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As an organization, the Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) commits to working continually to earn the confidence of the citizens of and visitors to Ontario—a confidence that will not be taken for granted. The O.P.P. fulfills this commitment by providing the best and most professional service, possible, and by striving to build a culture of trust, and open and honest dialogue, with the communities it serves and among the people it employs. The organization commits to creating and sustaining a positive working environment in which all employees have equal opportunity to fulfill their potential within the profession.
Each O.P.P. employee and volunteer appreciates the vital role he/she plays in protecting the fundamental rights of all people in Ontario. As such, each commits to always put the interests of the public and the O.P.P.'s Vision and Mission before any personal and private interests, and to demonstrate pride in his/her profession and the O.P.P. through personal conduct that reflects a belief in O.P.P. values and ethics.
[Colours added]
The LYING OPP
Tuesday, July 4, 2006 by Jamie West of AM900
They lied to me. The OPP that is. Last night I was stopped at the Caledonia mini storage facility where I have a locker with some old dusty boxes of junk that I've held on to over the years. I suppose the first lesson is that I should get rid of that stuff. The second lesson is don't believe that every police officer is telling you the truth.
Two officers stopped me as I was leaving the compound to get in my car with my wife and child accusing me of....of...well I'm not exactly sure what they were accusing me of but the officer asked me what I was doing "hopping fences back there." I asked him if he actually saw me hopping fences to which he replied "I certainly did". I told him that he's a bold faced liar because I had in fact walked through two open gates and was a paying customer.
I went on to berate the officer for the OPP's complete and utter failure to uphold the law in Caledonia and that he should go back to wherever he came from because as a taxpayer, I didn't feel like I was getting a good return for my tax dollar. I then told him to turn around and leave us alone and that he should be ashamed of himself.
Was I out of line?
Second Bigger Lies and Deception:
We have called the OPP Commissioner's Office 50 times in 3 weeks. We spoke with Inspector Rich Bardnum who clearly told us that no residents of Caledonia have been assaulted and no property damage has been done. We pressed him on this statement and it was repeated.
We asked about the elderly couple on June 9 and were told they were never assaulted. We asked about the Camera Crew on June 9 and were told they were not residents. We then asked about a police officer who was attacked on June 4 when leaving his home and was told that people going down to the barriacade shouldn't throw stones. We asked whether he was telling us that residents were attacked because they desired it or whether he was saying that this police officer was attacked for throwing stones at the protestors. We were told that since this police officer lived on Argyle Street then what did he expect would happen... well... I expect law and order, which is something that appears to escapes Mr. Bardnum's belief system.
Did Mr. Bardnum Lie to us? At best he used words to mislead us, or he outright lied. Is it true no resident has been assaulted? If I did not know the details about the June 4 assault, for which there has been an arrest, then I would not have been able to question his statement.
Furthermore, Mr. Bardnum of the Commissioner's Office lied to us when we tried repeatedly to find out whether certain criminal investigations were ongoing. Regardless of what crime we spoke about Mr. Bardnum's immediate reply was that the investigation was still ongoing. This included crimes we made up to see whether he was just repeating the standard reply.
Either Mr. Bardnum is going around on his own and making up answers or it is the policy of the Commissioner's office to give the same answer to every question asked.
More Lies and Deception:
We were informed by the Commissioner's Office that the public does have the right to know whether a crime is being investigated. After repeated calls to OPP around Ontario everyone pointed us to Detective Paula Roffewy who is part of the OPP in Caledonia. Her name was given to us by both the OPP detactment in Caledonia as well as the OPP media relations with the understanding that I had the right to know which investigations were still ongoing.
Ms. Roffewy first was very positive and said she would look into our questions and get back to us when she returned to her office. Upon returning to her office and after reviewing our website, Ms. Roffewy informed me that she could not answer any of my questions because of privacy issues. I told her I didn't want any names in any investigations, but whether certain investigations were still ongoing. She clearly repeated her statement that she cannot say whether an investigation existed because of privacy issues.
I then checked the OPP Crimes Alert website and found several investigations listed for the public to read. I then spoke with the OPP media relations person who called me back with the answers about whether certain investigations were still ongoing. I asked the Media Relations person why Ms. Roffewy would claim privacy rights for not answering questions and was told that she didn't know why I was told that.
I then called Ms. Roffewy back and questined her about why the police can release investigation information to the media and post it on the website but she cannot answer whether an investigation even exists because of Privacy. Her reply was that she did not have to talk to us because we were not residents of Caledonia. Privacy was not the issue she stated but her job was to deal with the people of Caledonia and therefore she didn't have to speak to me.
Did she Lie - absolutely, she tried to claim Privacy laws stopped her from speaking to us when she knew that was untrue.
We name Inspector Rich Bardnum and Detective Paula Roffewy to give OPP Commissioner Boniface the opportunity to discipline these officers who wilfully mislead the public which is contrary to their stated Promise. Both of these officers have been reported directly to Marty Karen of the Commissioner's office and we await a reply as to what action will be taken against them.
Final Set of Lies:
Over the past two weeks we have made numerous calls to OPP in Caledonia and OPP Commissioner's office to report a crime committed on Six Nations' land. Each time we called we were told we must report the crime directly to Six Nations' police. We called Six Nations about twenty times and each time our name was taken and we were told someone would call back to take down the details of the crime. As of today, we have not received any calls fromSix Nations' Police.
Last Thursday we contacted OPP in Caledonia again to complain that no Native Police Officer had returned our calls and were told that we could report the crime directly to OPP. We asked why we had been put off for two weeks and the officer didn't understand why anyone would tell us to call Six Nations' Police when they can take the report and pass it to the correct person. Just like calling 911 - OPP takes the call and forwards it to the correct department as needed.
Within a few hours we received a call from an OPP officer who took all the details about the crime and stated he would forward it to his supervisor.
Any real attempt at holding OPP acountable for what has happened in Caledonia is met with the continuous passing of the buck by giving you the next number to call. After dozens of numbers most people would give up, which is exactly what governments want.
The goal in politics 101 is delay, delay, delay until the public loses interest. Once the media attention is over the public will forget and then we can go back to our jobs without people watching.
We were told the OPP will keep the public up to date on Caledonia through the OPP website and their CrimesAlert website. With thousands of possible charges that could have been laid you would think these websites would be huge.
The CrimesAlert webiste has only one statement regarding crimes in Caledonia related to the protest and that goes back to June 21, 2006. Since then, according to OPP Media Relations, there has been nothing to report from Caledonia. [Link]
When you check the OPP head office website you find their last statement about Caledonia is from June 23rd. There have been 6 media releases since all the crime on June 9th none in May, March and February. I guess nothing happened in those months. [Link] I could give a hundred examples of things that happened but I guess to Commissioner Boniface these did warrant a Press Release.