A new report on Toronto’s G20 summit says some pretty harsh things about how some police handled themselves during the two-day meeting of world leaders in 2010.
Gerry McNeilly, Ontario’s Independent Police Review Director, says the largest mass arrest in Canadian history had a “profound impact” on “public confidence in the police.”
Furthermore, no one even knows how many people were arrested due to shoddy record-keeping. Three different numbers were given by three different sources, but it’s safe to say over 1,100 people were arrested that weekend.
Basically, Toronto Police were not qualified to plan the security of such a massive event. When “black bloc” protesters started causing mayhem, the response was a heavy-handed “take back the streets” mentality that led to widespread abuse and misconduct.
Unlike the RCMP report that just came out, the OIPRD finds fault with many of the practices and procedures of the various police agencies that participated in the G20 summit. Obviously the majority of officers acted like human beings during that crazy weekend, but the sheer scale of both the event — which shouldn’t have been held in Toronto anyway — and poor planning led to a massive clusterfuck.
Some of McNeilly’s recommendations:
- Police should disclose evidence of officer misconduct.
- Police should have clear system for media accreditation and respect those credentials.
- Don’t use flex cuffs (zip ties) anymore.
- Always have visible identification numbers for police.
- Limit the use of “kettling” and have a plan for the protesters.
- Maybe cut down on the strip searches a bit.
Whether any of the report’s recommendations will be taken seriously by the police services, though, remains to be seen. At the very least, some commentators who downplayed the widespread reports of violence, intimidation and general thuggery at the time should now be regarded with a litte less respect.
Also, just for fun, here are two quotes worth considering.
“Many police officers ignored the basic rights citizens have under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, by stopping and searching people arbitrarily, they overstepped their authority. Wearing bandanas and carrying heavy backpacks are not reasonable grounds to stop and search, and police should have used much more discretion.”
-Gerry McNeilly, OIPRD
“The cops should have a right to kill any protester as far as I’m concerned - anyone who was down there was either a completely stupid tourist or a trouble maker - the cops should have the right to shoot someone if the person spits, swears or has a tattoo - the heck with the charter of rights - it’s a piece of crap as is canada’s constitution”
-Richiezz, commenter on the Toronto Sun website
OIPRD report // See also: National Post & CBC