TAXPAYERS DOLLARS PROTECTING A GUILTY POLICE FORCE

Last April 3 I posted here about statements made by James Bennett, lawyer for the WRPS. Those statements as quoted from the Waterloo Region Record were a frank admission that the facts stated in a class action lawsuit against the police service were essentially correct but that the Ontario Court of Appeal was not the appropriate venue to be discussing/debating them. The allegations by several female police officers as well as one male officer are both shocking, disappointing and miles beneath the level of conduct we should both expect and demand from our regional police force. These allegations have also been substantiated via the public statements and book written by former Waterloo Region Police officer, Kelly Donovan, titled "Systemic Misfeasance in Ontario Policing and the Coordinated Suppression of Whistleblowers."

My blunt and personal opinion, bottom line of the whole sordid history of opening up traditionally male jobs to women is as follows. Our politicians and other members of the power structure decided that they were tired of hearing as to how only large, rough and tough males could possibly be effective police officers. In other words the possible pool of labour capable of handling front line police work was incredibly limited. I would suggest that indeed it is. Not very many men or women are capable of handling the mental and emotional stress and anguish much less the physical efforts occasionally required.

That said the recruiting requirements historically demanded seemed to focus on the physical requirements and much less on all the rest. That was an error. Hiring six foot tall white men, with or without a bad attitude, certainly didn't reflect all of society. By opening up the police force to women, racial minorities, and persons of smaller stature our politicians and authorities pretended that they were being egalitarian. In fact they were simply shifting the physical requirements further down the list and getting in on the leading edge of recognizing women as being mentally and emotionally equal to men. They were also simultaneously by expanding the potential labour force for police officers probably thinking economically that expanding the supply of labour would keep downward pressure on the costs (i.e. wages).

Now here's where it gets nasty. These expanded recruiting scenarios were forced upon both the rank and file officers as well as the senior management. No one on the current police forces, soldiers, firemen etc., who had all been recruited based primarily upon their size and strength, were the least bit amenable to hiring people based on qualifications that many of them did not have. I'm not suggesting that skills like empathy, intelligence, common sense, deescalation techniques, note taking, public speaking, were totally foreign to current police officers etc. but as these officers were not hired for those skills in the first place then it is likely that many current officers did not have them in abundance.

So what is "nasty" about normal human reaction to change that may negatively affect one's future career? Well male politicians themselves were beginning to feel competition from female political candidates and they didn't like it. What was the old boys' club going to do? Easy! While the politicians would order integration of both genders they would privately assure the old boys' management that there would be limited to no oversight as to how female candidates were treated or accepted within the rank and file. Yes politicians of both genders would give lip service to proper, decent, normal human behaviour but it was left entirely up to the hugely male dominated senior police management to insist upon fair treatment of women police officers or not, as they chose. Well as the rank and file were dead against women in policing, police management in order to keep the respect and support of the rank and file determined that it was in their best interests to look the other way as much as possible.Very nasty behaviour by male co-workers may leave no visible scars but it certainly would discourage new female recruits from joining and also discourage current ones from staying. Throughout this, male and female politicians have happily looked the other way while continuing to spout platitudes to the public as they have always done.

Kelly Donovan has recently released a report indicating that our Waterloo Region Police Service has spent over $200,000 dollars on legal council in the last two years fighting and harassing her before the courts. This is yet another way to silence women in policing and to discourage further participation by them. Our regional politicians, male and female, are supporting this behaviour. The police, police services board and regional council are abusing both female police officers, past and present, as well as regional taxpayers by continuing to legally harass those who speak out. Taxpayers of both genders do not support these misogynistic attitudes and behaviours. When will our politicians get this through their skulls and act accordingly?