WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE - THEIR MORAL AUTHORITY IS GONE

HOLLYWOOD NORTH?




This posting is about the utter failure in leadership and decency within our police service. It is about more than the treatment of women by we pray a minority of males with authority within the service. It is about the institutional failure from middle management right up to the Police Chief over a period of decades and how it has intentionally turned a blind eye to the treatment of their female employees by ignorant and abusive males.

The irresponsibility and blame rises further up the political food chain than just multiple Chiefs of Police. Here in Ontario and Canada we are supposed to have civilian oversight of our police forces. That oversight is exercised through the Waterloo Regional Police Service Board. They can be Googled to find out who exactly the seven members are. I will advise that three of them are on Regional Council namely Ken Seiling, Tom Galloway and Karl Kiefer. Three of them are appointees of the province of Ontario. The last is a civilian appointee determined by Regional Council. It is my opinion that the local members, at least, are all good old boys and sometimes good old girls. They can be depended upon not to rock the boat of which the proof is in the pudding. Female police officers have gone to them in the past for help including Kelly Donovan with her "Fit4Duty - The Ethical Standard" campaign. In other words our police force reports both to the province and most importantly to our local senior level of government, the Region of Waterloo.

I am in the process of reading the Affidavits of three female and one male police officers, namely Shelly Heinrich, Vera McKenzie, Karin Eder and Barry Zehr. Their Affidavits go far beyond merely being powerful. They are a damning indictment of human (mostly male) stupidity, arrogance, cowardice and abusive behaviour. They are a damning indictment of written policies, laws and regulations that are totally and completely ignored by those in positions of authority to enforce them.

I have a link to the Cambridge Advocate run by Debbie Vitez on my other Blog, the Elmira Advocate. Once again Debbie has courageously stepped up and posted about this issue involving all of Waterloo Region and hence Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the Townships. I believe that she has links to these Affidavits and more in her posting of last evening.

One other point for those of us with pro union and or left wing slants. Just like the abysmal behaviour of the union at the City of Waterloo twenty years ago regarding female discrimination in their public works department of which I was involved; the police union have only added to the problems according to these and other Affidavits. The union, known as the Waterloo Regional Police Association, have consistently refused to protect and assist all their members. They too have the bizarre idea that dues paying female police officers aren't real members and or worthy of equal treatment.