Local police complaints surface

BY LYNDA
HILLMAN-RAPLEY
Lakeshore Advance staff
March 14, 2007

With documentation in hand, the group did not hold back in their complaints ranging from allegedf harassment to assault and targeting.

Every walk of life lined the two rows as young people to prominent business people told the lawyers their stories.

“Not everyone here is crazy,” said commentator Bob Henderson who himself owns downtown establishments. He said this meeting was not about his issues with the police, but to give the public  a chance to voice theirs and see if there was a commonality in situations and officers.

“This is real paperwork you people have in hand,” said Henderson, “This is not just yap.” People had phone logs, documents from Freedom of Information and court records.

Henderson asked if there were any OPP or those people affiliated with the OPP  to please leave as this was a gathering of people attempting to go through a complaint process. No one left. The police were aware the meeting was taking place.

Many said they feared their license plate numbers were being recorded as they met for two hours Monday night, but didn’t show signs of distress as they voiced these concerns.

An easel was set up listing the officers being accused. There was no doubt in anyone’s estimation, the same six officers were being named.

In a show of hands, Chambers asked how many people had filed actual complaints to which most of the hands went up. They did not elaborate on the procedure of their complaints or the obvious paper trail if this was in fact followed. 

“We are taxpaying good citizens whose lives have been changed and respect for the police diminished,” said Henderson. “Bullies are not allowed on the playground,  they should not be acceptable on our police force.”

“The new officers being sent here are being contaminated by the bad ones already here,” said Henderson adding the public are enablers because “we are allowing this to happen,” he said.

A complainant said she contacted Lambton Kent Middlesex MPP Maria VanBommel yesterday who said there is strength in numbers and the people here should compile their documents so she can forward to the Attorney General and Ministry of Correction Services.

“The more noise you make, the more attention you will get,” stated both lawyers.

“They can ignore one or two of you, but can’t ignore 50 or 60,” said McClean adding these are not new issues as he has been hearing about Grand Bend police tactics for 26 years.

There was no misunderstanding, there are good cops also and that was voiced loud and clear as the gallery related story after story defining the difference between the two.

Henderson wondered aloud why there is not a “whistle blowing” system in place for good cops against bad cops. “This town is worse than a bad movie,” he said referring to Grand Bend.

It was discussed the provincial government is working on new legislation that would  provide a system that has respect for both the police and the public. If passed, it will create an independent civilian body to

administer the police review system in Ontario.

The proposed independent civilian body, led by an Independent Police Review Director, would be responsible for receiving complaints and then determining, on a case-by-case basis, who would investigate the complaint: the independent civilian body itself, the police service affected or another police service. Under the proposed Independent Police Review Act, 2006, members of the public would still be able to deal directly with their local police service, if they prefer.

In June 2004, the government appointed the former chief justice of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, Patrick J. LeSage, to conduct a review of Ontario's police complaints system. After months of extensive review and consultations, LeSage submitted 27 recommendations to the attorney general, including the recommendation that a new independent civilian oversight body be created.

Henderson said a  website, www.goodcoporbadcop.com is in the making giving people a chance to voice their concerns in a blog- like manner. The lawyers told the forum they should be careful of what the content is, as presently there are no laws governing these blogs but there are cases pending in the USA.

 Both Chambers and McLean  agreed their was a commonality in the cases presented Monday night and the people's next step is to bring the information together. There was a request from the gallery for a list of cases thrown out of court, showing a waste of court and taxpayer time and documentation of habitual complaints against the listed officers.