Police had responded to some complaints about drugs, alcohol and fighting at the woman's apartment. Others in our building were concerned for the safety of the woman, her guests and everyone else in the building.
The uninitiated, naive or those simply hiding behind their doors might have assumed this was a plain case of police brutality. It sure sounded like it!
But there was only one problem.
It was all a huge stinking pile of hooey!
We were watching at the bottom of the stairs. The police hadn't entered the suite. They hadn't even touched the woman. Hadn't pulled her hair or hit her. Hadn't even raised their voice, despite the woman's intoxicated antics and belligerence.
I was glad we were there to back up the cops. We evicted the woman the next day.
We knew from experience that this woman had no interest in honestly addressing her problems. Her strategy was plain -- deceive, distract and distort. Long before that police visit, she decided to avoid accountability for what she did by distracting others with threats of holding them accountable for things they didn't do.
I'm sure if she's continued down the same road by now she's probably either back in prison or down in Hollywood. On the other hand, maybe she can apply for a job as poster child for the new Cop Watch program.
Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a growing number of Cop Watch stickers and posters popping up in different places.
I don't know much about the program but from what I've heard, it sounds like some people are so concerned about alleged racist behaviour by police that they're going to take to the street with video cameras to document their complaints.
I have no problem with calls for accountability -- for cops or anyone else. I've written about a few of my own concerns. But cries for accountability better be grounded in an overall support for the role and function of policing. Unfortunately, I never seem to hear these activists supporting or helping police.
In fact, I wonder if some of the folks who will be holding the cameras are the same ones who insist that the reason there's so much crime in the inner city is because there are too many cops?
I confess I can't follow their logic. According to these guys, it sounds like crime follows the cops. If there were fewer cops there would be less crime in the inner city. I guess they're saying the gangs would be nicer. The dealers and addicts would be more civil. Thefts, muggings and vandalism would diminish. I guess that, according to these guys, the main reason for arrests is not crime but cops. That drivel is insulting to law-abiding residents of our neighbourhood.
It disturbs me when I've heard some past advocates of this "accountability" plot the staging of a filmable event which would "prove" their point. A few even joked about provoking a "Rodney" sequel.
I have no problems with the use of cameras to hold folks accountable for their misdeeds. I commended cops for their willingness to record the actions of johns prowling our neighbourhood for "meat."
But why have these "concerned citizens" waited so long to break out the cameras?
Where were they while people were getting mugged, raped, robbed, assaulted and killed on our streets this summer?! Why don't they shine the lights of their cameras on gang terrorism, crack houses and addicts in our neighbourhood?
What awakened their sudden zeal for justice? Will they film the defiance of the non-compliant when police ask someone to stop and they run? Will they document the biting, punching, spitting, cursing, threatening, lying, prodding and provocation by criminals who are stopped by police? Or will the cameras begin rolling only after police respond to imminent threats and violence?
I find it suspicious that they're seemingly more concerned with the alleged behaviour of cops when the obvious behaviour of criminals affects many more people of all races.
If they want to make this a safer neighbourhood for all people, they should stop harassing the cops and start harassing the criminals.
I'm all for safety and crime watch patrols.
But, at least in this case, it's hard to trust the motives of folks who seem unwilling to point the camera at the folks who are doing the most harm.
Rev. Harry Lehotsky
514 Maryland Street
Winnipeg, Mb R3G 1M5
(204) 775-4929
lehotsky@escape.ca