IF YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS WERE POLICE OFFICERS……WOULD YOU FEEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT SEARCHES?
WE ALL WANT CIVIL LIBERTIES, AND WE WANT TO FEEL SAFE AS PART OF THAT FREEDOM
I AM A RELENTLESS CHAMPION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES. YOU DON'T HAVE TO COMPANION WITH THIS BLOG FOR TOO LONG, BEFORE YOU READ SOMETHING ABOUT THE RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THIS COUNTRY, THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE FREE PRESS, THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND ALL THOSE CHERISHED QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES OF BEING CANADIAN. I DO HAVE A FEW INCONSISTENCIES, TO SOME OF MY FRIENDS, PARTICULARLY WHEN I TALK OR WRITE ABOUT THE "POLICE" STATE SOME REFER TO, AS THE NEW AND ENCROACHING NORMAL. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT GOT SO BADLY OUT OF CONTROL, WITH THE POLICING BODY AT THE G-20. MANY OF THESE SITUATIONS AND ABUSES HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED, AND I IMAGINE THERE ARE MANY MORE ISSUES STILL BEFORE THE COURTS. BUT HAVING WATCHED THE LIVE COVERAGE OF WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT DAY IN TORONTO, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE HATED HAVING ANY OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS SERVING AS POLICE OFFICERS, TRYING TO DEAL WITH WHAT MANY OF US FELT WAS WELL, WELL BEYOND A PEACEFUL PROTEST. THERE WAS INTENT ON THE PART OF THE PROTESTORS TO INFLICT PAIN AND SUFFERING….AND BURNING STUFF. MANY INHERENT RIGHTS OF ANY DEMOCRACY ARE FORFEITED, WHEN AN ACT OF PROTEST INVOLVES ROCKS AND FLAMING BOTTLES HURLED AT STOREFRONTS. THOSE WHO WISH NOTHING LESS THAN TO INFLICT CARNAGE AS THEIR ACT OF REBELLION. AS CANADIANS WE WANT TO BE PROTECTED FROM THIS KIND OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. WE DON'T WANT OUR HOMES AND BUSINESSES TO BE DESTROYED BECAUSE OF RIOTING, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT. WHO SPEAKS FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE SERIOUSLY COMPROMISED DURING THE G-20, WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH EITHER THE PROTEST, OR THE POLICE……BUT JUST HAPPENED TO GET CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF UGLY EMOTION?
IN RECENT WEEKS, IN THE LOCAL PRESS, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, ABOUT WHAT IS PERCEIVED TO BE ILLEGAL, UNWARRANTED SEARCHES OF VEHICLES, WHILE PULLED OVER AT RIDE SPOT CHECKS, LOOKING FOR DRUNK DRIVERS. IT'S TRUE THAT POLICE OFTEN MAKE OTHER DISCOVERIES, WHEN THEY PULL VEHICLES OVER FOR THESE CHECKS, INCLUDING DRUGS AND WEAPONS…..CERTAINLY ON A PROVINCE-WIDE TALLY THIS COULD BE RESEARCHED. THIS SHOULDN'T SURPRISE ANY ONE, EVEN FOLKS IN OUR SMALL MUSKOKA COMMUNITIES, WHO ARE HAVING TO DEAL, MORE AND MORE, WITH CITY-LEVEL CRIME AND VIOLENCE. THE ISSUE IS WHETHER THE POLICE, IN THIS CASE, THE ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE, SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CONDUCT A TOTAL VEHICLE SEARCH, WITHOUT CAUSE, AT A RIDE CHECKPOINT. IT'S ONE THING TO BE LOOKING FOR DRINKING DRIVERS AND OPEN BOOZE, BUT FINDING, BY GOLLY, A MEATY STASH OF DRUGS AND ACCESSORIES, IS I'M SURE A BONUS. THE INCIDENT IN QUESTION, REVEALED NO SUCH ARTICLES. NOTHING REMOTELY ILLEGAL. NO BOOZE, DRUGS, OR FIREARMS. A MAJORITY OF THESE MORE INTRUSIVE SEARCHES HAVE POSITIVE OUTCOMES. DOING A FULL CAR SEARCH DOES SEEMS A LITTLE EXTREME, I MUST ADMIT, BUT NOT KNOWING THE CIRCUMSTANCES, ONE JUST ASSUMES THERE WAS SOME MOTIVATION THAT INSPIRED THE MORE EXTENSIVE INTERIOR INVESTIGATION. THIS WILL OBVIOUSLY COME OUT AFTER THE INQUIRY.
