New G20 report: Who will hold police accountable? [View all]

[JohnyCanuck]

The report is based on 356 complaints by civilians, police testimony and statistics like the more than 1,000 arrests during the G20 Summit itself. But instead of shedding new light on police tactical and organizational failures, and humbling the many police departments involved, the report instead essentially defends the government and the police from accountability by ensuring the unequal power relationship between citizen and the state remains intact.

While the report does acknowledge numerous times that the police "overstepped their authority," it does not question the essential authority of the police itself, or the role the police play in the criminalization of dissent.

"As many of us said before June 2010, Toronto Police were out terrorizing people during the G20 and must be held accountable for their actions," said community organizer Syed Hussan, who was arrested and tried, and whose charges were eventually dropped. "All senior officials in the force should be arrested and await trial to clear their name, just as people were arrested on the streets and asked to clear their names in lengthy court processes. That would be a good start," added Hussan.

In reacting to the release of OIPRD report, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair - who many activists are demanding be fired for his role in G20 Summit policing - was defiant, unapologetic and unwilling to comment specifically on the role his officers played in the brutal, Charter-violating crackdown of activists on the streets.

In a press conference held at Toronto police headquarters Wednesday, Chief Blair said that things "could have been done better" during the summit but refused to apologize for the actions of his officers despite the fact that is it his job to hold his officers accountable.

http://rabble.ca/news/2012/05/new-g20-report-who-will-hold-police-accountable