NO SURPRISE AT ALL- WRPS BEING SUED BY WOMEN OFFICERS

Today's Waterloo Region Record front page story is titled "Police face gender-discrimination suit". It seems as if the boys in blue have neither couth nor accountability. It appears as if they've been cheerfully bullying individual female police officers either with the tacit O.K. of senior officers or with the confidence that those same senior officers have a long term case of see no evil, hear no evil when it comes to insisting upon appropriate, decent and legal behaviour within the ranks. This speaks to a top down, systemic attitude and behaviour problem with our Regional Police Form. That is to their shame but is absolutely no surprise to me.

Back in 1990 I worked for a season on a public works crew for the City of Waterloo. We had females working along side of us and the behaviour and attitudes mostly by the male employees in their 40s and 50s were just awful. Most of the younger males were better behaved although the peer pressure to either go along or at worst simply ignore the bad behaviour of the more senior guys was very strong.

What I finally figured out was that these older males were insecure. They had propped up their fragile egos by thinking that they were rough and tough physical specimens doing hard, outdoor construction work. It offended them that girls and women in their early and mid twenties were just as capable or more so than they were at doing all day long, manual, outdoor work.

Now imagine testosterone fueled, possibly steroid enhanced males carrying guns and other weapons and actually dealing with some pretty scary situations. Many of these scary situations might very well be situations that damage the psyche and minds of human beings more often than broken bones and other physical damages. Regardless any insecure, old fashioned or just plain stupid male police officers might resent females on the job with them. If their superiors have the same attitudes and are essentially insulated from both more progressive thinking as well as public accountability; well you can expect the results. Women individually are told that they are incapable and inferior and not wanted on the job. They are treated rudely and disrespectfully, usually individually. Do you think these brave, male officers pull this crap on women unless they either outnumber them or have no witnesses? It is simple out and out bullying. On the street these women could use physical force from pepper spray to batons to simple takedowns and handcuffing of suspects harassing them or others. Imagine if they ever did that at work, off duty. Again these male officers are out and out cowards as are their superiors who look the other way and pretend it's no big deal.

To date these are only allegations in the class action suit filed against our police service. Based upon my personal experience both at the city and in watching our unaccountable local police force; I fully believe them. Some of the stunts the police are alleged to have pulled are similar to those I witnessed at the City of Waterloo. That case went to the Human Rights Commission and while it took far too long it was finally resolved with apologies and back pay in some cases to complainants. Ironically it was a later embarrassed CAO at the City of Waterloo (re: Rim Park) who stepped up and insisted that the City do the right thing.