HAVING TWO LADS WHO WORK LATE IN THE EVENINGS, AT ENTERTAINMENT VENUES LOCALLY, I OFTEN GET STOPPED BY OFFICERS DOING THEIR ROUNDS, AND AT RIDE LOCATIONS, AS THEY ARE, AT THAT TIME OF NIGHT, LOOKING TO PULL INTOXICATED DRIVERS OFF THE ROAD. I HAVE HAD OFFICERS FOLLOW ME HOME, AND BLOCK ME INTO MY OWN DRIVEWAY, TO PREVENT ANY POSSIBLE ESCAPE, TO MAKE SURE I'M NOT SOMEONE DRIVING FOR LOCAL BREAK-IN-ARTISTS…..AND ACTUALLY BELONG TO THE HOUSE I'VE ARRIVED AT…..AND OWN THE VEHICLE IN MY CARE AND CONTROL.
UNTIL IT IS OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS POKING THEIR HEADS IN THOSE SUBJECT VEHICLES
In my driving life, which began at age sixteen, in the District of Muskoka, I have been stopped by officers of the Ontario Provincial Police probably a hundred or more times, at various checkpoints, particularly during the Christmas holidays, and never once, have I felt my rights were violated, even when the officer put his flashlight beam into the back of the car, and into the passenger compartment. As a long time reporter, we used to do seasonal feature articles on the drinking and driving initiatives, launched by the OPP, to get intoxicated motorists off the road. We used to join them at the spot-checks, to watch how they conducted the stops and questioning, and even then, I never saw a search of a vehicle that was rudely conducted, or unwarranted. A lot of drivers start mouthing off and that doesn't help their cause, if they wish to be released quickly after basic questioning. I've watched officers remove impaired drivers from vehicles, and we've reported on road-side sobriety tests, and again, I never witnessed anything that wasn't within the officer's rights to perform, and to seize. The abuse they take is extreme, and while there are cases of excessive use of force, to arrest suspects……by and large, what I have witnessed, is a very gentle approach to policing our streets. Getting spit launched to the face, being called a "pig," and assaulted frequently, doesn't seem to draw much interest from the public…..or cause critics to adjust their opinions. Searching any car can be a deadly enterprise. Do we think about that when we're filing grievances, assessing that our rights were violated. What about the policeman's right to get home safely, to his or her family?
As to whether there might be guns in the car, or other weapons that could kill an officer, I ask those who feel our civil liberties are being eroded, if their own flesh and blood, was behind the badges of attending officers, would they feel the same about the rights and privileges to potentially conceal arms. Or if those weapons were not detected, and they were used in a violent crime, that killed one of your family members. There are many examples of this occurring, and those who write these ill-informed letters should do their homework, and statistic gathering, before they pen hateful letters about our police services…..as intrusive and bothersome as it may seem to some.
I was the reporter back in the early 1980's, on a bitterly cold winter day, who stood out at the Port Sydney / Utterson intersection of Highway II, the morning after Constable Rick Verdeccia was shot and killed, and dumped off the side of the road. I watched as the officers searched for casings from the bullets used on the ambushed officer. I can't describe the truly horrible feeling I had, appearing like a vulture at this very sad scene unfolding……but I stayed because it was the public's right to know. Bad things happen in Muskoka too. The suspect would go on to shoot another police officer just north of Orillia. This individual would have shot anyone who got into his way, even at a drinking a driving checkpoint. He was intent on using his weapon. It also was the case he killed a gas station attendant north of Huntsville. He didn't look like a bad guy. But he was!
From my first days as a cub reporter for the Muskoka Lakes-Georgian Bay Beacon, I covered the police beat. I visited the Bala detachment every Monday morning to consult the police blotter, and through the rest of the week, I followed cruisers to accident scenes, fires and sometimes, when they had unruly mobs at local entertainment venues. I saw a lot of things that changed my mind about what it means to be a police officer, especially here in the quickly changing rural area of the province. When I began working in Bracebridge for The Herald-Gazette, we took turns covering the OPP and Court, and let me tell you, what an eye opening experience……that clearly demonstrated to me, that big city crime isn't confined to "the big city." We've had a fair number of murders in this region, and some that are still unsolved. I mentioned in a previous blog, that I happened to see crime scene photos of an executed chap here in Muskoka, and his head came to rest on my column from that week's edition of the H.G. Well, I had a reader, and lost one.
