurish Hamilton Police Service (HPS) constables.
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I think your recommendations are well-worth serious consideration. I can't help but wonder, however, whether the Hamilton Police Services Board is also part of the problem. Unlike the Toronto Board, which has recently shown a surprising bit of intestinal fortitude by denying Chief Bill Blair's recommendation for promotion of nine officers who removed their name tags during the G20 violation of Charter Rights, Hamilton's Board Chair, Nancy DiGregorio, is on record as saying that she sees the board's role as supporting the police. Funny, I always thought it was to provide civilian oversight.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the measures you suggest have a chance of coming into effect if the Hamilton Board starts doing its job, rather than being cheerleaders for the constabulary.
Lorne, I was shocked. I didn't know the TPS board had that much power.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the design of the HPS board - it should definitely be composed of impartial bodies that are more concerned about public safety than the reputation of the HPS constables (wow that just sounds wrong).
Oh and don't forget they will have no problem paying out the damages from the Po La Hay civil case with our tax dollars. The HPS budget is debated behind closed doors, in secret, since it is considered an “intimate financial and personal matter”. I like to think of it as giving an allowance to a teenage son or daughter - you really have no control on how the spend it, but hope for the best.
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Po's lawsuit is the tip of the iceberg so to speak.
ReplyDeleteWatch for Junior's lawsuit and a few others in the coming months. I also hope that the Chinnery family launches their wrongful death suit and as well what about the Corey Rodger's incident. These are just a few of the bills the Hamilton taxpayer can look forward to.
When are we, the citizens of Hamilton, going to demand accountability from our police force?
When we demand accountability from HPS we can look forward to a reduction of monies paid out for negligent acts.