The battle between good and evil has been going on since the beginning of time.
My wise grandmother on my dad's side of the family used to say, "There is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of evil in the best of us."
I believe that to be true for the most part.
However, I struggle really hard finding the good in officers like Thomas Bounds and Monty Robinson.
The following story is not directly motorcycle related, however, it is, I believe important to the motorcycle community. Excessive force, lack of critical thinking and a bureaucracy that protects and appears to condone that type of behaviour is becoming far too common place.
Bill Berry is a hard of hearing mute who also has a breathing tube in his throat. He went to a Red Deer courthouse to pay a traffic ticket. He walked into the courthouse through an open door, not realizing he needed to go through security first. He walked to the counter to pay his ticket and a sheriff named Thomas Bounds walks up to him - Mr. Berry attempted to communicate with the officer that he did not understand what he was saying, the officer put this frail man in a bear hug and drug him back to the door. As a result, Mr. Berry collapsed, his breathing tube had come out.
Thomas Bounds has been fired but no charges will be laid, in spite of a ruling of excessive force, according to the news reports.
Here are some links to those reports:
Alberta Sheriff Thomas Bounds: Taking Insensitivity to an All-New Low | Christopher di Armani.com
Sheriff used 'excessive' force on deaf man, province rules - Calgary - CBC News
Edmonton AM Podcast - Feb 17, 2012
Here is one video showing Mr Barry going to the wicket - you can clearly see the open door that Mr Barry walks in through, and you can clearly see Mr. Barry attempting to sign to the officer that he does not understand and you can clearly see the officer man handle Mr. Berry.
Now, think back to Corporal Monty Robinson and the Robert Dziekanski taser incident.
Anything look familiar here?
Anything feel familiar here?
These are but a very few examples of what happens when officers do not use empathy, critical thinking or any kind of creative problem solving skills.
We saw it with the G20, with the Occupy Movement...and many many other incidences have been reported across the country.
A lot of where this attitude/mentality comes, I believe, is through the hiring process, the training process and the bureaucracy that protects it.
Look at the young people of our world - the entitlement attitude, the short tempers, the rudeness, the need for instant gratification - no not all young people are that way, but that mentality seems to have become more the norm than not.
Now realize that many of these "Peace" officers come from those generations - the direct result of the Young Offenders Act, the stripping of rights from parents to discipline their children, the lack of ability to discipline in our schools.
We are only now beginning to see the disastrous effects of the stripping away of our rights.
How much farther do our rights have to be eroded, how many more displays of non critical thinking, abuse of authority and excessive force do we have to see from our police services before we understand that the hiring practices and education of the police services in this country needs to change?
And don't even get me started on our law makers...
So, my questions for the day are:
Where do YOU stand on the direction that the laws in this country are taking?
And what are your thoughts on the training the people who enforce those laws get?
The new feeds are relatively quiet so far this morning but there are a few tid bits that may be of interest to you over at www.beltdrivebetty.com
I leave you with a little levity to put some balance in the day...all courtesy of my friends, either from their emails or from Facebook.
Have a fantastic Holiday Monday everyone
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
My wise grandmother on my dad's side of the family used to say, "There is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of evil in the best of us."
I believe that to be true for the most part.
However, I struggle really hard finding the good in officers like Thomas Bounds and Monty Robinson.
The following story is not directly motorcycle related, however, it is, I believe important to the motorcycle community. Excessive force, lack of critical thinking and a bureaucracy that protects and appears to condone that type of behaviour is becoming far too common place.
Bill Berry is a hard of hearing mute who also has a breathing tube in his throat. He went to a Red Deer courthouse to pay a traffic ticket. He walked into the courthouse through an open door, not realizing he needed to go through security first. He walked to the counter to pay his ticket and a sheriff named Thomas Bounds walks up to him - Mr. Berry attempted to communicate with the officer that he did not understand what he was saying, the officer put this frail man in a bear hug and drug him back to the door. As a result, Mr. Berry collapsed, his breathing tube had come out.
Thomas Bounds has been fired but no charges will be laid, in spite of a ruling of excessive force, according to the news reports.
Here are some links to those reports:
Alberta Sheriff Thomas Bounds: Taking Insensitivity to an All-New Low | Christopher di Armani.com
Sheriff used 'excessive' force on deaf man, province rules - Calgary - CBC News
Edmonton AM Podcast - Feb 17, 2012
Here is one video showing Mr Barry going to the wicket - you can clearly see the open door that Mr Barry walks in through, and you can clearly see Mr. Barry attempting to sign to the officer that he does not understand and you can clearly see the officer man handle Mr. Berry.
Now, think back to Corporal Monty Robinson and the Robert Dziekanski taser incident.
Anything look familiar here?
Anything feel familiar here?
These are but a very few examples of what happens when officers do not use empathy, critical thinking or any kind of creative problem solving skills.
We saw it with the G20, with the Occupy Movement...and many many other incidences have been reported across the country.
A lot of where this attitude/mentality comes, I believe, is through the hiring process, the training process and the bureaucracy that protects it.
Look at the young people of our world - the entitlement attitude, the short tempers, the rudeness, the need for instant gratification - no not all young people are that way, but that mentality seems to have become more the norm than not.
Now realize that many of these "Peace" officers come from those generations - the direct result of the Young Offenders Act, the stripping of rights from parents to discipline their children, the lack of ability to discipline in our schools.
We are only now beginning to see the disastrous effects of the stripping away of our rights.
How much farther do our rights have to be eroded, how many more displays of non critical thinking, abuse of authority and excessive force do we have to see from our police services before we understand that the hiring practices and education of the police services in this country needs to change?
And don't even get me started on our law makers...
So, my questions for the day are:
Where do YOU stand on the direction that the laws in this country are taking?
And what are your thoughts on the training the people who enforce those laws get?
The new feeds are relatively quiet so far this morning but there are a few tid bits that may be of interest to you over at www.beltdrivebetty.com
I leave you with a little levity to put some balance in the day...all courtesy of my friends, either from their emails or from Facebook.
Have a fantastic Holiday Monday everyone
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
Renee
ReplyDeleteI'm rereading Hunter s Thomson Hells Angels and there is this sheriff stopping the author riding his BSA.Then this sheriff says: glad you stopped cause the last one who didn't I followed as long as it took for him to make a mistake and then I ran over him.
I think this behavior of law enforcement officers isn't new. Unfortunately safety regulations and self protection are getting more important as common sense or compassion. Shoot first and ask later. Don't like it but the effects of growing egocentric thinking might be breaking through.