By Gary Reid
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Canada Free Press
I have had mixed feelings about the head of the Ontario Provincial Police, Julian Fantino.
With me, he used to always have a "get out of jail free card", no matter what adverse publicity he seemed to be getting. I guess that is because I have a soft spot for "no nonsense" males in this increasingly feminized world. It is not only the green house gases that cause us concern, there is a definite rise in atmospheric estrogen pheromones. As Arnold Schwarzenegger might put it, there are too many "girlymen" running about.
However, we have to consider Fantino's performance as a leader of police forces. On that score, he has some serious shortfalls.
His major one is that either he does not understand, or he does not seem to care about, the concept of public relations. PR can make or break a corporation, a corporate executive, a politician, a country, or even a war. In this wired world image most often trumps substance.
When he was the chief of the Toronto police he went into immediate denial mode when confronted with the Toronto Star over allegations that his force engaged in racial profiling. It doesn't matter whether the Star's accusations had substance or not. The allegation was serious and should have been dealt with in a more constructive way. Eventually, public pressure forced Fantino to look into the charge. But, his first instinct was to erect the big blue wall and push back.
His latest gambit is to present the OPP as witch hunters, who will "relentlessly" pursue dangerous drivers. He has canned the periodic publicized police blitzes that cracked down on seat belt use, speeding, tailgating, or drinking and driving.
This is a mistake.
Companies pay big dollars when they have new product launches to buy the kind of publicity the OPP get for free in the media. The product of the OPP is service to the public and it does no disservice to the force to regularly remind the public, through the blitz-generated publicity, that the police are out there protecting them on the highways.
Along with the end to the blitzes came the end of the public relations career of everybody's favourite member of the force, Sergeant Cam Wooley. He had an almost Don Cherry-like following with his weekend wrap-ups of the results of the blitzes. Fantino should consider that it also does not disparage the police service to remind the public that police men and women are part of the human race, valued members of our community, and not simply the highway Gestapo. Wooley put that human face on the OPP.
Fantino heads a police force that has some serious image problems and related morale issues arising from the shooting of Dudley George in the Ipperwash Indian standoff which continue to resonate years after the event, and from the fallout from the ongoing illegal land occupation by Indians at Caledonia.
The current focus of Fantino's anger is Gary McHale, a one-person watchdog on the Caledonia file. McHale maintains a comprehensive website cataloguing the ongoing disgrace that is Caledonia. He periodically organizes rallies for Canada in Caledonia. Each time he does this, Fantino suits up his boys in blue in full riot gear. In October, the police detained McHale overnight in a cell, without charge. Recently, Fantino made a point of having his truncheon-equipped blue wall face the protesting Canadians instead of the Indians.
He declared that his job was to "keep the peace." Of course, peace in Caledonia has been purchased at a price. The price in this case is the failure of the application of the rule of law in Canada, and the ruination of the integrity of a formerly respected police force.
The message is clear. Canadians beware. In Fantinoland you can wind up in jail without charge and have your heads cracked for standing up for this country.
How far effective policing has fallen from the day when Chief Sitting Bull and his 5,000 Sioux warriors crossed the border into Canada seeking refuge after butchering George Custer and 7th Cavalry. They were greeted by a small detachment of Mounties who simply asked the Chief to ensure that his people kept the Queen's peace, and, upon being so assured, said welcome to Canada, and then rode away. Sitting Bull kept the peace.