ALL POLICE TARNISHED WHEN ONE MISBEHAVES

This is so disappointing. I've been posting here in the Advocate for only a little over a year and I've lost count of how many local police officers have gotten themselves into trouble. Saturday's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story "Guelph officer charged after hockey rink incident". Sure one can look on the bright side. We live in a democracy and as parents who get overenthusiastic and get physical with hockey officials get charged; it is appropriate for police officers as well if they misbehave. There are countries where police officers don't get charged regardless. The other tiny ray of light might be that this incident dosen't involve a Waterloo Regional Police officer. To date most of the stories here have involved Waterloo Regional Police misbehaviour. At the same time I know that I'm getting very concerned when I keep learning of these incidents involving local and nearby police. Do we have a systemic problem involving recruitment of officers? Or is it that the various pressures upon them somehow leads to frustration or acting out? Finally the worst case scenario might be are these officers so unsupervised and unaccountable that they eventually begin to get a mindset that they can do no wrong?

Police officers should as a group have an incredibly low rate of criminal or even civil misbehaviour, almost by definition. What the heck is going on? This is a prime example of where civilian oversight as through the Police Board should be stepping up and finding answers. Each and every time an officer is either charged or convicted it erodes public confidence. I am not remotely suggesting here that these incidents should be covered up or kept private. What I am suggesting is that they be examined carefully for the root causes and steps be taken to work on reducing the number of incidents involving our police officers.