It remains to be seen if violence will mar the G-8 summit in Kananaskis later this month, but the head of Calgary's police union said he doesn't want his members taking a legal beating.
That's why the Calgary Police Association has decided to have its lawyers on around-the-clock standby during the two-day summit and top union officials plan to attend any protests that bring together police officers and activists.
CPA president Al Koenig said the measures are to ensure the rights of his members are protected in the event there are complaints about how police handle protesters or there's an inquiry into their tactics.
"There's no doubt in my mind that there will be," Koenig said. "We've put plans into place to make sure our members are protected, as well as the protesters."
The largest security force ever assembled in Canada -- up to 7,000 Mounties and municipal police officers and Canadian Forces soldiers -- will guard the summit site in Kananaskis Village, as well as downtown Calgary during the June 26 and 27 gathering.
Union reps will be on hand to voice any concerns they have about officer safety and will also have video cameras at their disposal to record the goings-on for later, Koenig said.
"We've got them and I will probably have one with me," he said.
"If it's a situation where we need to record something or get the flavour of something for a future inquiry, we'll do that."
Videotape proved valuable in deflecting allegations that police over-reacted against violent protesters during last year's Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, said the head of the Mounted Police Association.
"The discussion at first was that (video footage) would be used for security purposes, but it became a benefit for our members -- we could control an area, but we could also use it as a reminder when people looked at our past practices," said Gaetan Delisle.
"When you saw the sequence of events and how it got to there, there wouldn't be a judge who would say that the police were infringing the rights of the protesters."
Maybe not in Quebec City, but a judge presiding over the inquiry into the handling of the 1997 APEC summit in Vancouver criticized police for unnecessarily pepper-spraying protesters and making unwarranted arrests.
"Look at APEC -- we can only hope (police) behave more appropriately at this event," said Sarah Kerr, an activist involved in planning events during the summit.
Recording any confrontations between police and protesters is a good idea, but it should be done by an unbiased source, Kerr said.
"I would be concerned about the police documenting their behaviour and presenting that as the whole story," she said.
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