I also wrote, some time ago, about being followed home by an officer, well after midnight, last spring. I had gone to pick up Andrew from the Opera House, where he is employed, and I was supposed to meet him at our music shop across the road. The officer spotted me turning onto the main street, northward, and stopping in front of the old Muskoka Theatre, where Andrew was standing outside. We went up the main street, made a couple of turns to get to our homestead here at Birch Hollow, and we noticed the cruiser had pulled up close behind us. I didn't pull over because he didn't put on the emergency lights, or in any other way, indicate to me I was supposed to stop. When I pulled into the driveway, the cruiser blocked me in. I warned the boys to make themselves visible outside the car, as it was our home driveway, and keep hands away from pockets and doing anything inside their jackets, that might appear as if they were reaching for a gun. It was late, dark, and we didn't want to cause any alarm to the investigating officer, who was obviously just doing his job.
The officer took only a few steps toward us, and politely wished us "good evening," and then he asked me who I was! As I heard my name coming over his police radio, I was pretty sure they knew the vehicle belonged to a Mr. Currie, but who was I? Once I confirmed that I was indeed Ted Currie, and that this was my home, and these lads were my boys, Andrew and Robert, he at once apologized for stopping us. His reason, by the way, was that we had taken the long way home. He was correct. I did do this, because the boys and I were talking, and I just decided to add a couple more streets to our route homeward. As there had been a lot of break-ins reported in our neighborhood, and a vehicle sighted accompanying the thieves, he just decided to follow up on the one vehicle that was taking the long way home.
I refused to take his apology. That's right. I told him that his apology wasn't necessary, as he was just doing his job, and because we have had break-ins of our car and store in the past several years, it's precisely what I want to happen in our town. Not to become a police state. But for officers to be able to do their job……with the assistance of citizens who are the beneficiaries of "crimes-stopped" and "criminals-apprehended." Absolutely no need for an apology. In fact, it gives me confidence that the Ontario Provincial Police are doing their job in our municipality. On another occasion, only a few weeks later, I was stopped at our shop to pick up both boys this time. A cruiser had been checking on some teens doing some pushing and shoving further up the street. He fixed up that situation and then did a loop-back of four or five blocks, and came up behind our vehicle, parked in front of the shop. He asked if there was any problem, at that moment, he could help with, and I answered politely, "Everything is fine officer….this is our family's music shop, and we're just unloading some instruments inside." He had probably checked out my plate and knew who I was…..or should have been. He recognized the boys in the doorway, and wished us a good night.
As I spend a lot of nights throughout a year, after midnight, on the road, I am always pleased to see numerous patrol cars monitoring our streets. It hasn't eliminated crime, because that would take many more officers and preventive programs we currently don't have…..but from what I see out there, almost every day, the police presence is having an impact…..and a positive one.
There will always be those who cry foul because they perceive the police have over-stepped their authority. In some cases this may be true, and it's why there is a channel to pursue these allegations. All I can say, as a reporter on the beat, for many years, is that I have never once, in many stops, been unfairly treated by the Ontario Provincial Police. On once occasion, I was actually saved from a mob of angry spectators, at an accident scene in Milford Bay, while I was taking photographs. Officer Terry Kidd said calmly, "Mr. Currie, I think we'd better let these people cool down a bit……so come here and sit in the back seat for a few minutes." He was right. They wanted to destroy my camera, and seeing as it was hanging off my neck, it could have got pretty nasty and there were only two officers at the scene looking after traffic control.
Honestly, if you had loved ones wearing those uniforms, standing out there in full view at RIDE checks, wouldn't you worry about the very next car to stop, with a person inside concealing a firearm…..and what the intent might be on the spur of the moment. Maybe it's a car full of open booze, that is concealed, that might, only a few minutes later, be involved in a head-on collision, where there are people you know amongst the deceased. How are these officers going to feel, knowing they had given that car a pass, on initial inspection. When you think you know how tough their job is, think again, because chances are, you're wrong. Maybe those folks who pen letters about civil liberties, should go on a ride with the officers, on a resort night, here in Muskoka, to see just how bad it can get in paradise.
Support our police friends. Help them with information, to solve crimes. Report suspected impaired drivers. Report car break-ins, and store thefts, even if it takes time out of your busy day. And now and again, thank them for helping us have a safer, crime reduced community.
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