Police State

I'm not sure how many people know what I did for a living prior to my recent retirement, but for a while I was one of the original workers at Durham mobile crisis team.  We would respond to mental health crises, being called by a client, family, any concerned person, and sometimes the police.  That was over 20 years ago, and since I've been a community mental health worker, and some degree of crisis response is part of the job.   

I have encountered a few cops who actually had excellent de escalation skills.  This however would not be the norm.  They may have taken extra mental health training, but they would have done that because they were probably just had a good instinct for it in the first place.

The core of their training, which is to move in and take control of a situation, often by using a loud voice is opposite to what will end up working.  I don't know the details of the Malton shooting, but less is best, quieter is best, is what's going to work if it's going to work.  I happened to be a bit close to the Andrew Locu shooting for reasons I can't discuss.  I can say with about 98% certainty that had I been called instead of the police, (there would have been someone like me on call) it would have been settled pretty easily.   I have stood on the pointy end of a knife, and managed a good outcome without getting even especially nervous.

The use of voice is a huge tool.  especially if it's the only one you brought with you.  I watched the Sammy Yatim shooting footage a number of times. There were a number of things done wrong, but the way the cop shouted to drop his knife absolutely guaranteed he would not.  Rule # 1, help the person feel safe.  The cop was going beyong loud, he was downright shrill, and should not have been taking the point on this.

I could go on.  Mental health mobile crisis teams are now in pretty much every urban area, but are streched pretty thin.  (they will generally have a specially trained cop as part of them, but it's not a police initiative, and he/she will be guided by a mental health professional.  They're actually pretty good)  Anyway, the police are not really well trained for this, and often their training is downright counter productive.  Like I said, some who are generally calmer by nature and have a bit of sense do really well, but this isn't a job for cops.

How do you know if someone commiting a minor theft or mugging has remorse or not? And why is full force response required for crimes that if taken to court would never result in a life sentence let alone death?

Did Eishia Hudson deserve to be subjected to gunfire for robbing a Liquor Mart? Did Ashley Smith deserve to spend a good part of her young life in jail and die by suicide because she threw crab apples at a postman?

Yes, the police should not be the first ones at the scene for mental health checks - perhaps called in as back up if there is a potential of violence and trained to use detainment skills that don't involve guns. But in general, how police handle minor crimes is abhorrant. Take down tactics are over the top and result in deaths. And unfortunately, incident reports on both sides of the border indicate a higher degree of brutality when it comes to Blacks, Indigenous and other people of colour.

laine lowe wrote:

How do you know if someone commiting a minor theft or mugging has remorse or not? And why is full force response required for crimes that if taken to court would never result in a life sentence let alone death?

For me, mugging isn't a minor crime because of the potential for violence and how scary it can be if you are a victim. The image I had in mind is that of a tough punk who goes around and likes to brutalize people for fun. These kinds of people can be quite unco-operative, so some degree of force would be necessary to deal with these individuals. That said, the degree of force must be proportionate to the level of resistance, and you're right, far too often officers go overboard in so doing. I think one of the problems with abusive police officers is they know that someone who has just mugged an elderly person or broken into private property does not have much public sympathy, and for these officers it's a chance to abuse their power while maintaining an image of a good guy who protects people. Police agencies tell the public that they try to train their officers to act appropriately, but that training is useless if new recruits are told to "unlearn that bullshit" once they're out in the field with more experienced officers.

That said, there is a difference between breaking the law and being in mental distress. Police training is designed to deal with the former, and as oldgoat said, is a high risk of escalating the latter. Sending someone with a gun to deal with mental distress is probably not the best way to deal with someone in a vulnerable mental state.

laine lowe wrote:

Did Eishia Hudson deserve to be subjected to gunfire for robbing a Liquor Mart? Did Ashley Smith deserve to spend a good part of her young life in jail and die by suicide because she threw crab apples at a postman?

I don't have a great deal of confidence that we will know the truth about what happened with Elishia Hudson. I also agree that sentencing someone to jail for throwing apples is a bit excessive, considering that there are other more serious things that happened.

Most independent investigators probing alleged police misconduct in Canada are white, former officers

The majority of independent investigators delving into alleged police misconduct in Canada are white men who are former police officers.

Seven provincial independent investigation units currently look into incidents involving police. The Canadian Press has found that of the 167 members involved in these units, 111 are former officers or have had a working relationship with police, and 118 of them are men.

