In the video, officers are seen kneeing, kicking and stripping Stacy Bonds of her shirt and bra. Bonds is a make-up artist with no previous criminal record and no offences. She was arrested after being stopped walking home in the early morning. An officer ran her name through the police computer, found she had a clean record, and she was told to continue walking home. When Bonds turned back to question why they had stopped her in the first place, she was arrested for public intoxication.
The video is highly disturbing and raises a number of questions. Why are the officers using so much force? Bonds does not appear to be resisting arrest but they are hostile towards her. How is this behaviour even possible with five officers present?
This is what they did to someone who was knowingly wrongfully arrested. How can we fight wars on foreign soil to defend human rights only to ignore them in our own country? The video is sad and disturbing.
Obviously law enforcement is a good thing. Obviously these officers acted in a lawless manner. Obviously not all law enforcement officers act this way. Yet unfortunately as we have seen, too many do. It appears the chunky female officer who gave the girl a knee strike pulled a muscle doing so and had a hard time walking on it momentarily.
Obviously someone who saw this video was disturbed by it and released it to the media for good reason. Whistle blowers are protected under the law. Yet how likely will that law be upheld? Not likely. Rumour has it that the Delta police force has already viewed the video and has determined that no police misconduct was committed. That report will likely be release in about a year after the shock has died down and the public has forgot about it.
Agent K - I have to tell you I am impressed with the balance with which you discuss the various topics and subjects in the news.
ReplyDeleteI have three uncles who are retired officers and they are all appalled at the abuse of authority and the flagrant disrespect that some officers exhibit.. It is a hard job - but when you sign up to do it you sign up to be held to a higher standard than others because you are supposed to be an example to others. When officers place a big black eye on the force like they did in this situation, in the tasering of Robert Dziekanski or the various drunk driving incidents - something tells me that the job is getting to them and they need some counselling and help. It appears to me in many of these cases that the officers are not getting the support they need to deal with the horrors and trials of the job.
I think our system is sick on more than one level between cocaine dealers getting a get out of jail free card because they didn't get a speedy trial because there is a shortage of judges and the police being forced to seize vehicles and make criminals out of a guy who has two beers...our system is broken - in more ways than one.
As I said, I like your willingness to point out the good, the bad and the ugly fairly...sadly not enough do.
Thanks. I’m not anti police, I’m pro justice. I agree letting cocaine dealers off and seizing cars and giving someone a criminal record for two beers is a broken system.
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