The spotlight on police brutality has largely been shined on egregious abuse of power in the U.S.
But we shouldn't be too comfortable pretending that the situation is picture perfect in Canada.
Police undoubtedly have what at times can be an extremely difficult job that can and does bring them face-to-face with life-threatening danger.
It's the nature of the work when your career description includes catching robbers, murders, and rapists.
But more often than not, it's fairly petty stuff, whether from routine traffic citations to non-violent drug crime.
And in these instances, police should be professional enough to refrain from resorting to excessive force over what amounts to minor offences.
An RCMP officer recently beat down quite severely First Nations Chief Allan Adam, who admittedly did not choose his words too wisely as he expressed his frustration over being checked for expired plates.
Although the situation initially seemed to be handled well enough by a responding member of the RCMP who did not escalate the situation when dealing with a confrontational individual, everything deteriorated instantly when another officer who had just arrived on scene comes flying out of nowhere to tackle Adam, promptly proceeding to viciously punch him in the face in video captured on dash cam.
Adding insult to injury, he was initially charged for resisting arrest over expired plates.
Let’s start with the obvious that many are quick to jump to in the defence of police brutality.
Being verbally confrontational, dropping f-bombs left right and centre at an officer, is obviously an ill-advised approach to resolving such a situation. And it should also go without saying that removing one’s jacket and assuming a fighting stance, even if he didn’t throw one single punch, is also extremely ill advised.
Being patient always goes further when dealing with someone.
So yeah, the chief definitely demonstrated a lack of diplomatic tact in his approach.
That all being said, I saw no legitimate reason for the initial officer to momentarily attempt to manhandle the chief’s wife, which seems to have served nothing more than to further inflame emotions and escalate the situation.
If it’s OK for Alberta's Health Minister Tyler Shandro to defend his wife’s honour by yelling at a doctor at his home in front of his family and neighbours, why can’t a First Nations chief stand up for his wife, who from what I saw did nothing to warrant being grabbed?
Besides, despite all of this, the first officer nevertheless seemed to largely have the situation under control without instantly resorting to violence and excessive use of force.
So it seems totally unnecessary when the second officer arrives on the scene like some wannabe world wrestling superstar and immediately runs in without warning to close-line tackle Adam, proceeding to pound the chief's face into a bloody pulp after the man’s already on the ground.
Again, I agree with anyone who points out that acting confrontationally with the police is a monumentally terrible idea.
Even so, the police are supposed to be trained professionals whose response should always be measured and tempered by the threat level posed.
And frankly, Adam, who was clearly unarmed although obviously extremely agitated, did not strike me as a remotely immediate threat to anyone’s life.
Let’s remember the original “offence” we’re talking about here was over what, expired plates? A relatively banal, non-violent traffic offence.
Not a heavily armed bank robber who took some hostages or a criminal mastermind who embezzled billions of dollars at the public's expense.
Not even a street drug dealer peddling to kids or a petty thief breaking into people's cars.
Just a guy who felt harassed over constantly being hounded over plates.
Even the police brass must have felt a line was crossed, as the charges were subsequently dropped.
Considering all of the property crimes happening in rural areas, surely there are bigger fish to fry out there than a man out for the night with his wife.
The truth usually seems to fall in between two narratives that compete for the moral high ground.
So sure, Adam should have paid to renew his plates and he was wrong to lose his composure.
But the officer's use of unnecessarily excessive force leading to such bodily harm was far worse.