Every province but British Columbia also provided the number of investigators in their units who identify as a visible minority or person of colour. There are 20.

“It’s very, very biased,” says Ghislain Picard, regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations in Quebec and Labrador. “How can you expect any trust from those cultural minorities and Indigenous peoples?

“The interaction between the independent bureau and our communities it’s practically non-existent.”

Indigenous people don’t have hope for justice when police investigate themselves, Picard adds, especially after what happened in Val d’Or, Que., more than 500 kilometres north of Montreal.

In 2015, there were 38 cases involving complaints by multiple women there against Sûreté du Québec officers. Some women claimed they were drugged and sexually assaulted. Montreal police investigated.

In the end, two retired police officers were charged. Both died before their cases finished in court.

At the time, some 2,500 police officers wore red bands while on duty to support their accused colleagues. First Nations members who testified during a commission said it was clearly an intimidation tactic.

In the wake of the scandal, Quebec’s Bureau of Independent Investigations was created. Picard says creation of a largely white investigative unit made up of former officers has done nothing to repair the relationship.

More than half the unit’s 44 investigators had previous police employment. Four are people of colour but none are Indigenous. It does have an Indigenous liaison.

“It’s again the police investigating their own,” Picard says. “That’s totally unacceptable for many people. There is no faith, no trust coming from women.”

The agency declined to comment on Picard’s remarks......

Meanwhile, here we go again:

Quote:

Kim Prodaniuk didn't plan to be a crusader for change but hopes her lawsuit against the Calgary Police Service alleging harassment and emotional distress will make a difference.

The 40-year-old officer joined the service in 2008 and left on stress leave in 2017. She joined other female officers who publicly alleged that the force failed to provide a safe environment against bullying and harassment.

Prodaniuk, who filed a statement of claim against the police chief's office, the Calgary Police Association and the City of Calgary in March, recently added a 132-page affidavit with details about her time on the force.

...

In her affidavit, Prodaniuk alleges multiple encounters involving sexual harassment and intimidation. She describes one case involving an officer who she says told her about his domestic situation and that he was having visions of killing his girlfriend.

“He told me if I told anyone what he'd said he would make up rumours of a sexual nature about me and spread them around the CPS,” she wrote.

“Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine as a police officer I would be in a situation where reporting danger to my police employer could result in consequences to my career and reputation.”

Prodaniuk also alleges that when she was training to work undercover she was ordered to fake an orgasm while riding a carousel at a shopping mall and to make sexually explicit phone calls to audition for an imaginary phone sex line that the male officers shared among themselves.

The police want us to believe they are there to protect women and girls from sexual violence, and they don't even seem to be able to protect the policewomen within their ranks?

Hundreds march to protest 62 year old man killed by police

Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Mississauga, Ont., on Monday to protest the police shooting of a 62-year-old man suffering from mental illness.

Joined by the man's family, the crowd chanted "no justice, no peace, abolish the police" as they walked along a major thoroughfare with little police presence.

Ejaz Choudry was in the middle of a mental health crisis when the family said they called the non-emergency line for help around 5 p.m. on Saturday. Three hours later, Peel Regional Police officers stormed Choudry's home, fired multiple shots and killed him.

Choudry's family has demanded that the officer who shot him be fired. They have also called for a public inquiry into the man's death, as well as changes in the response to people in crisis.

"We want to create a system that is meant to be there for us," said Choudry's nephew, Hassan Choudhary.

"This system is not meant to be there for us. You're in a mental health crisis and you're faced by people with guns, people with body armour, people with authority over you, people demanding you, telling you what to do, instead of listening and trying to understand what's wrong."

At one point, the emotional crowd surrounded two police officers and screamed at them for change. Other protesters got between the officers and the crowd, which eventually marched on.

The Special Investigations Unit, the province's police watchdog, is probing the death.

Choudry's family had previously expressed its lack of faith in the SIU to conduct a thorough investigation, a position they reiterated on Monday.

"I need justice," said Rafaqat Ali Choudry, the man's younger brother. "Police is to protect us, not kill us. How I trust again?"

The family's calls for a public inquiry were supported by the Opposition New Democrats, but Premier Doug Ford has expressed his confidence in the SIU.

"My heart and prayers go out to the family that lost a loved one, no matter what happened," Ford said Monday at a news conference.

"This is a terrible situation, unfortunate, but let's see what the report says because I don't believe in pointing fingers at any group, any organization, until we get the details because the details will tell the story."

