Suprise, suprise!
In a shocking announcement , it seems G20 police will not be charged for using excessive force with civilians. According to the CBC:
The province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which probes incidents where civilians are hurt or killed in an interaction with police officers, said Thursday that it is probable excessive force was used in the case of two men who suffered facial fractures at a June 26 protest at Queen's Park."
The arrest is also captured in a YouTube video. But Scott said "it is impossible from the video to identify the officer who delivered these blows. They are all wearing largely identical clothing with helmets, and the video is taken from too great a distance to be of any assistance."
As the SIU was unable to determine exactly which officer used excessive force, it is not proceeding with a criminal investigation.
The investigation was done by the SIU, a civilian oversight board. Shortly after its current director Ian D. Scott was appointed to head the Unit in 2008, Ontarian Ombudsman Andre Marin issued a timely review in which he stated that the SIU was toothless, suffering from a "faulty infrastructure" and a lack of resources.
""There's no doubt in my mind that an SIU investigation is one which is currently done through blue-coloured glasses. There's no doubt that there's a police bias in their approach to investigations," he said.
According to the Globe and Mail who covered the review:
His report follows an investigation launched by his office in June, 2007, amid complaints that the SIU has a pro-police bias. He found plenty of evidence to back up those complaints. These include delays and lack of vigour in investigations, a reluctance to insist on the co-operation of police, and a culture overly influenced by former police officers - all of its investigative managers are retired police officers, says the 161-page report, called Oversight Unseen.
The complainants were:
Brendan Latimer, 19; Dorian Barton, 29; Canute Fernandes, 42; Joseph Thomson, 34; Norman Marcos, 43 and Adam Nobody, 27.
Nope, they didn't beat up any amputees or parapalegics with telescoping batons either. There's no doubt, they certainly didn't threaten to gang-rape female demonstrators.
*coughs into hand*
They'd have to tazer a deaf-mute, mentally disabled, legless two-year-old to death in order to see any semblance of a reprimand.
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