Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2004
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Deb Thomas

READERS FEAR THE WORST WHEN COPS CROSS THE LINE

If I understand correctly, many Sun readers believe that the police 
brutality in Stanley Park was warranted because the victims were also drug 
dealers.

What happens when the police start beating jaywalkers? Speeders? Cyclists 
who don't wear helmets? Maybe a little midnight ride to Stanley Park is 
just what society needs to get rid of people who litter, shoplift or run 
yellow lights.

Drug dealers might be the literal whipping boys today, but who can 
guarantee that it stops with them? If a paddy wagon full of SkyTrain 
cheats, HOV lane cheats or people who park illegally had been assaulted by 
police officers, would people be cheering? Letting the police get away with 
brutality because people dislike the victims is the first step toward 
allowing the same treatment of all citizens. Watch out for a police officer 
before you cross the street against a red light because you could find 
yourself up close and personal with a billy club or a steel-toed boot.

Deb Thomas

Vancouver
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