The man's family has said that responding officers were shouting at Choudry in English, a language he didn't understand.

The family said Choudry had periodically held a kitchen knife on Saturday. They said they pleaded with police to allow them to talk to Choudry. Police had taken everyone outside the home except for Choudry, the family said.

"My uncle was a harmless man, he had no power to hurt anyone, he could barely breathe at times," Choudhary said.....

Mississauga Mom Says She Was Tasered, Shot While on the Ground Following Encounter With Police on Mother's Day

https://twitter.com/CTVToronto/status/1275499840538054656

"Without any warning, officer Jane Doe shot me. The bullet went into my abdomen. I was in absolute shock. I froze and simply kept asking the officer 'why?' She did not respond."

This isn't working. It never has. How much more before we get the message and act? Defund the police!

Students Kick Cops Out of Schools

https://t.co/bGXWQIbxgF?amp=1

"A movement led by Black and racialized students forced the Hamilton Wentworth School Board to remove police from schools..."

Onwards and upwards. Copy and repeat.

Picking up on what oldgoat said earlier, I wanted to post this scary video about a police encounter in North Carolina. A veteran cop starting his shift hears chatter on the radio about fellow officers who found a missing teenager. He sensed that things were about to go very bad, so he arrived on scene, and was able to resolve the situation calmly. Why did this video scare me? The officer was asked if his de-escalation approach was a result of training or something he learned. He responded that it was something he learned. Why then are they not training their officers in how to calm things down? It was lucky that this particular officer showed up. Had he not been available, that could have gone wrong in any number of ways.

Student-Led March in Oakland Calls for End to Police in Schools

Protests against police brutality and racism are continuing across the country. In Washington, D.C., police in riot gear violently cleared a small protest encampment near the White House on Tuesday. In Richmond, Virginia, 12 people were arrested as they attempted to set up a protest encampment outside Richmond City Hall. Officers used tear gas, pepper spray and flashbangs to break up the protest. Meanwhile, in Oakland, California, dozens of students rallied on Tuesday to push the school district to remove police officers from the city’s schools. This is Jessica Black, director of the Black Organizing Project.

Jessica Black: “Children don’t need to be criminalized for being children. Schools were supposed to be places where children can learn social skills — schools and community. So what we’re really pushing is we’re pushing the institution of policing out, and we’re saying bring community in.”

Mississippi Football Star Refuses to Play Unless Confederate Symbol Is Removed from Flag

In Mississippi, college football star running back Kylin Hill said Monday he’ll refuse to play next season unless Mississippi abandons its state flag, which features the Confederate battle flag as part of its design. Hill tweeted, “Either change the flag or I won’t be representing this State anymore & I meant that .. I’m tired.”

Edmonton school trustee resigns over comments about refugee students

quote:

Board chair Trisha Estabrooks tweeted Wednesday that Johner's comments were "unacceptable, racist and wrong. I have spoken to her and she has offered her resignation."

At a news conference later in the day, Estabrooks repeated that what Johner said was "racist, it's wrong, and it's completely unacceptable.

"And so now the important discussions will continue around how Edmonton Public needs to address systemic racism in our schools," she said.

Johner's comments created controversy on social media Tuesday where they were described as "racist" and triggered calls for her resignation.

"All they've known is violence," Johner said, in reference to students who come to Edmonton as refugees.

"When those students sometimes enter our schools they can be violent there as well," Johner said.

"The safety of students is critically important — that other students feel safe as they go to their own school. The officers act as a deterrent, they can respond quickly to de escalate situations when needed."

The comments triggered a wave of condemnation on social media from academics, human rights advocates and parents.

"How can ANYONE, let alone parents, allow someone so blatantly racist continue to hold power and advise on the safety and education of children?," wrote Shifrah Gadamsetti.

Another Twitter user, Wing Kar Li, said Johner's comments were "abhorrently racist, and 100% unacceptable for a trustee."

Western police are geared up for war

Over the past three decades, local and state law enforcement agencies have become increasingly militarized, both in approach and equipment, purportedly to fight the so-called wars on drugs and terror. More and more Western counties and towns have special weapons and tactics, or SWAT, teams, and they are more heavily armed than ever before, often with equipment obtained from the Department of Defense. The battlefield-ready equipment, and a mindset to match, have been on display nationwide this spring as law enforcement agencies responded to protests against the killing of Black people by police and against police brutality in general.

