Police on Guard for Thee

[impact]

This should be an interesting conversation here. Just picked this off of Facebook.


We are a group of concerned retired and active duty peace officers looking to see the end of unconstitutional public health orders. Read our initial letter below.

If you are a fellow retired or active duty peace officer or in the related field and would like to add your name to this effort, please be sure to send us a message so we may reach out to you.



Citizens of Ontario, Ontario’s Chiefs of Police,
Police Associations, Premier of Ontario,
Ministry of the Attorney General,
Ministry of the Solicitor General,
Municipal Politicians, Public Health Officials

21st December 2020

I am a Police Officer and know many other officers that support the following message.

After the unfortunate events in Calgary, the time for action is now. I have serious concerns over Premier Ford’s decision to expand further restrictions that put law enforcement officers in an untenable situation that must be avoided.

For 10 months public officials and bureaucrats have been operating with arbitrary emergency powers that often violate the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Everyday Premier Ford, Mayor Tory, and politically appointed bureaucrats are on television, radio, and in the newspapers, calling on Ontarians to slowly allow all civil liberties to be taken away.

What I have seldom seen is any comment by those in positions of Law Enforcement and the Judicial System addressing the lawfulness of these measures, or on the grave consequences they create.

I am calling on the following stakeholders to immediately meet independently from Politicians and Bureaucrats: The Ontario Chiefs of Police, Police Associations, members of the Ministry of the Attorney General including Crown Attorneys, Judges, Justices of the Peace, and Constitutional lawyers.

Please collaborate and deliver clear and concise direction to the men and women in Law Enforcement. Until this happens, a moratorium needs to be declared on the enforcement of public health orders by peace officers. 10 months has been far to long for this not to have happened.

Are police officers supposed to uphold the Charter which they have taken an oath to protect? Or do Municipal By Laws now supersede the Constitution?

At a time when the public trust in police has nearly eroded beyond repair this is of paramount importance. The citizens of Ontario deserve transparency from the officials they have elected, as well as from the police that are sworn to serve and protect. This is not an unreasonable request.

What happened in Calgary cannot happen again. Never in my life did I think I would see police officers threatening to taser and arrest kids playing pond hockey.

Signed
Police on Guard for Thee
Will you stand?

[warpipe]

Too bad they didn't have a similar response when Trudeau and Blair decided they would take away law abiding gun owners civil liberties. "Transparency from the officials we have elected, as well as from the police that are sworn too serve and protect" what a joke!

[impact]

Too bad they didn't have a similar response when Trudeau and Blair decided they would take away law abiding gun owners civil liberties. "Transparency from the officials we have elected, as well as from the police that are sworn too serve and protect" what a joke!

Here in Canada you just don't mess with hockey!

[greatwhite]

They have not signed their names , the document doesn't mean anything.

[impact]

They have not signed their names , the document doesn't mean anything.

LEO's typically do not identify themselves publicly for security reasons.

[Bushmoose]

LEO's typically do not identify themselves publicly for security reasons.

In this case, I'd be more inclined to think it is to avoid charges of insubordination from their superiors? The female officer was fortunate the kid didn't take her for a dance on the ice.

[fishermccann]

The 21 year old was fortunate the officer did not taser him. It would have been within her mandate, as he was refusing a lawful order while carrying a weapon.Obey the lawful directions of the officer, and fight about it in court. If you do not, you will be taken down and likely have other more serious charges added. The cops were doing what they were supposed to do, the 21 year old, (not a kid), was totally wrong. Good thing it happened in Canada. In the states he would be charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, (yes a hockey stick is, ask D. Ciccarelli , you younger guys better look him up), and carrying two blades.

[Badenoch]

They have not signed their names , the document doesn't mean anything.

I don't believe for a minute that they are former police officers. File under Fake News.

[impact]

Well, since this is a global pandemic I had a look down under. See the similarities? This one is signed and I can also post the original letter from officer Alexander Cooney. Taking down law abiding citizens for simply playing hockey is an infringement of our Canadian charter of rights and freedom. Not wearing a mask and not social distancing is not considered to be a crime.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-f...-idUSKBN2652NT

Protection against arrest without good reason
The Charter also says law enforcement agencies cannot take actions against individuals that are random or not backed by good reasons. A police officer, for example, must have reasonable grounds to believe you have committed a crime and must tell you why you are being arrested and detained.

