The ATV/snowplow caper needs to have its day in court. Why are the police not afforded the same basic rights in this country as all others, that of being innocent until proven guilty? What is the definition of slander? Wait for the facts people, there are two sides.
I retired a detective from a major Alberta police agency at the first opportunity due to this very reason. The police are openly criticized and chastised with little support and no real avenue for rebuttable except a slow and meandering court system.
By the time this is settled it will be a few lines in the back of some newspaper. The damage is done. During the whitewashing of these officers, probably young, they are left wondering, “why bother with this impossible vocation?” In the meantime, while being openly criticized, an officer may have to drag you or a loved one from a car crash or some other horrid human orchestrated act.
I had been the victim of several unsubstantiated/malicious accusations for no other reason than to divert the attention away from an issue. On one occasion, a disgusting legal tactic was used as a smokescreen merely to divert attention away from a murderer. The issue was horrid, the abduction and murder of a young, innocent little girl. I, an innocent, honest, hardworking police officer, was chased from the courthouse and down the sidewalk by TV cameras.
These inconsiderate/hasty runs to judgment are discriminatory and unfair. The police are only human. Perhaps somebody made a mistake. Lighten up and wait for the facts.
The very institution you choose without thought to totally demoralize will answer your emergency call in the middle of some night and put their lives on the line for you.
Shame on you.
Wayne Hamm, St. Albert