The current transformation of police officers into militarized troops has its roots in the National Defense Authorization Act of 1989, which allowed the U.S. military to support civilian law enforcement drug interdiction efforts, and in the subsequent Defense Authorization Act. This included the so-called 1033 Program, which further expanded the sale and donation of military equipment to all law enforcement agencies. After 9/11, the flow of weaponry to civilian agencies ramped up dramatically.

Since 9/11, police and sheriffs’ departments, including those in rural Western counties, have acquired arms, ammunition, vehicles, grenade launchers, drones and even helicopters by way of the 1033 Program and grants from the Department of Homeland Security. The armored vehicles present at many of the protests this spring, for example, were likely MRAPs, or mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, valued at about $700,000 each.

In 2015, President Barack Obama signed an executive order restricting the type of gear the 1033 Program could transfer, citing concerns that military equipment in the hands of police can alienate and intimidate local residents. In 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded that order, re-opening the free-flow of ammunition, guns and armored vehicles to police.....

LISTEN: Dafonte Miller's lawyer Julian Falconer speaks about the Michael Theriault conviction. A Black man himself, he also talks about the role of his work during the current Black Lives Matter movement.

https://twitter.com/cbcfreshair/status/1276881511980191744

Protesters Hold Rally Outside Peel Police Headquarters, Demanding 'Justice For Ejaz Choudry'

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/protest-ejaz-choudry-1.5630139

"At the end of the day, we want answers for what occurred..."

Protests Against Police Violence Gain Steam in NYC, Seattle, Philadelphia

In New York, a protest occupation outside City Hall continues for a sixth straight day, with activists demanding at least a billion dollars in cuts to the police department’s $6 billion budget. The encampment is set to continue until the city budget is submitted by a midnight deadline Tuesday.

In Philadelphia, medical workers briefly took over the shuttered Hahnemann hospital Saturday under the banner “Care Not Cops,” administering free healthcare before the occupation was scuttled by police in riot gear. Hahnemann hospital was closed last September after a private equity executive launched a plan to turn the property into luxury condominiums.

In Seattle, hundreds of protesters marched on the home of Mayor Jenny Durkan Sunday, rejecting her proposal to cut 5% from the Seattle Police Department. The protesters are demanding the city slash the police budget in half, reinvesting the funds in community programs.

In Minnesota, the Minneapolis City Council continued its move to disband its police force Friday as it unanimously voted for a charter amendment that would replace the police with a department of community safety and violence prevention.

Chief Beaten by Police Is Longtime Fighter for Indigenous Rights

He survived Canada’s notoriously abusive schools for Indigenous children and went on to lead his own nation. He battled governments and oil giants over the pollution of his traditional territory, garnering him the praise and admiration of Desmond Tutu, Greta Thunburg and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio.

But when police officers double-teamed Allan Adam, the outspoken leader of one of Canada’s First Nations, tackling him to the pavement and punching him over an expired license plate, he said they treated him as though he were voiceless and powerless.

“They did it to the chief. Not just any chief,” said Mr. Adam, the leader of the Dene nation of 1,200 people in northern Alberta, which famously fought for its rights in the midst of an oil boom affecting its territory. He was someone known, he said, to “not back down from a fight.”

“They shouldn’t have picked me,” Mr. Adam said in a phone interview from his home in Fort Chipewyan on remote Lake Athabasca. “They made a mistake.”

Mr. Adam was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. On Wednesday, the charges against him were dropped.....

Harsha Walia

When people say "community-based" health & safety alternatives to police, that doesnt mean carceral health regimes or large service providers/ non-profits that aren't accountable to or led by communities they serve. Re-allocation of $ will prove to be another level of struggle.

System Fail #1: Riots Across America (and vid)

https://dissidentvoice.org/2020/06/system-fail-1-riots-across-america/

"The pilot episode of subMedia's brand new show, System Fail, looks at the incendiary riots that have swept across the United States in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the state's desperate attempts to bring things back under control. Featuring an interview with Oluchi Omeoga, co-founder and core organizer of the Black Visions Collective and Reclaim the Block."

Toronto City Council Votes Against Cut To Police Budget...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-city-council-defund-polic...

"...Coun. Josh Matlow's motion, backed by Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tan, called for a 2021 police budget at least 10 per cent lower than what was approved this year and a reallocation of the savings toward community services. The motion failed by a vote of 8 to 16. Several councillors had asked for a 10 percent reduction amid growing calls from the public to defund the police. The meeting continues on Tuesday. You can see the agenda here and watch the entire meeting online."

