ALLISON JONESFri Aug 24, 2007
Canadian Press
(CP) - A video clip on website YouTube.com may have forced Quebec's provincial police to admit undercover officers were involved in a protest this week, and in an age of proliferating cellphones with video capability, ordinary citizens are poised to become watchdogs of police accountability, experts say.
A clip appeared on the website showing a union leader confronting three apparent protesters at the North American Leaders' Summit in Montebello, Que., accusing them of being police officers attempting to incite violence at an otherwise peaceful demonstration.
After days of denials, the force admitted Thursday the trio were, in fact, police officers, but not the "provocateurs" protesters made them out to be. Protesters and the union leader seen in the video, Dave Coles, note the video clearly shows a fist-sized rock in the hand of at least one undercover officer.
Insp. Marcel Savard Friday acknowledged that one of the officers was given a rock by protesters but did not use it.
"He was asked by extremists to throw the rock at the police, but never had any intention of using it," Savard said.
In the past, such a debate likely would not have progressed beyond the he-said-she-said sphere, but video evidence posted on the World Wide Web for all to see left the Surete du Quebec with few options.
"It obviously raises the level of accountability and weakens what, in Ottawa circles, is called plausible deniability, which is a good thing," said Errol Mendes, a professor of constitutional and international law at the University of Ottawa.
"I think plausible deniability is one of the great evils of modern free and democratic societies."
"It's good, in terms of accountability in these situations where in the past all you've had is what people say happened and a lot of doubt amongst the public for the reason that protesters have an agenda," said Duff Conacher, co-ordinator of Democracy Watch.
One of the most notable clashes between protesters and police in Canada was in 1997 at the APEC summit in Vancouver, when RCMP used pepper spray to calm the crowd and numerous complaints were launched.
News footage of the confrontation is etched in Canadians' minds, and Conacher suggests without it, the public would have doubted protesters' allegations. The difference now being, the technology and capability to take such images public is in the hands of ordinary citizens.
"Websites and digital video cameras and recorders mean that everybody is a journalist or evidence-gatherer and, as a result, accountability will increase at every single event in the future," Conacher said.
But with the immense power to keep police and government agencies accountable comes caveats. Technology must also be available to confirm the authenticity of videos, because without that, said Conacher, it's irrelevant.
There is also the possibility that the idea of pinning wrongdoing on police may get out of hand. Citizens have the right to an accountable and democratic society, said Mendes.
However, "police and other security agencies have the right to prevent acts of violence and political unrest which endangers life and liberty. It's going to be ever more critical for that balance to be struck properly because there will be instant evidence that it hasn't been," he said.
Police caught on video in messy situations is nothing new. One need only harken back to the shocking images of the police beating of Rodney King in 1991 that led to massive rioting in Los Angeles.
Mendes said that video, "the granddaddy of all examples," of citizens turning the tables on police, sparked a larger discussion and he hopes this latest video will serve to keep the debate alive.
"This is not just something that people should say 'Oh, great, interesting,"' Mendes added. "It really triggers the larger issue of the balance between a free and democratic society and the valid security interest."