NEW PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BEHIND POLICE INVESTIGATION?

They say a new broom sweeps clean. Well it's about time. Maybe it's not totally about our new provincial government. Maybe Kelly Donovan's book has something to do with the Ontario Civilian Police Commission's (OCPC) appointment of an administrator to oversee the Durham Regional Police while the primary investigation is underway. A preliminary probe of the Durham police and its board by the OCPC did find "potential criminal activity and a crisis in confidence among its leadership." Wow, that is stunning!

Today's Waterloo Region Record has published the following article titled "Watchdog launches investigation into Durham Regional Police leadership." The fact that both the chief and deputy chief along with the entire civilian police board are being investigated, speaks volumes. Kelly Donovan had indicated to the Waterloo Regional Police back in September 2017 that Justice Tulloch had recommended much better training for civilian police boards so that they might better understand their duties, obligations and responsibilities. It is my hope that the OCPC might decide after taking care of the Durham police to look into our very own Waterloo Regional Police. I personally along with other informed citizens have certainly lost confidence in their leadership.

OUR POLICE FORCE IS OUT OF CONTROL - THANK YOU WATERLOO REGIONAL COUNCILLORS & POLICE SERVICES BOARD

The front page article in today's Waterloo Region Record is titled "Former Cambridge woman alleges racial profiling by officer". I do not know anyone involved in this case but even if I assume that in this particular issue our local police force are completely within their legal rights (different from innocent), I have to ask the question "When will the abuse of citizens and residents end?" Over the last decade the stories about improper behaviour by our local police have been unending. These include both assaults and killings of citizens whose greatest "crime" seems to be mental illness and even if some have had small knives or other "weapons" why can a so called professional police force with pepper spray, batons, tasers, training and other less than lethal weapons not subdue them without shooting them multiple times in the torso, essentially guaranteeing death? The police assaults of citizens have even included sexual assaults of female police officers for God's sake.

I suggested in the first paragraph that I would assume that the police officer involved was within his legal rights. I did that for the sake of argument only. This article states that the officer told her that she matched the description of a person they were looking for. The problem is that the woman involved is a woman of colour. The police were looking for a man allegedly involved in a gun incident. No description of the male suspect such as white, brown or black was given. Seems to be one hell of a stretch. Also the fact that four Highway Traffic Act tickets (charges) were issued to her after her vehicle was searched and later the tickets were all withdrawn also seems awfully suspicious. It kind of smells like intimidation or blackmail to me.

It is literally years if not decades past time for our regional councillors and our Waterloo Region Police Services Board to step up and take control back from our police chief and deputy chiefs. These problems have been allowed to fester and grow with little or no supervision or discipline involved of offending officers. Whether it is attitudes, training or both these problems need to be remedied from the top down. To date they've mainly been excused, covered up and or victims paid off by those in charge. It must end.

BIG PHARMA STRIKES AGAIN

A very recent Waterloo Region Record article was published titled "Drug firms promoted opioids despite risks, $1.1 B suit alleges". A class action suit alleges that Canadian drug makers enriched themselves at the expense of patients by deceptively promoting highly addictive opioids that have killed thousands. Some of the firms included in the suit are Apotex, Bristol-Myers, Johnson and Johnson, and the Jean Coutu group.The lawsuit claims that the drug companies were negligent in how they researched, developed and marketed opioids starting in the 1990s. Opiods kill more people in the U.S. than car crashes.

THE MYTH THAT SPEED "CAUSES" ACCIDENTS

It's a similar myth to the one that guns cause murders. News flash: People commit murders and whether the tool used is fists, baseball bats, knives, poison, or whatever the point is the same. Neither cars nor their speed cause car accidents. Extraordinarily rarely it could be a mechanical breakdown including a blown tire that suddenly and immediately renders the car uncontrollable. That is rare but driver inattention or as I like to say HUA (head up ass) is the single major cause of accidents. In our busy world too many people continue to view driving as something to be done on autopilot i.e. I'll automatically react when an emergency occurs versus paying attention in the first place and seeing problems developing ahead of or around you. This takes both driving experience and close attention 100% of the time.

Yes alcohol has been and unfortunately may still be a major factor in accidents. Likely so are cellphones and other distractions. My term HUA is the same as distracted driving. Many drivers simply get bored watching out for potential driving problems. While paying attention will avoid the vast majority of serious issues it is not 100% going to make you impervious to another driver falling asleep or coming across the centre line towards you. It will however give you a split second to attempt avoidance. Not the best scenario.

Yesterday's K-W Record carried a Letter To The Editor titled "The truth about higher speed fine revenues". The fact is that higher speed limits relevant to the vast technical improvements in cars suspension and handling, steering, braking, and safety systems including seatbelts and air bags over the last sixty years should have occurred a long time ago. Of course that would greatly reduce the revenue stream for municipal, regional and provincial budgets. That has been the major impediment. All traffic travelling between 100 and 115 km per hour for example is much safer than traffic travelling between 80 and 115 km per hour with too many drivers feeling that they really don't need to pay such close attention.