The Toronto police are a political force to be reckoned with. Polticians have long been afraid to stand up to them. Especially Toronto mayors.

#OccupyCityHall: Mayor’s “Tone Deaf” Pledge to Move $1B from NYPD Budget Fails to Satisfy Protesters

quote:

BIANCA CUNNINGHAM: 

We’re very upset with the fact that Mayor de Blasio and the speaker of the City Council, Corey Johnson, are attempting to parade this as a victory, when really all they’ve really done is shifted money from the NYPD budget over to school safety officers. It shows that they’re completely tone deaf about what this moment is about.

We know that school safety officers contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline and that kids are saying, overwhelmingly, students all over the city are saying, metal detectors don’t keep them safe, that having police officers in school don’t make them feel safe. In fact, they make them feel like criminals. So the fact that they’re parading this as a victory, by increasing police presence in schools, is really upsetting in this moment.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Bianca, this whole issue of how the police department grew into such an octopus? Back in the Giuliani days, they first merged the transit police and the housing police, and then they merged the school safety officers into the police department. So this is like beginning to go back to where it was years ago, but without dealing with the actual issue of the number of police, that have remained largely increased, even as crime decreased throughout the last 20 years. This whole issue of how the City Council and the mayor still refuse to deal, that there’s too many uniformed police in New York City?

BIANCA CUNNINGHAM: Yeah, there’s too many uniformed police in New York City. And furthermore, when we talk about defunding the NYPD, the other part of that is to fully fund social services. I can tell you, out in the encampment, it’s obvious. We have some of the most vulnerable members of our community coming out to have their voices heard and participate in this encampment, and it’s clear that what they’re saying they need is services — mental health services, social services, adequate housing, affordable healthcare, a quality education. These are the things that the community is crying out for. And so it’s not good enough to move money around in fancy accounting tricks. It’s not good enough to just defund the NYPD even. We have to meet that with services that are fully funded, as well.

quote:

BIANCA CUNNINGHAM: Well, yes. We started the — the first night of the encampment, we didn’t know what was going to happen. We called for it, and we were hoping for the best. Two hundred people stayed the night the first night. We are now in our eighth day of the encampment, and we have had everything — you know, up to thousands of people in this space at one time, with almost a thousand people steadily staying the night every night. We are able to go inside and outside of the encampment.

But I will say, you know, we know the symbolic — this is symbolism — right? — that we are encamped in City Hall. Nobody’s there, because of COVID. Everybody’s at their house. And normally, what protocol would be, today — they’re meeting at 11:00 — they would need to come into City Hall to cast a vote. Well, instead, they’ve changed the procedure to say that they can now vote virtually through Zoom. And so that vote will be taking place all day. So they’re making it super hard to hold them accountable. They don’t want to face the public. They’re hiding inside their houses. And they’re on Twitter threatening us to say that we shouldn’t be talking against the establishment.

So, I feel like, you know, we are having an impact, I would say. You know, we have — if you walk inside the encampment, we have a people’s library, where people can go get educated on capitalism and racial capitalism and racism. We have a people’s bodega, where you don’t have to leave, and you have, like, PPE and sanitary items and things that you need. We have a fully stocked food table, where we’ve been having donations outpouring from New Yorkers and even people from the U.K., from California, from all over the country, trying to find out how they can send us food. We have blankets and clothes and shoes, and we’re really taking care of the homeless.

I could just share really quick, yesterday a young woman came up to me. It was her first night in the encampment, and she described to me that this is what she felt like community should feel like. She said, “I’ve never felt more cared for. I’ve never felt more taken care of. I’ve never felt more safe.” And so, we are trying to model in real life what it looks like to keep each other safe without the police present. And that includes having to navigate a number of issues with the homeless folks, with people with mental health issues, but still not calling the police, and using mediation, mental health services and other professionals to deescalate situations.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Bianca, we only have about 30 seconds, but I wanted to ask you: What do you see as the next steps? The City Council must vote to approve a budget by June 30th, which is today, so, hopefully, for the new fiscal year that starts July 1. What do you expect to happen after their vote, with the movement you’ve started?