November 29, 2020
To: Michael Fuller
Police Commissioner of New South Wales
RE: Open Letter Concerning the use of Police in the discriminatory targeting of certain
groups during the current “Pandemic”

As a Senior Member of the New South Wales Police Force Public Order & Riot Squad (PORS),
I have been involved in many large-scale events and protests since 2009. Until 2016, PORS
Commander Chief Superintendent Steve Cullen ran the unit in a manner that approached
each mission, with consistency and without prejudice.
Since his departure, the unit appears to have been overrun by bureaucrats and we find
ourselves in a situation where a once cohesive unit, has been replaced with uncertainty,
division, and conflicts, driven by increased red-tape and competitiveness, causing the demise
of good judgement in policing.
This situation has intensified during the declared National State of Emergency, as Police are
asked to enforce arbitrary rules against the population, without any verifiable and objective
scientific basis, in the name of public health and safety, often infringing upon basic human
rights in the process. Excessive force is being deployed with increasing regularity, causing
harm when it is apparently meant for good and the public are losing respect, trust and faith in
us.
I was shocked when I learned that New South Wales is NOT operating under a declared a
State of Emergency. Yet the police are being compelled to enforce directions on the basis
they do when it is clearly without these additional powers. This is contemptible and I have
serious concerns over the legality of the infringement notices we are being asked to enforce
and issue.

The response to COVID-19 and our directions are often confusing, so I make the point that if
the enforcers are unclear, how can we expect the public to be. This has come from what
appears to be a rushed response that is perplexing, and its aftereffects are harmful on many
levels.
I have read and researched the contents of the open letter sent by officer Alexander Cooney,
dated October 26, 2020 [1] and I agree with its contents and echo its sentiments
wholeheartedly and strongly support the motion to investigate these assertions and start
questioning what is demanded of us, instead of yielding to demands, because they are clearly
infringing upon human rights and coming from a place of bias and from those who are not
representative or accountable to the people.
For example, we were instructed to assist with the BLM and Armenian protests, yet more
recently we have been told to “make an example” of people protesting anything deemed to be
anti-government, with a “get them quick” attitude. Use of terms like “anti- everything hippies”
to describe these protestors, is indicative of the ever-increasing prejudice coming from above.
To further illustrate this concerning prejudice and unprofessional conduct, an Inspector of
PORS, in a recent debrief about one of the “Anti Lockdown” protests, has made obscenely
derogatory remarks about a child with her mother, who were peacefully protesting. This raises
serious moral and ethical questions about the present state of the force and the potential
dangers it poses to our State and country.
Furthermore, I have been involved in protests where directives given on the ground, have
clearly put peaceful protestors and innocent bystanders in harm’s way and in direct conflict
with the police. I am sure you would agree that having the support of the community is in our
best interest.
When the NRL grand final was packed with a 40,000 strong presence and permissions
granted to the pub across the road to have its liquor licence extended to accept double
patronage with over 1,000 people drinking. A constant flow of people heading into the precinct
from the nearby train station, PORS were instructed to focus their attention on a small protest
held in between those events that had to be broken up for alleged “safety reasons”. Anyone
can see the blatant hypocrisy in such double standards and that there is another agenda at
play and that it has nothing to do with public health and safety.

It appears that the medical establishment has taken over the decision making through
unelected Chief Health Officers. Their decisions corner us into relenting to their demands, so
questioning the factual basis of these decisions should be encouraged. If there is truly no
conspiracy here, why aren’t we having the conversation? Why are we being silenced? Why
are we being ostracised for having a differing view? Aren’t these issues the very cornerstone
of our democracy?
When we assume a person has committed a crime, we conduct an investigation, yet when a
citizen assumes wrongdoing by its government, it’s called a conspiracy theory. If this is not
covert social conditioning, then I put it to you that we need to be openly discussing the points
raised in Alexander Cooney’s letter.
In the Oath of Office, I swore that peace would be protected to the best of my power and all
offences against that peace, defended faithfully to the law. I am aligned to this and the NSW
Police Force statement of values which is about integrity, lawfulness, preserving human rights,
improving community quality of life, striving for civil and personal satisfaction, capitalising on
the wealth of human resources, while making efficient and economical use of public
resources, and ensuring authority is exercised responsibly.
Infringements of peace are occurring right now and we must act to defend this and uphold our
values, so as a self-respecting and proud officer of the NSW Police, I cannot flout them by allowing
this conduct to continue unchallenged. And as weeks have passed since Alexander Cooney’s
open letter was received and clearly no further probing of its contents done, I have accepted his
challenge to write a similar letter and show my solidarity, in the hope that our requests will be
taken seriously, so we can persuade positive change and restore community trust in our otherwise
honourable police force.

Regards,
Kevin Dawson
Senior Constable, 42923
New South Wales Police Force
Public Order & Riot Squad

[fishermccann]

I believe that not willing to produce identification when a ticket is warranted , by whatever law, is against the law , and taking them into custody until an identification is made is justified. If you won’t identify your self when you are getting a ticket, does not mean you should just get to walk - skate away.