BIANCA CUNNINGHAM: You know, it’s hard to say. Right now all of our focus is on trying to target the councilmembers, to say that “Please withhold your vote on this budget, if it doesn’t — we know that it doesn’t include the demand that we want, so can we vote no? And can you create your own budget?” They have the right — I mean, you know, it’s within their right to do so. It would be messy, but it definitely is possible.

Further than that, I would say to Speaker Cory Johnson, who is looking to run for mayor, “Don’t even bother. If you can’t stand up and be our leader in this political moment, then don’t even bother to try to be mayor later, because we’ll remember where you stood today.”

AMY GOODMAN: Do you plan on continuing the encampment tonight, beyond the vote, Bianca?

BIANCA CUNNINGHAM: The encampment will continue tonight. We’re having a sleepover in City Hall tonight. We’re calling on everybody to come out. We’re going to be talking strategy. We’re going to be talking about targets. We’re going to be talking about where we go from here. We know that this is just one step in the fight. Many of us are abolitionists, and so we know that this is just one step toward that. And so we’ll continue this as a community.

New York City Hall Occupation Continues as Budget Fails to Meet Protesters’ Demands

New York’s City Council on Tuesday approved an $88 billion austerity budget that purports to cut $1 billion from the New York Police Department. But critics say the move fails to meet a core demand of protesters for a reinvestment of NYPD funds into social programs. In a statement, New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote, “Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so that the exact same police remain in schools.” Early this morning, dozens of police officers in riot gear surrounded a peaceful encampment of protesters who’ve remained camped outside City Hall for over a week. This is Charles Khan, one of the protesters.

Charles Khan: “We know that when we look at safe communities, they don’t have some magic key or magic code for safety. What they have are resources. They have like the best — some of the best public schools in the country. And they don’t have police roaming around their neighborhoods.”

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Meanwhile, here we go again:

Quote:

Kim Prodaniuk didn't plan to be a crusader for change but hopes her lawsuit against the Calgary Police Service alleging harassment and emotional distress will make a difference.

The 40-year-old officer joined the service in 2008 and left on stress leave in 2017. She joined other female officers who publicly alleged that the force failed to provide a safe environment against bullying and harassment.

Prodaniuk, who filed a statement of claim against the police chief's office, the Calgary Police Association and the City of Calgary in March, recently added a 132-page affidavit with details about her time on the force.

...

In her affidavit, Prodaniuk alleges multiple encounters involving sexual harassment and intimidation. She describes one case involving an officer who she says told her about his domestic situation and that he was having visions of killing his girlfriend.

“He told me if I told anyone what he'd said he would make up rumours of a sexual nature about me and spread them around the CPS,” she wrote.

“Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine as a police officer I would be in a situation where reporting danger to my police employer could result in consequences to my career and reputation.”

Prodaniuk also alleges that when she was training to work undercover she was ordered to fake an orgasm while riding a carousel at a shopping mall and to make sexually explicit phone calls to audition for an imaginary phone sex line that the male officers shared among themselves.

These stories are becoming all too common:

Quote:

The Toronto Police Services Board has been ordered to develop new human rights policies and training programs after an officer was found to have been the subject of years of sexual harassment at the hands of her colleagues.

The ruling by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario also awards Const. Heather McWilliam $75,000 from the police board as result of injuries to her "dignity, feelings and self-respect."

Tribunal adjudicator Jo-Anne Pickel wrote in her ruling that McWilliam likely endured a "poisoned work environment" during her career at the force's 23 Division.

In a statement, McWilliam said her "integrity has been returned" as a result of the ruling.

"This decision is truly priceless for me and all those who have been affected by police abuse. This decision takes seriously the need to change the deeply troubled police culture and signals that perhaps there is hope," McWilliam said.

More distrubing details are in the article.

As George Carlin once said, what's with the sensitivity training? Tell these guys that if they can't behave properly then they are gone. Simple. Social cues are something I struggle with sometimes, but there are certain things I understand that are blatantly inappropriate. What's with these guys?

US-Israeli Police Militarization and the Disinformation Campaign (and vid)

https://twitter.com/Moderate_Rebels/status/1279849961807642627

"In our new episode, Max Blumenthal discusses joint US-Israeli police training and border militarization..."

Phoenix, AZ and Columbus, OH Latest U.S. Cities to Ban Police in High Schools

In Arizona, the Phoenix Union High School District said Tuesday it will no longer assign police officers to school campuses, following weeks of student-led protests and petitions. This follows a similar decision by authorities in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday to end the use of school resource officers.